[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/05/17/ypwr.gilbert.jpg caption=”Half of the proceeds from the teens’ ‘Polar Bear Gear’ help fund a program that sends kids to the Arctic North.”]This week we heard big news from Washington: Polar bears are now listed as “threatened” and have additional protection under the Endangered Species Act. But before the Department of Interior’s national call to action, a set of triplets in Maryland were taking action in their own way.
Sixteen-year-old Connor, Hayley and Emma Gilbert started Polar Bear Nation. The teens partnered with Polar Bears International last year to help fund a program that sends kids to the Arctic North. PBI’s Adventure Learning Camp creates Arctic Ambassadors, or students who educate other young people on climate change and its effect on polar bears.
The triplets are busy selling their “Polar Bear Gear,” with half of the proceeds going to scientific research and outreach programs at PBI. Certainly they are happy about the news this week. But, the Gilbert teens are quick with a list of facts pointing to their conclusion that a lot more has to be done for the bears.
Update: Watch the CNN.com Live interview
Young People Who Rock 
Hi Im from Sri Lanka, Ur doing a great job. Id like to know how I could help to buy a ‘help the polar bear T’shirt ?
Kids – I love what you are doing and stand for. How do I buy some of your merchandise?
Please tell me why polar bears have grown 5 times since the 80s there not threatened and have grown from 5,000 to present 25,000. Its great what there doing but they are misinformed. How about saving real human beings everywhere. 31,000 plus scientist (5 times the amount who support global warming) signed a petition saying there is no eveidence of global warming and these false predictions may actually hurt us and kill people. Why doesn’t CNN report that huge report thats happening today.
Excellent idea, fabulous cause I immediately wanted to support, went out to buy some gear for my kids and found only adult sizes. My kids see that polar bear commercial on tv that breaks their hearts and would proudly wear your merchandise and support your cause. I assume more people will have this problem and would highly recommend adding some clothing in kid sizes as well!
Thanks!
AWESOME actions! Applause should go to these young people. I am a huge fan of polar bears having a collection of over 150 in various styles, shapes and sizes. I am a member of the NRDC who has championed putting these bears on the list for many years! Please get information to me as to how I can help!!
Go polar bears!
i support what u are doing and what to support it more if u need any help
I’m disappointed that LG has to spoil the good that these kids are doing. I’m sure they realize that there is other suffering in the world, but they have chosen something that is close to their hearts. Please give these children credit where credit is due. They are supporting a WONDERFUL cause, and at least they are doing SOMETHING to help this world as opposed to getting into nothing but trouble like so many other teenagers these days.
Keep up the good work kids, and don’t let negative comments deter you from supporting what is in your heart. I support you wholeheartedly and plan on getting polar bear gear from your site.
Conner, Haley and Emma,
WAY TO GO !!!!! You are our future and it is awesome to see you guys have a passion for something ” REAL ” something so important as Polar Bears. Most teens work for cars or spending money or clothes. You guys are working to save a species..rather all species…mankind !
You must have amazing parents….give them a pat on the back from us !
Thank You and You guys DO ROCK,
Jenny & Family Alabama
I agree with LG. Polar bears are dong fine. The kids have shown great initiative, they should use it on a cause that is actually needed.
love what your doing,and hope its not to late and will be willint to donate
I wonder sometimes why polar bears are more important then endanger human beings? We need to set our priorities on this Planet.
WOW!!Nice to see teenagers doing something other than thinking about themselves… Wonderful Parents for raising such great kids… I am a major polar bear fan.. My kids want tee-shirts.. but no kid sizes… hope to see kid sizes soon…. Keep up the amazing job…
It’s nice to see that kids care enough about something to actively pursue it. However, polar bears are in now way endangered or in danger of becoming extinct. This is nothing more than the result of global warming alarmism, none which has any facts to back it up. I hope these kids take up a more noble cause once they figure this out, like saving the lives of the unborn.
Having watched those heartbreaking commercials and signed on to support the ASPCA AND WWF I support you kids in what you are doing for a beautiful species. Everyone that thinks they should find something else to support needs to do their own thing. At least these kids are doing something productive and helpful to our planet instead of milliions of other kids doing drugs, or plenty of other non-productive activities.
You kids ROCK!
For a better future.
Thanks for all your hard work.
I am sorry that there are people like skyblueaussie that do not want to know the truth. It is all well and good that our youth go out and do good things but it is important that they truly know the issues.
If we do not research and follow the truth and look at all sides of any issue, you will be amazed by how many bad mandates will become a cause de jour.
If our youths are not properly educated to look at all sides of an issue that we are doing a disservice. Of course, there are those out there that DO NOT want educated and informed people if the truth is different then what they want.
Hey, you 3, good work! I love polar bears!
How can I get a shirt like Emma’s in the photo?
ALso, do they come in children’s sizes yet???????
Hey everybody – thanks for the words of support. We really appreciate it.
If you’re looking to purchase a shirt or other Polar Bear Gear, you can go to our store:
https://store.polarbearnation.com/ and check out what’s available.
For those who doubt the scientific certainty of the polar bear’s peril, I would direct your attention to the latest scientific evidence coming from the Arctic. In nearly every population, numbers of bears and numbers of cubs are falling, and the populations are increasingly under stress due to the lack of ice. In fact, the Arctic lost 1 million square miles of ice last year: the size of Alaska, Texas, and Washington state combined. The USGS report, on which the decision to list the polar bear as ‘threatened’ was made, predicted that loss in the year 2040 – we’re 32 years early. In as little as 2 years, the Arctic is expected to be ice-free in the summer.
Thanks to everybody for contributing to the discussion!
Hello, I just want to comment that there are junior sizes available on the web site. Way to go kids! someone has got to wake up!
Connor: Thanks for the facts!
I doubt LG is a scientist…so don’t let him get you down. The fact is the earth is getting warmer, we have scientific evidence to prove that. The real debate is what’s causing the earth to warm. Is it humans, is it a natural process???? If you’ve read any research or even seen any TV docs on polar bears you would know that the warming of the earth is causing the glaciers to melt earlier in the year and polar bears have a hard time hunting off ice that they can’t stand on…..so there is a problem.
Awesome job kids.
I can only guess that LG and Cori’s ancestors were on the sailing ships that got rid of the Steller’s Sea Cow and the Great Auk. The reason they have bounced back is because of active management. But with no ice sheets and the continued melting, no management plan in the world can fix that. Unless you would like to put them all in zoos.
I do appreciate what you are trying to do and that you care about your planet. I live in Alaska and I care about the environment also.
The fact is, the polar bears are not in any imminent threat of being wiped out. Their population is very high compared to where they were just a little while ago. Please make an effort to be informed… we are suing the Federal Gov’t now to reverse the ruling on the bears. Commercials you see on tv tug at your heart strings, but are inaccurate and not based on facts. Instead, they rely on emotional sensationalism to blow the issue out of proportion. Environmentalists have been using this shady tactic to attempt to curb resource devolpment in our state for years…
What is threatened is not the polar bears, but their habitat. With the increase in global warming, more and more ice is melting and thier habitat is “melting away”
LG, your claim that 31,000 “scientists” have signed a petition saying there is NO evidence was so crazy I had to google it.
