CLIMATE CHANGE? ARE YOU TO BLAME?

Mum says that because of things that have happened over the past few months a lot of people are now not sure climate change is happening and even if it is, they’re not sure if it’s their fault.

Well, our Mum reckons that what you lot are doing to the planet IS having an effect and she reckons that anyone who thinks otherwise ought to go and breath the air in Bejing for a few weeks. She has a relative in Bejing zoo and word has come back from him that it is pretty nasty stuff he’s breathing over there.

Mum says that people are forgetting the hole in the ozone. We don’t know what ozone is but mum says that the planet needs it for protection and that a hole that was discovered in it in 1985 and that it was because of humans using things that we can’t even pronounce. Nasty chemically things that humans stopped using so much and now hardly use at all, and now the hole is healing. Surely, if you can cause a hole in the ozone, you can cause the climate to change? But it also shows that YOU CAN DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

For the sake of our planet and our future, don’t let your scepticism stop you from trying. You can make a difference. We know it is hard to be totally green, but going just ‘a shade greener’ is easy.

Please read the article below and think of us and our future, which isn’t very bright. We can’t do anything about climate change, but YOU can.

Earth's nine lives

Some Polar Bear Facts

Mum says that we are an endangered species, which sound a bit scary to us. We’re not sure what ‘endangered’ means but anything with ‘danger’ in it frightens us. We think it might mean that us polar bears may not be around at all one day. I hope that the ‘one day’ is a LONG LONG time away.

"Yeah, I hope it’s not tomorrow because we’re going to Poppy’s birthday party tomorrow.”
“SNOWBALL! What’s more important? Surviving or going to Poppy’s birthday party?”
“I guess it’s more important to survive, but I REALLY like birthday parties, and she’s going to have a humongous birthday cake made of ice cream....”
“Snowball, you are just SO shallow.”
“Snowflake, you are just TOO serious sometimes, lighten up!”

Anyway, all that ‘endangered’ stuff aside, we thought we’d tell you a few facts about us Polar Bears.

Polar bears can cope really well with the very cold – we get MINUS 40 or 50 sometimes. And sometimes it stays like that for days or weeks. We love the cold, and the ice.



We have a thick layer of fat, called Blubber, that keep us warm – in grown-up bears that can be as much as 9-10cm thick. We also have two layers of lovely fur.

In very cold snow storms, mum digs a temporary shelter in a snow bank and we all curl up tight and warm together.

Polar bears have more problems with overheating than we do with getting cold. Even in very cold weather we can overheat when we try to run – imagine trying to do a 100 metre sprint with a huge fur coat on!

Us polar bears love to swim and are really good swimmers. Polar bears have been known to swim up to 160 kilometres at one go. Now that IS a long, long way.

Grown up polar bears can actually run as fast as 40 kilometres per hour – and some younger, leaner polar bears can run for up to two kilometres without stopping – but if they’re not careful they can get too hot.

Us polar bears are VERY clean. We clean ourselves after every feed. We lick ourselves clean, or mum does and we also use snow to clean ourselves, instead of water. We roll in the snow and rub it into our fur.

Male polar bears sometimes fight each other when they both fancy the same female!

Unlike brown and black bears, we don’t hibernate in the winter. Only pregnant polar bears make a den, like mum did when she was having us. The rest of the polar bears remain active all year.

There are some polar bears who kind of hibernate – but they are the ones that live on the shores of a place called Hudson Bay, when there are periods of no ice and so no food. It’s called ‘walking hibernation’ when their metabolism slows right down, but they don’t go to sleep. They just slow down.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!

Well it’s now 2010 and mum says that you lot have been having loads of snow.



We’re used to loads of snow up here in the Arctic, but mum says that everything ground to a halt in the UK.



I guess if you’re not used to it, it can be a bit scary and because of climate change you’ve not had much snow in the UK for a long, long time, have you? Don't get us wrong, it can be difficult for us too, sometimes.



Seeing as you’ve got so much of it at the moment we thought we’d share a few facts with you.

1. It is NEVER too cold to snow – that is a big myth – it can snow even at incredibly cold temperatures as long as there is some source of moisture and some way to lift or cool the air. It is true, however, that most heavy snowfalls occur with relatively warm air temperatures near the ground—typically -9 degrees Celsius and warmer— because air can hold more water vapour at warmer temperatures and it won’t snow if there isn’t any water vapour.

2. Single snowflakes are quite tiny but as they fall they connect to make bigger snowflakes.

3. Snow at the North and South Pole reflect heat into space!! That happens because the ice acts like a mirror with the heat of the sun, and the heat bounces off the ice and into space.

4. The average snowflake has a top falling speed of 1.7 metres per second.

5. Snowflakes are always hexagonal but the majority are not perfectly symmetrical - uneven temperatures, dirt and other factors usually cause them to be lopsided.

6. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the largest snowflake on record measured 38cm wide and 20cm thick. It was observed in Montana, USA in 1887 and described by witnesses as "larger than a milk pan".

7. It is a myth that Eskimos have 100 different words for 'snow'.

8. Chionophobia is a fear of snow.

9. The world's largest snowman was actually a snowwoman. Residents of Bethel, Maine in the US built the 122 ft giant in 2008, giving her 30 ft spruce trees for arms and skis for eyelashes.

10. Around 12 per cent of the Earth's land surface is covered in permanent snow and ice.

Right, we’re off to play in the snow, it’s what we do every day. We don’t slip and slide because we have furry feet and we walk on all fours. It’s much easier when you have four feet to steady yourself.

See you next week.