News Climate

Polar bears in the Barents Sea are staying fat despite rapid sea ice loss

The Arctic bears may be surviving by shifting to new food sources

Image of polar bear on sea ice

Sea ice provides critical hunting grounds for polar bears, but it is disappearing from the Arctic. Normally, that means polar bears lose fat — a key indicator of health — but bears like this one on the island of Svalbard buck the trend.

Trine Lise Sviggum Helgerud/Norwegian Polar Institute

By Rebecca Dzombak

Rising temperatures and rapidly melting sea ice threaten polar bears across the Arctic.