Sure enough, I found your likely source the “Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine.” It sounds like a university, but it’s actually a couple of zealots who did bulk mailings back in 1999. The petition itself is meaningless and deceptive.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon_Petition
This is great that you’re doing this! I would also encourage you to support Center for Biological Diversity — they’re the legal wizards who authored the petition to list the polar bear, forcing the Bush Administration to finally take at least some action. Now they’re taking the Bush Administration back to court to make sure they can’t illegally exempt greenhouse gas emissions and oil and gas drilling in Alaska’s Arctic (the two primary threats to the polar bear right now) from the Endangered Species Act. Check them out at http://www.biologicaldiversity.org; they’re doing great work.
This is a classic example of envirofreaks going completely out of control..supposedly we’ve gone from 5000 polar bears back in the 70s to about 25,000 now..Now they’re endangered?!! What?? Now some jive government comments are made that perhaps by 2030 there might be a problem..In the mean time any attempt to drill for oil..which we desperately need .. will be blocked..plus probably all sorts of onshore restrictions ..Folks,we have lost our minds..People’s needs should come come first…
It is about time that someone has recognized the threat and damage that we as human beings have put on the environment and its species. I applaud these kids for standing up for what they believe in and doing something about it. I for one will be supporting them.
For those of you out there that are whining about so called endangered people or telling CNN to report on important subjects–GET A LIFE!! You are the kind of people who I am sure are first to whine and complain about anything that is positive, speaks the truth, or does not directly affect or benefit you. It is people like you who make caring about humans so very hard. What will you tell your grandchildren when there are no more polar bears, tigers, elephants, rhinos, eagles, giant pandas, or mako sharks left?? Well, my guess is you won’t be able to tell them anything because you probably didn’t even know they existed to begin with. Try caring about something other than yourselves.
I don’t follow how sending kids to the Arctic will help the polar bears. Frankly sending people into their environment is harmful. It would make sense to reinvest the kids’ trip funding and donate it or invest in some kind of environmental conservation fund as opposed to letting little kids visit.
Where does the other 50% of the profit go?
LG has the data right. The world polar bear population is the highest it has been in recorded history due to the incredible work of the Canadian, US, Russian, Norwegian, and Danish (Greenland) wildlife managers. The listing of polar bears as threatened is based on computer modeling related to sea ice loss, and those computer models use some very questionable assumptions.
Like Connor Gilbert of Polar Bear Nation, I have my predudices, but I have also spent time with the Inuit guides in the Canadian Arctic who have not observed the phenomena he describes concerning numbers of bears and cubs. Remember, the Inuit live throughout the bears’ ranges, not just in the South Hudson Bay area, which is the one most documented because of accessibility. What data support the statement, “In as little as 2 years, the Arctic is expected to be ice-free in the summer.” Who expects it to be thus?
I am glad the kids have found something about which to be passionate, but their passion is sparked by some cleverly-manipulated information.
Conner, sorry you are so misinformed…bears are fine…
Polar bears endangered.The Polar Bear populaton has gone up steadily for the last 10 years. According to the ALGore movie you think theres 3 polar bears looking for ice. What CRAP John Schlachte
What beautiful, young people; there is hope for Earth, after all. If I were to give them my message — I would urge them to research and learn as much as possible about the ecology of Earth and that when they move to save polar bears and all of biodiversity, they are also saving Earth.
They do not need statistics to see that this specie of biological diversity’s habitat/home is slipping away into the seas and with it, will also go the great bear’s ecosystem and without ecosystems’ goods and life-gifting services — mankind and Earth will slip away as well.
Not only do snowy white bears, as magnificient as any mountain or ocean or sunset, require oxygen, water, a balanced composition of gases in the atmosphere synonymous with life itself, A CONTROLLED, SAFE AND STABLE CLIMATE, food, medicines, a circuitry of energy and nutrients, cycles, like the nitrogen cycle, the creation and renewing of a viable, life-gifting soil, the checking and balancing of insects that consume ecosystems and man’s crops, and the checking and balancing of pathogens in the food chain with man that cause pandemics — but so does mankind. What befalls great bears, befalls mankind. Oh, there is also the filtering of air and water and deadly particle pollution and pollination. Mankind is as dependent for life on ecosystems’ services as bears.
Saving biodiversity from extinction equates to saving Earth as ecosystems are the living, physical body of Earth. Can concrete and parking lots pump oxygen through their leaves? Can a freeway or vehicle contribute to the hydrological system? Can an apartment complex or housing tract made of dead planet check and balance the viruses in the food chain with man? How much hotter is concrete than a heavily forested, dense ecosystem that evapotranspires water and cools the immediate climate during the process and gives man and Earth rain? Can concrete and skyscrapers perform these life-gifting services for mankind and bears? What is growing or not growing in the soil determines the immediate climate! National Academy of Sciences: “The extinction of biodiversity is a threat to civilization second only to thermonuclear war.”
To-date, mankind has not been able to re-create an ecosystem. “Biological diversity is central to the productivity and sustainability of the earth’s ecosystems. Organisms, biological structures and processes are the means by which the physical elements of the ecosystem are transformed into the goods and services UPON WHICH HUMAN KIND DEPENDS.” The Ecological Society
Thank you profoundly, teri
Everybody seems to speculate but how come that we never hear those biologists come out and say wath the real situation is instead of leaving people in ignorance maybe because they are so to. Hey soon maybe we’ll have to save ourself to! How about a foundation for that ?
I think this is a awesome idea. So many species have gone extinct due to humans and i would hate for the polar bears to be one. And as for the negative posts like glen. First off the drilling for oil in alaska will only lower the gas price by about two cents. We should be focusing our energy on new fuel sources instead of more polution.
hey kids, a hurricane just destroyed Myanmar, an earthquake toppled many cities and millions homeless in china, there are conflicts in sudan (darfur), help out humans who are in greater need than a bunch of animals
Good start. Now, have the girls wear bikini’s or less, and then you will really make some money to help those poor polar bears.
@ LG: Stop denying global warming or polar bear decline without proof. You provide the proof and you might establish some credibility. I’m sick and tired of people who wave a magic wand and say I’m brainless or “misinformed,” then they proceed to tell me how ten kajillion scientists think global warming is false– yet they never provide a link, book, or other reference.
@ Tony: Because maybe if we realize that ALL life is important, we can work towards restoring the planet. I urge you to read a little Darwin. I assume you’ve heard of him.
“Even in the worm that crawls in the earth there glows a divine spark. When you slaughter a creature, you slaughter God.”
“There is no fundamental difference between man and the higher animals in their mental faculties… The lower animals, like man, manifestly feel pleasure and pain, happiness, and misery.” –Charles Darwin
Other people who respected ALL life and not just humans, a couple of whom you may recognize: Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Edison, Pythagoras, Plato, Socrates, Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, Leo Tolstoy, Gandhi, Henry David Thoreau… It’s not anything “radical.” In fact, many of the greatest men of history realized the deep connection we have to all living things…
This is all very fascinating. Tell me, where did the Polar Bears go 800-1100 years ago during the Mideval Warm Period, and 5,000 to 9,000 years ago, during the Holocene Optimum period? There is plenty of scientific evidence that the earth, and particularly the Arctic was far warmer during those two periods, than it is worst-case scenario projected to be in the next 100 years.
How did the Polar Bears survive those two climate events, if they are not expected to survive the next 100 years?
Almost every comment is super positive and makes people feel good! Wow, people are really that absorbed with themselves? Can none of you think? Sending hundreds of kids into the most fragile ecosystem on the planet to “observe” the destruction of the polar bear habitat. Seems self fulfilling doesn’t it. Of course they will also go in the summer, when the evidence of global warming is at its greatest to strengthen their cause. This will lead to these same kids being the ones to promote the good old carbon tax saying things like, “Well, to save the bears, I am willing to sacrifice my spending and be more responsible. So it’s the right thing to do!” All the thinking people of the world have no choice right now but to watch all the feeling people of the world mess everything up with good intentions ,and no real plan or forethought on just how wide ranging your good idea is. Adults used to say no to these things but it became bad to use that word. Now no-one uses it, and people go off an a whim and strike up a good cause, find some facts somewhere and seem to somehow attract others that are in need of self validation of their own goodness. The world is a scary place indeed.
People are pathetic on here with this back and forth arguing over who is right and what’s wrong. This is about the kids and their clothing which supports a cause, or can you not read beyond your propaganda? You don’t have to support it, just shut up and tolerate it. I mean no sea ice in 2 years? If that was a case wouldn’t there be a massive evac plan enacted on most of the U.S. coastline as we speak? Get your facts straight on BOTH sides of the fence, and quit spending time spouting statistics and maybe get a life.
Great initiative, what can I (grandmother) do to help you guys?
LG is exactly right. I’m not surprised that three teenagers have been sucked in by the PC version of “climate change” but condemn CNN & the rest of the media for continuing to spread this line of manure. There is no such thing as man-made “global warming”. C’mon CNN; you champion yourself as factual, how about presenting all the facts?
Hey you guys have encouraged people all around the world and that is asome!!!!! congrats and keep it up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is for folks like Glenn, Tim, LG,Kevin,Tony et al. We humans are doing fine thank you, nearly seven billion of us and heading towards ten billion. Ever wonder why the oceans are depleted of fish stocks,e.g. sharks,cod and why there are food riots many places on earth. OVER POPULATION my cynical friends. If you all think the questionable figure of 25,000 extant polar bears is a large number, think twice and understand what viable numbers mean in the face of potential threats, viruses or not to belabour the point, human ignorance.e..g the disappearing tigers and vultures of India.No need to throw cold water, these youngsters need encouragement, not destructive criticism.
Karl
50% “of what they make”?
Let’s see………if you want to do the scientific facts on this, ok…..earth getting warmer……land/ice getting smaller in the north……..Polar Bear population has increased dramaticially……Bears won’t be able to hunt seal due to no ice…….by the way I see it, give it time, there won’t be any food left there for them and they’ll kill themselves off because they’re going to have to eat, now who’s being cruel.
It’s funny that the average temperatures on Mars and Venus increased during the same time Earth saw slight increases. Guess Mars and Venus must have human occupants there also? This polar bear ploy was nothing more than an effort to stop drilling in the Anwar preserve. Just like the Alaskan pipeline was going to hurt the Caribou migrations, drilling there will hurt the polar bear populations since they are endangered. Polar Bear populations have increased significantly since the 80’s and THERE IS NO GLOBAL CLIMATE DANGER TO THE SPECIES. Get it tree huggers.
Hey, you’ve really got a good motivation, but will the polar bears really last until mankind can get their heads out of the clouds and see the need of nature? What can we, as individuals, do to help the polar bear population? What exactly you think we can do to help the polar bears and try to fix what we’ve slowly caused over hundreds of years? I’d like to know more about your programs and what we can do to help the polar bears come from the brink of extinction.
It is nice to see young people taking an interest in things and you are actually doing something. There are some questions about what it is that you actually hope to accomplish however. If your concern is about the polar bear and global warming it seems your cause would be better served by doing something like development of a better battery in which to store solar energy or maybe a new way to look at geo-thermal energy. Bird profing wind turbines is another challenge. These are real challenges in which you can actually get something done other than fall into the old tired enviro trap of simply protesting everything and using false science to stop the world. It is easy to stop productive things but not so easy to produce something.
The spotted owl was used to stop the Pacific northwest sustained timber harvest, for example, based on the false premise that the owl could not make it in logged over areas. In fact the owl loves the logged over areas because that is where their food is. The liberal extreemist has only obstruction in mind. To protest and sue is their favored tactic which does nothing but find the lowest common denominator.
So now if you have some ideas about how to stop the problem of global warming, to the benefit of the 25,000 or so bears and the billions of people living on this planet, then your ambitions might be put to work for the good of everything involved. Please do not get caught up in the brainless enviro-nut game whose real agenda has nothing to do with the betterment of the world but is a ruse to stop everything productive.
Find real answers based on real truth and go for it!
By your standard then, Tim, the entire Administration has also been dupped into this “cleverly-manipulated information” since they listed the bear on the ESA. What possible motivation could the government have to list it if not for pure science? They know listing the polar bear opened up a whole new set of problems for them, (oil drilling and leases, regulating coal fired power plants and other green house gas emitters) yet the evidence of the declining health of Alaskan populations was so strong they had no case against it.
The health of polar bear population numbers around the world differ from region to region — some have grown, some have not. But this is not the only data that should be observed. The declining average weight of the bears suggests a direct relation to food. All of the evidence is pointing to less time available to hunt — less ice and earlier melting equals a shorter hunting season.The declining number of cub birth and birth weight suggest the same and an overall unhealthy state of mothers.
Terms like “cleverly-manipulated information” have been putting doubt into people’s minds for too many years now, and it has gotten us to the sad state that we are in currently. Regardless of if someone believes climate change is happening or not, we all can agree that our country’s wasteful and selfish mentality is not a good one — for ourselves and for the rest of the world. I am a firm believer in climate change, but as I fueld up my gas tank with $3.89/gallon gas last night, I thought that if the thought of climate change has helped turn our country into a greener direction a– helped get Hummers of the road, made bringing your own bag to the grocery store cool and made you think twice about leaving the hall light on — then who cares if it is happening or not? Something has to change us.
LG…
31,000+ scientists signed a petition saying there’s no evidence of global warming? And this is 5x the number of scientists who claim otherwise? Where did you hear about this? Fox News? The 700 Club? First of all, what kind of “scientists” were these? Were they geologists and meteorologists and paleontologists? Or were they Young Earth “biologists” from Oral Roberts University? Furthermore, far more than 6,000 scientists believe that there is substantial evidence of global warming. It is truly misinformed people like yourself that are the cause of so much trouble in this world…and we could really do without you and your friend Cori…
I’m glad these kids are out there trying to do their part to save the world from/for you dimwitted ingrates…
For these outstanding young adults I applaud you all. Your work is something that most people your age should start doing because we (and I include myself in this age range) are the future of this planet and we are the ones who will be living with the consequences of the previous generations.
For those of you out there who believe that “people’s needs should come first,” I beg you to reconsider your thought process. If we do not have these animals or what they bring to the table, then we will not be able to survive. This is a prime example of the food chain. Remember, if you will, back to middle or even elementary school, or even THE LION KING, when you were taught that, “if the grass in the savanah does not grow, then the antelope that eats it will die, and the lions and cheetahs that prey on the antelope will die, and the hunters will have nothing to hunt and the people who depend on the animals for food will die.
Focus on the animals, and indirectly you ARE focusing on yourself, and putting yourself in a better position for the future.
This is a classic example of youths/kids who act on impulse and emotion, and don’t understand the reality behind the hype. Polar bears are not decreasing. Anthropogenic global warming is a sham at worst, and unproven at best. It’s scary to see so many people jumping on the bandwagon and congratulating them – get a hold of your emotions, people. But I guess this looks great on the Princeton application . . .
The addition of the polar bear to the Endangered Species List has some profound effects on the Inuit people of Canada`s north. They are the indigenous people and their opinion should be as highly regarded as that of anyone else. AND what are they saying?
Sadly, not listening to the Inuit is something they are all too familiar with.
The great greenie propaganda machine has snaged more converts.
The fact is polar bears are fine. The ice is still there. If it is warming a little it is nature not us. We are not causing a weather change. We can not fix a weather change. What we can do is plan how to deal with a weather change in the remote possibility that it could actually happen which has happened in the past. We survived it many times since the end of the ice and will survive this.
Connor, Hayley, and Emma:
How refreshing to learn of young people who have worked hard to make a difference in this world. Congratulations and thank you from all of us, even those who have a different opinion about the reality (there will always be at least two sides to every story).
The myth about global warming includes that human beings are the sole cause of the environmental changes which we believe we are observing and that we can stop any change. There are few constants in this world, perhaps only one: Change – nothing stays the same. The polar bears have been around for thousands of years and they will survive, just as they survived the previous times we experienced this kind of “global warming”. Their numbers may dwindle, their habitat may change greatly, but they will adapt and they will survive as they have before. Notwithstanding, this time there may be variations never before experienced and your efforts will help.
For those who would criticize you for your choice of cause, remember this: no human being can solve all of the problems of the world. If these people are so concerned, then let them make a little effort as well. Your efforts are an inspiration for other people to contribute to ease the suffering of humans in Myanmar or China (or elsewhere), or to address the plights of other living organisms on this planet. If every 16-year-old made one-half the effort that you three are making, this world would be a very different (and a much better) place to live for all us. Keep up the good work.
Dr. J. D. Stuart
Marin County
I applaud what you are doing and it upsets me that when caring people like you try to do something worthwhile for animals somebody is always ready to claim that people are more deserving than animals. The polar bears’ habitat is melting for the very reason that we have been putting ourselves above them. It is obvious that the number of polar bears will begin to decline when their hunting grounds are disappearing. Why wait till it is too late. Yes, there are many other worthy causes but that does not minimize what you are doing. You make me proud!
Hey, polar bears are a part of the big ecosystem that keeps the planet working. We should do all we can to help maintain and preserve them (and all parts of the system0 to make sure we have a viable environment for the next generation.
If “with half of the proceeds going to scientific research and outreach programs at PBI”, where do the other half go?
It is a great idea slogan and “brand”, but if this is also a profit making venture I’m not sure its a brand for my kids.
I’d like to be fully aware…
Just a few comments, first for LG’s comment about the scientists and the petition, I haven’t googled it but I have a feeling the petition isn’t so much about denying global warming. Very few people deny that the earth is getting warmer; the issue is what is causing it. The propagandists (or maybe the people who simply like to stroke their egos) like Al Gore blame human activity, while others say natural forces. Perhaps a mix of both? I for one believe natural forces are more to blame but that is just an opinion based on years about the history of the planet. Learning from accomplished earth scientists about the cyclical nature of the temperature and environment on Earth over billions of years, so of course I probably don’t know anything.
Also for Jennifer as she asked the very question I had asked myself while reading the article; where does the other 50% go. Also wondering if these are net or gross proceeds. Perhaps we have a few smart, young capitalists who have realised how much they can make by jumping on the cause du jour. I will give them the benefit of the doubt and am glad to see them so interested in something that (might be) so selfless. I do however think they could put these efforts to better use on a cause that is truly deserving. A few years ago there was a boy of about 8 or 9 that raised money to go to Africa to drill a well for a village so that they could have clean drinking water.
As for anonymous and “not understanding how sending kids to the Arctic will help”, I think I may know how. With the sea ice melting there are a few polar bears that will have a tough time hunting seals as they usually do. So what better than have dinner delivered! I’m sure they would have no problem eating a few children. In reality however sending kids to the Arctic will do absolutely nothing except give groups like WWF and people like Al Gore more propaganda footage to roll out. About how these kids are better than everyone else because they went to see how bad it was. I’ll bet their presence in the Arctic, using more energy to stay warm & contributing more garbage, isn’t going to help the area any. Hell I’d bet that all the hot air Al Gore spews would melt the sea ice entirely this summer if he went.
I would like to end with a few things I’ve read in news articles and to be honest haven’t really researched myself so I can’t say how accurate they may be.
First is a prediction that the sun is supposed to be going through a cooling period sometime in the next decade. That means less solar energy = less heat = lower global temperature. Again I don’t know how accurate this is but could be interesting, maybe we’ll have to crank up the coal-fired plants and pump out the CO2 just to stay warm.
I’ve also read an article talking about an ocean current that appears to be slowing. I can’t remember the name of the current but it brings warm water up to the north. The article stated that this in itself would delay global warming in the arctic region by up to a decade. I wonder if the sea ice models take this into account?
The last article that comes to mind mentioned how the oceans are actually getting deeper. This will offset a portion of the glacier melt that is supposed to make the oceans rise by god knows how many metres (or is that actually centimetres?). As a side note to this, the melting glaciers get all sorts of media attention because that is the hot button topic right now, all this global warming. What isn’t being mentioned is the fact that while some glaciers ARE melting others are actually getting bigger. Just a little food for thought.
Personally I have trouble believing all the doom and gloom predictions for how bad things will be in 100 years. How do they know that when they can’t accurately predict what the weather will be in three days?
If natural selection has chosen them for extinction – who are we to thwart nature?
Scientists use the, “rivet” analogy. Biological diversity are the rivets of man’s spaceship, Earth. When a native specie, native to its ecosystem, goes extinct, it represents a rivet popped out of our spacecraft — forever. Based upon a given ecosystem’s stability, it can survive a few missing rivets, but would mankind board a spacecraft with an idiot on a ladder popping out rivets? At what point does too many rivets popped equate to a total collapse? Would any sane individual board such a craft?. Plus, ecologically, everything connects to everything else.
If the polar bear goes extinct, what other species/rivets will follow? The complexities of life and ecosystems’ services are so complex and so irrevocably interconnected, mankind is not Almighty God. Plus, the financial economy, alone, is based on ecosystsems’ goods. Everything on Earth, comes from Earth, begins with Earth, the alpha and the omega.
When an astronaut sails into the black unknown of space, he has boarded his spacecraft with ecosystems’ services onboard or his life-support systems provided, alone, by ecosystems, from microorganisms that keep soil functioning all the way up the life-gifting chain of polar bears, eagles and wolves. Astronauts would die far from Earth without oxygen, fresh water, food and a stabilized climate onboard. Science refers to this as “ecosystems’ services”.
All life on Earth is alive because of that thin, “veneer” called the atmosphere. Past living species created it and maintain it today. There was no oxygen on Earth until the advent of green plants and ecosystems. America’s transendentalist thinker and intellectual, Thoreau: “IN WILDNESS IS THE SALVATION OF THE EARTH AND THE PRESERVATION OF ALL LIFE.”
Earth is struggling under the increasing weight of too much human too muchness, and global warming is only one symptom. Does Mars
support polar bears, penguins, walruses and seals? And, who wants to live in a world of noise, stress, hot concrete, pollution, the rat race and the caged rat. There is nothing as good and freeing for the human mind and soul as what is good for Earth. “Are all but parts of one stupendous whole, nature is the body and God the Soul”.
My congratulations to the Gilberts for excellent initiative and work in wildlife conservation in the Arctic.
It is always worthwhile to protect our planet’s biodiversity in every way we can, but I believe it is pertinent that people recognize that the unconfirmed phenomenon of anthropogenic global climate change is not the most imminent danger to populations of wildlife worldwide. There are much more imminent threats: deforestation, poaching, pollution, loss of resources due to overfishing and other practices, etc. Humans are much more directly involved in the demise of many animals than just our tendency to release carbon dioxide into the air. Just look at the bushmeat crisis in Africa, which is devastating to the primate populations there.
Imminent international industrial expansion and wildlife populations can always be reconciled, but first we need to protect animals and plants that are in imminent danger, and I believe more evidence is needed to support the recent change in status for the polar bear. Funding for protecting our planet’s wildlife is quite limited, so we as conservationists have to use it wisely.
Anyway, you’re doing great work, say hello to the bears for me.
What a wacky world… where people think global warming is a myth and Noah’s Ark is real.
First, what a fantastic example of the Great American debate in action! Our founding fathers would have been proud…
As cooler heads above have echoed, the facts surrounding global warming and the actual polar bear habitat are mute here. What we do have is three kids taking some initiative and trying to make the world a better place. We should all be applauding their efforts, not expecting them to have clarity on what is factual and what isn’t. They are 16!
Those who don’t support this cause are free to choose not to, but tearing them down is just silly. Might as well yell at girl scouts for selling cookies, because they go camping and infringe on the purity of the wilderness too. Go support your own causes, and be as passionate as these kids are.
As I am a Polar Bear I appreciate all that you tasty hoomans are doing to save me. Yum Yum.
Why does it matter where the other 50% of the profits go? If these kids figured out a way to do some furry animals that have chilly paws some good, and at the same time make some profit as well, I am jealous. Well done.
I think I am going to start looking for the next “near-extinct” species and a catchy slogan…any ideas??
I guess this is moonbat central.
Here’s what I don’t get –
Even if global warming were a “scam,” which scientist after scientist and documented evidence have proven is not the case – why do people rail so fervently against the prospects of having a cleaner, healthier and biologically diverse planet?
Your laziness and greed astound me. I for one do not want to live in a planet of plastic garbage and treeless wreckage just because you couldn’t get it together to stop driving your SUV.
These kids are part of a solution, and I hope more are out there doing similar acts of kindness. To people who claim this is a “for profit” venture – I’m sorry, but a business in which 100% of the money goes to charity is an unsustainable operation.
We have brains for a reason – some just choose not to use them.
Terri,
They don’t use rivets in spaceships. I do hope they save the polar bears, they make nice coats!!
All the posters who say this listing is bunk because there’s no decline in polar bear population are totally missing the point. The polar bears have thrived since the 80’s! Great. Awesome. You’re right that they are doing well.
The Interior didn’t list them because of a population decline. They listed them as “threatened” because the USGS (our own government agency, by the way) said their habitat is melting and that it will probably be nearly gone in 30 years. They’re listing them based on what will happen, not what has happened.
Keep up the good work, kids.
In summary, YOU DON’T LIKE what they’re doing; than do NOT support them. They aren’t twisting your arms and like many of you said; there’s different opinions. This is THERE belief and they have EVERY right to have their own foundation to support their own cause. There’s ones I’m sure out there for people, let’s see Unicef, Red Cross, Save the Children and I could go on and on.
OH….and why don’t you get off your butt and away from your keyboard and put your $ and time where your mouth is and go make changes in the world. That might actually be more productive.
You sure do rock!! How may I get a tee shirt? How can I help?
Thanks,
Victoria
Keep up the good work!!!
Ok, so this seems like a nice idea until you realize that:
1) making stuff is NOT helpful for the planet. manufacturing shirts means cutting down trees so there is a place for them to grow (thus taking away Earth’s natural carbon filter; this isn’t a problem if you make something from those trees and then PLANT MORE, but if you have a crop there now, you can’t plan more can you?), fertilizing the plants (the fertilizer will then be run-off adding nitrogen and thus algae to waters, killing fish populations, and indeed entire ecosystems), pesticide applications (hurting mostly fish and frogs, but possibly also birds), and the manufacturing process– which i don’t know enough about to speculate on the impact it has, but i’m 110% sure it has an impact and one that’s negative, at that, and shipping it your house (putting carbon and other particulate matter into the air, and IF these things are made in china that’s a LOT of miles shipped– thanks, now you all look chic in your shirts and my kid has asthma) in whatever ridiculous packaging they are shipped in (i’d like to think there’s no plastic involved in shipping a SHIRT, but in my experience that’s just not the case).
And that’s just the clothes. And that’s not really covering everything.
2) Now, about sending kids off to see the polar bears… A nice, thought, a bad idea. So, we put some kids on an oil eating, carbon belching plane and send them to see the nice bears who live in the “arctic north” which is presumably cold and inhospitable for people, so people sit around inside a nice heated building somewhere (and where does that heat come from??? fossil fuels, perhaps??? harming polar bears, people, and everything in between, maybe???) and talk about how terrible it is for the polar bears to die. Then they come back and tell all their 10 year old friends to stop driving their damn Trailblazers and Tahoes and start planting trees? Since when do kids have any leverage at all? You’d be better of sending PARENTS there showing them what the world is going to look like for their kids in 2 years, 20 years, 50 years.
This is just not logical. People need to start THINKING about their actions. Does this camp thing sound fun? Yes. Is it responsible? Is it furthering the basic goal of saving these endangered animals? NO, NO, NO!!! Do I want a cute tee-shirt expressing the fact that I’m worried about the environment? Sure. Is it better if I don’t have one and instead just TALK about how I’m worried about the environment while I wear a shirt I already own? Absolutely.
Am I glad these kids care? YES. But I’m sad that they are misguided in their efforts and that CNN has chosen to applaud them unequivocally.
I just have one word for them:
THINK.
I agree with Kasey, in theory. The more mankind can simplify his needs and desires — simple in means and rich in ends — the mantra of Deep Ecology, the greater chance our Earth has of continuing to provide its essential life-support services. However, these conscious, beautiful three kids feel compelled to do something to bring attention to the plight of Creation and a specie, whose home is becoming extinct.
All of the great thinkers that ignited a generation in the 70’s to save Earth began their journey for the greater good in evolving their own level of conscious. They all took their first steps. I admire the minds of these three great kids and their desire to aspire to save Earth because it will be their generation, their choices, their thinking that can save our “Planet in Peril” Already, these three have evolved beyond the anthropocentric worldview of man versus Earth or man versus polar bears.
If everyone thought like Kasey, we would be taking a giant leap into the future because simplifying our needs dramatically decreases the size of our footprints. Mankind is a newcomer on the scene and for the vast majority of man’s time on Earth he survived quite well without agriculture, cars, oil and the artifacts of civilization and had almost double the amount of leisure time. And what work he performed for the people, he did it in paradise. Remember the bumper sticker: A day fishing is better any day than a day stuck in a dark hole at the office. Social scientists recognize, that the most successful LIFESTYLE for man was small-scale hunting and gathering. And, talk about simplicity!
Science can place no animal extinctions on the native Americans, who were the first ecologists. They occupied North America for 20,000 years plus and lived simply, without the gadgets of industry and technology that are killing Earth. The human paradigm for saving Earth and simplicity is not to look toward new technologies but seek ancient wisdoms. Mankind did very well in the hottest to the coldest of climates without our current worldview that places mankind as the crown of creation. It is this thinking, this societal voice, so out of step with man’s historic time on Earth, that is killing Earth.
Humans are an arrogant lot. The earth has survived its natural variations in global temperature for eons. Polar bears and other species have survived or become extinct for millions of years due to climate change (remind me, where are the dinosaurs?) . But now, because we have become “enlightened,” we believe that humans — and ONLY humans — can save the plant. WE — not nature — get to decide the optimal temperature and it’s our obligation as superior beings to maintain precisely that optimal global temperature. And, let’s see, what should that optimal temperature be? Mmmm, it should be the average global temperature on the day Al Gore became enlightened in the 1980s — not the temperature now, or the temperature 50 or 100 or 1000 years ago. Arrogant…
Look, there’s two sides to every story and the truth is there are facts supporting the bear’s prospective decline and facts backing up that the bear population is 5 times higher the 30 years ago. True the artic ice has been receeding and that does happen to be the bears hunting grounds. The bit about there will be no summer sea ice in the artic in 2 years isn’t fact but fiction. Global Warming is a political tool. Climate change is real. The Earths atmosphere is an extreeeeemly hard this to understand and there are forces at work that we don’t even know exist yet. This was true before mans reighn on the planet and all we have done is make the equation even more difficult. The fact is we don’t know enough to pass legislation on carbon emissions or oil production. You think hey I can do good in the world by helping the Polar Bears and job well done, now can you kids start working on bringing gas prices and associated petrolium products down because soon the Artic Trips will be too expensive and kids wont be able to see what they’re trying to protect.
What an inspiration you are to other kids. Continue to work for something you believe in. For all you “advice-givers”: What cause are you promoting? What are you so strongly convicted in, that you are willing to be ridiculed and criticized by someone such as yourself?
I take part in Heifer International, Kiva and Water 1st – I challenge you to make a difference. Instead of finding what is wrong with the cause these KIDS are promoting…. find something worthwhile you can promote with equal energy they have. The world has enough negativity – do something productive for a cause YOU believe in.
There are a number of comments here about people vs polar bears. What makes people more special than bears? Or gorillas? Compare population size and you can see there is some room for population deflation.
With the cold war over, somebody thought we needed something to fear, hence global warming (timing is everything.) The first step is always to brainwash the kids. The best the eco-doomsayers could come up with to accomplish that is with “cute cuddly” polar bears. What a load… thanks, Gore. First, his wife contributes to censoring music, now he contributes to censoring common sense. Leave the bears alone and fix the humans… then everything on this nice blue marble may stand a chance. Think about it, humans kill more humans than they do bears any day of the week.
There has to be a better way to keep people informed rather than selling merchandise to raise money, as others have stated. The problem is that much os society is materialistic in nature and want to show everybody that they are doing something to “save the environment”. It’s a nice thought, but there is a better way. I hope everyone can realize it before it’s too late.
We have to find a way to peacefully coexist with the other species (and our species) in this world. Period.
Instead of taking shots at others explain yourself with facts that are real and not extrapolated.
References for Cody:
A book:
The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming (and Environmentalism)
A website:
http://www.iceagenow.com
GW politics:
http://www.lewrockwell.com/shaffer/shaffer152.html
Way to have a cause and make a marketing venture. The people asking where the other half is going are just upset they didnt think of it first – because lord knows most of them have jobs and are making plenty of money. Everyone here seems to think you are going to spend the next 70 years working on polar bears, but I am guessing most of these people never stayed in the same job for 70 years. I’m willing to bet you’ll expand your vision to not only polar bears but other enviornmental issues and to humans as well. Just do us all a favor and leave out all the negative humans here when you go to help out – the people giving you a hard time on here are the same people who don’t pull over for ambulances because they decided their destination is more important then someone elses life. Congrats on being more accomplished at 16 then most of the people are in their whole lives. Take the other 50% and treat yourself to a great summer with friends or better yet a wonderful college eduation! We need the intelligent people with a say in the world.
23 May 2008
Dear Ben:
This is in response to your commentary. While I do not know if you will read this, perhaps future readers of these comments may have some of the same questions which you have posed and will, therefore, benefit from the following clarifications. It is understandable that you ‘don’t get’ the inconsistencies, notwithstanding that you obviously use your brain.
“Global Warming” has several different meanings which are confused by those who wish to take advantage of the confusion (persons such as our former Vice-President Al Gore, who has benefitted greatly from this confusion, intentionally or not). “Global Warming” as a scientific concept is a conclusion based upon a series of assumptions. These assumptions include the interpretation of data regarding the increase in the ‘Earth’s temperature’, the possible contribution of increased emissions of carbon dioxide and other molecules, and that this contribution is man-made. The most important, and most harmful assumption, is that there is no other cause for any perceived increase in the ‘Earth’s temperature’. ‘Scientists’ have generally come to agree that the ‘Earth’s temperature’ has been increasing for the past 100 to 200 years. Scientific conclusions are not a “scam”.
“Global Warming” as a political concept is a movement designed to change the habits of humans beings and is a conclusion based upon a number of assumptions made by a large number of people. These assumptions include that the ‘Earth’s temperature’ is increasing, that it has been increasing for only 200 years (Industrial Revolution), that the cause is an increase in ‘greenhouse gases’ (a term coined for the benefit of the movement), that human activities – primarily the combustion of fossil fuels – are causing the increase in ‘greenhouse gases’, and that all we have to do is to “Go Green” and stop driving SUVs, stop burning petroleum, or engaging in any other behaviour du jour that the political movement wants changed. The most important, and most harmful assumption, is that a change in human activity will cause the ‘Earth’s temperature’ to stop increasing.
While the scientist may document an increase in the perceived temperature of the Earth, the other commentary and argument is not scientific; it is political argument. Political conclusions are often used to support a “scam”.
Those people (such as myself) who do not blindly accept the myth regarding “Global Warming” do not automatically reject any efforts to reduce pollution, or to modify human behaviour to conform to more ecologically friendly practices. We do not “rail … fervently against the prospects of having a cleaner, healthier and biologically diverse planet”. Many of us work hard to accomplish exactly those goals.
However, the efforts which are politically driven (geared primarily toward reducing ‘greenhouse gases’) cause resources, money and efforts to be expended which will not be used for the far more important needs of the future: say, for example, moving those cities (such as Miami and New Orleans) which will be inundated regardless of any human efforts to reduce ‘greenhouse gases’.
The problem, Ben, is that the present politically-driven ‘scam’ about “Global Warming” deters understanding and research which might prevent us from learning that the present “Global Warming” commenced hundreds of years before the Industrial Revolution (there goes the theory), that if Miami were to have been founded in the year 800 A.D., then it would not have been placed within 100 kilometres of where it is today (likewise New Orleans) and that simply driving an SUV does not necessarily contribute to the real problem. Much of this is explored in a book “21st Century American Mythology” tentatively to be released at the end of 2008.
I hope that this helps explain some of the confusion and the inconsistency caused by the political efforts.
Dr. J. D. Stuart
Marty and Joe: It isn’t environmentalism or global warming; it is the ecology of Earth. Most humans are ecologically illiterate and cannot define an ecosystem or cannot perceive that there are vast differences between a parking lot and shopping mall and an ecosystem. All the artifacts of civilization are dead planet, as dead as Mars. Now, ask yourselves what on Earth is alive and life-supporting? Is it voodoo or magic you have oxygen, fresh water, food and the long interconnected chain of ecosystems services?
Have you even heard of the nitrogen cycle or hydrological system? Every aspect of life, including humans and bears is governed by strict natural laws that are provided by ecosystems goods and services.
Everywhgeras Earth like before the recent geological advent of agriculture and the industrial revolution? Earth was covered iwild wild places and wild things, i.e., ecosystems and biodiversity. In the last 5,000 years, one specie has been chopping, plowing, disturbing, clearing, deforesting and slathering the physical, living body with concrete, dead forest products, plaster, bricks, plastic and tinsel.
I am as disturbed by many scientists’ fears of the loss of historic levels of oxygen, and that this is contributing to man’s epidemic of cancer as I am global warming. There are so called experts and even scientists who are not ecologically literate. Once the individual comprehends the bigger picture of ecology, the rest is irrelevant because mankind is alive because of the services and goods of ecosystems
I agree with Dr. Stuart If these people are so concerned [about the world’s problems], then let them make a little effort as well.
Thanks for your inspiration, regardless of your cause. You’re ONLY doing good, and I hope you understand that.
Great job guys! Keep up the good work!
Let’s call this argument what it is… endless. I commend these kids for trying to help the polar bears. It is excellent that they are taking the time to do so. We all know that the earth is in danger whether it be global warming, pollution, lack of conservation, whatever it is that you agree with. The point is, we all know that there are tragic events that have taken place, but there are other things going on in the world too. We as humans all want to help solve the world’s issues and save the animals, but unless you are Superman, no one can tackle them all. So, to hopefully stop the bickering, these kids chose one thing that they could do, and let’s remember that we can all do something to. Pick something that you agree with that would help the environment and go with it. Don’t let someone tell you that you’re crazy because they just don’t agree with it. You might not agree with what they think either. Remember, every little effort helps!
I think that it is a great thing to see more people taking interest in saving our valuable wildlife. But doesn’t sending teenagers to see the polar bears actually ironically increase your carbon emissions? Its not doing much good for the environment constantly transporting people up north just to see a couple of polar bears. And plus they’re teenagers, or should i say human? People generally might be excited at the thought of seeing such cute furry animals, but give no thought to the fact by going up there, they’re actually ‘taming’ the poor animals, and leave litter all over the place.
And as a response to one of the other comments, I think that the human population has enough people looking after them already, we cannot do enough for our wildlife and environment… at least they’re the ones who cause a lot less damage than us humans. makes sense doesnt it?!
The placement of polar bears on endangered species list is nothing more than to prevent geological search for OIL which we need. You want to see the price of gasoline come down? Unlock the wells that the government has locked, allow drilling in Anwar and off United States coastal waters and leave the polar bears alone they’re doing just fine without anyones help.
While I respect the motivation to save the polar bear, I have mixed feelings about both the science behind their concern and Polar Bear International as an organization. Climate change is creating difficulties for the polar bear’s environment (i.e. ice forming later and breaking up earlier), but it should be clear that the threat to the bear is not from drowning or such. The polar bear is one of the few species that will limit its own procreation if it perceives a sytemic threat to its food supply. The principal threat to the polar bear is that, under the circumstances, they will simply reproduce less — below a level of sustainability for their species.
With regards to Polar Bear International… I’ve been to Churchill, Manitoba, to see the bears and observed PBI docents on task. It’s not clear to me what added value they bring to the table. Moreover, it’s hard for me to understand how an organization in sunny California has determined a mission to “save” a bear so far from PBI’s own clime (most of the initial PBI founders live in the south!). As near as I have been able to determine, the organization is just a group of people that like to photograph the bears, are fascinated by the far north, and sell polar bear gear to fund the activities that allow them to continue doing that. It’s not at all clear what they actually do (or have done) for the polar bear or for climate change other than promote additional tourism to the north — which may not be a good thing. To the best of my knowledge they have no real political action groups other than a PR machine and Manitoba Conservation routinely does more real work, in the field, on behalf of the polar bear than does PBI.
While the plight of the polar bear disturbs me, it also disturbs me to see them used as a convenient foil to advance an organization that really doesn’t add much value other than promote photographic opportunities. If PBI were to disappear tomorrow, neither the polar bear nor the climate would suffer more or less as a result.
glenn, why should people’s needs come first? Because we are the dominant species? Actually our species has done more to harm the earth than any other, so people’s needs should come last at this point. It would be best for the earth’s ecosystemif there were no people at all. People s*uck, as I often see on bumper stickers.
Dr Stuart, you make several misleading statements in your paragraph as follows:
“Global Warming” as a political concept is a movement designed to change the habits of humans beings and is a conclusion based upon a number of assumptions made by a large number of people. These assumptions include that the ‘Earth’s temperature’ is increasing, that it has been increasing for only 200 years (Industrial Revolution), that the cause is an increase in ‘greenhouse gases’ (a term coined for the benefit of the movement), that human activities – primarily the combustion of fossil fuels – are causing the increase in ‘greenhouse gases’, and that all we have to do is to “Go Green” and stop driving SUVs, stop burning petroleum, or engaging in any other behaviour du jour that the political movement wants changed. The most important, and most harmful assumption, is that a change in human activity will cause the ‘Earth’s temperature’ to stop increasing.
1.) That the Earth’s temperature is increasing is not an assumption. It is a proven fact… as you stated in your previous paragraph.
2.) That the burning of fossil fuels contributes to the accumulation of “greenhouse gas” is not possible to refute scientifically since such burning creates CO2, the primary greenhouse gas. Even if the term “greenhouse gas” was created for political purposes that does not detract from it’s accuracy in describing the situation of contributing to an insulating layer that diminishes the capacity of heat to leave the atmosphere.
3.) It does not follow that because you accept the notion of greenhouse gas accumulation resulting from fossil fuel burning that simply the elimination or reduction of that activity would solve the problem. But you cannot serious argue that it wouldn’t reduce the problem, slow down the Global warming phenomenon and generally give us more time to find sustainable energy solutions.
Why would that be a “harmful assumption”. It is a purely rational and logical response based on the facts of the situation.
Dr Nobody
Hello,
I applaud anyone who shows compassion for the fate of polar bears because of global warming. What I am hoping for is support for those who condemn the fact that over 1000 polar bears are shot every year by poachers and trophy hunters, mostly from the US who spend upwards of $35000. for that sick activity. All that killing for a rug??
Marc
I am from Sri Lanka and glad to see some American youth actually doing something good for the Earth. With the Bush legacy, the world has had a bad image of America. However, its dissapointing to see some who had left negative comments. We Humans have destroyed most of the planet withing a century. Without biodiversity, Earth will not be able to sustain any life. The Japanese whalers massacre thousands of whales in the Antarctic whale sanctuary every year and the Canadian fisherman skinned 300,000 harp seals this year for their fur. And we still have Catholic bishops in Canada claming God created all creatures for the consumption by man. These triplets have set a good example to all youth. Humans need to be ambassadors of Earth not ambassadors of greed.
Keep up the great work!
haha hey guys! i had no idea that you guys started a foundation, this is so great! Connor i’ll have to talk to you about getting a shirt in chemistry!
D May 23rd, 2008 2:29 pm ET said:
“All the posters who say this listing is bunk because there’s no decline in polar bear population are totally missing the point. The polar bears have thrived since the 80’s! Great. Awesome. You’re right that they are doing well.
The Interior didn’t list them because of a population decline. They listed them as “threatened” because the USGS (our own government agency, by the way) said their habitat is melting and that it will probably be nearly gone in 30 years. They’re listing them based on what will happen, not what has happened.
Keep up the good work, kids.”
Thank you for being one of few to actually understand. Yes they are doing well because we took steps to safeguard them. Now their habitat is melting. And to the poster who talked about the Inuit, there is an entire Inuit community that is going to have to MOVE in a few years because the ice in their village in melting. A place where they have lived thousands of years.
Kudous — here’s their link:
http://polarbearnation.com/
I’m all for saving the polar bears and all other big mammals… as for human beings, the best thing they can do for themselves and the planet is to stop having so many babies, live in smaller houses, drive smaller cars, eat less meat. If human beings keep reproducing at the present rate, then in 50 years there won’t be quality of life for any large mammal, INCLUDING US … so , come on , humans…. use birth control !
Ok, I have a Ph.D in Physical Geography and am an assistant professor. I have an undergraduate degree in economics. 2 FACTS – 1. Global climate change is LIKELY a real thing and it is LIKELY caused by human actions. 2. We can easily afford to move our economy into being far less harmful to the environment with very moderate costs.
I am sure that you do not trust me (as to who I am and what I know), so I suggest that you look at the scienctific and economic evidence. Go to Google Scholar which has basic access to almost all of the major academic journals published in English. Look at the actual scientific publications. You will find that there is a strong consensus in the scientific community on both fronts.
I live in the Arctic.. for 30 years. @ the TOP OF THE WORLD it is just so sad to see people misrepresent the truth. .distort the facts. then hop on some bandwagon.
You have no idea how much damage your doing to the people that actually live here !!
yeah awesome! lets waste more resources to make dumb shirts that will be in the trash in a year! yeah! save the polar bears by using up more energy and releasing more climate-changing carbon to make tshirts!
This kiddies know that the polar bear population has grown from 7,000 in 1950 up to 21,000 today, right?
I salute the work of these three young people. Speaking of people did you know that a few thousand years ago the human population was only 8000 and faced extinction. The reason was drought. So if the Earth heats up too much, we could once again see drought. Besides our planet has only 3% fresh water. If the ice melts it melts into the salty seawater. Ice is fresh water. To all you nay-sayers that are trying to put these young people down, here is a nickle’s worth of free advice. Find your own cause and help the planet, save everything you can, people, animals and the like, because we are all connected. Thanks for your help, Connor, Hayley and Emma, you’re doing great.
Perhaps LG and his/her fellow global warming denyers (do you deny the holocaust as well?) would prefer to see these kids fighting for a cause closer to their hearts…my guess would be you are in support of tax cuts for the rich, expanding the “war on terror”, and expanding the production and use of fossil fuels.
Way to go kids…don’t let people get you down…these are the same people that voted for GWB…and we all know how well that’s turned out!
31,000 SCIENTISTS HAVE INDEED SIGNED THE PETITION against the SCAM OF MAN-MADE GLOBAL WARMING.. This particular anti-AGW petition (there are others), was started in 1997, after Kyoto, by concerned scientists. It was ignored. It has been updated and added to in the last year by real, honest to goodness scientists from all fields of study relating to climate. The Global Warmists cannot accept this, as they cannot accept anything that doesn’t agree with their religion.
If you actually do a Google search on it, you will find it, unlike claimed in some entries above.
Researching into the side you don’t agree with, or if you are undecided is good. You can also find out things like, global warming (without humans even around) in Earth’s history has happened before over and over. You can find out how things other than CO2, like the Sun for one example, do this. You can find the outright lies Al Gore has spread (and how he won’t talk to anyone who questions his claims). You can find out how the IPCC reports are written, and edited, by people with the purpose of proving a pre-conceived theory. You can learn that our historic temperature data which the IPCC uses have been screwed-up in the last 100 years by poorly located gauges (bless Anthony Watts) in your own state. You can find lots and lots of current and past scientists, and studies, that do not “buy the hype”.
If you don’t have the energy to do these things, you are already brain washed by the new false religion of Global Warming and Climate Change (the new word for Natural Weather). Just go to your eco-club and plan your new attack/defense/attack…you want to get your way anyway possible. Heck, just change the meaning of words or shift your argument from Polar Bears (if that stops working because someone important to you realizes they are not threatened), to whatever.
Concerning changing meanings of words, here’s an example:
Global Warming is Natural, it has been happening for 15,000 years.
Man-Made Global Warming, is a totally different concept and half-baked scientific argument. So one should pay attention to this little verbal detail at all times. Scientists can agree with Global Warming, but be totally against Man-Made Global Warming. It is two very different things, and a whole lot of people don’t take the time to even understand this before they are off on a cause of saving the Earth. You can say “A scientist believes in global warming”, but he/she may not at all agree with “man-made global warming”. That is rarely even distinguished though, and mis-understanding immediately steps in.
Glacial retreat, and ice melting, is Natural. We should all be glad this started long ago. Is the desire now only for naturally increasing permanent arctic sea ice? Apparently so. When will everyone be happy? When it gets to New York and Polar Bears are floating down the Hudson?
On a side note…don’t polar bears rip apart Sea Lions and eat them? Where are the Sea-Lion protesters? Support of Polar Bear infringes on the rights of these very loving animals to survive, increase in number, and enlarge their habitat. That, my friends, is anti-Evolutionist, and anti-Seal.
WHY DOESN’T THE MEDIA, and CNN, report all this in an objective manner? Why haven’t they reported about the 31,000 scientists and this petition? They have bought into AGW this hook, line, and sinker because it has entered the realm of politics, driven by left-wing politics and political pundets, and most of all, Al Gore, long before the scientific process has reached anything like a consensus. Liars. If the herd of humanity continues to buy this, we might as well turn off the computers, and go back to the caves. Then again, we won’t be allowed to build fires to stay warm, as they create CO2.
The alarmists’ desire to “freeze” the world’s environment, at this precise moment in time, seems to be a desire to stop natural change. If we had stopped change, and the natural global warming which began 15,000 years ago and continues to this day, aren’t we going against the wishes of mother Earth? She does what she wants, when she wants. It will go back to cooling when she wants it too. In fact, global warming has not been increasing in the last ten years. Look that up on Google.
Then again, a meteorite could hit any minute, sending us all the way of the dinosaurs, and this little “warming” issue would be evaporated. Its seems like we’ve forgotten about that possibility. Perhaps we should concern ourselves with building a defense against life-destroying asteroid impact, instead of reversing the benefits of the industrial revolution because of group-think gone mad. Indeed, what we now have is Mad-Made Global Warming, and its getting way too hot for me.
The last thing I would do is fall prey to a sympathetic television ad. Mixing emotion and science is a bad deal all the way around. But hey, doesn’t the ASPCA and the WWF know that it makes American’s feel better to sit in front of the t.v. and sniffle with their credit card in hand?
I would suggest people start doing their research from both sides before whipping out the Visa card.
And for those who say that we are mean and nasty for challenging these individuals on their cause, I say, it’s time to grow up. The world is a hard place. I give any teenager credit for wanting to take on such challenges, but they had better have their ducks in a row or people from all walks of life will take them down a notch. It’s called natural hierarchy, and its called LEARNING. Not all lessons in life are clearly spelled out on paper. Sometimes youth have to get bit before they can do the biting. You see, we are not too far off from animals….But if you don’t agree with me, then somewhere on t.v. there is a sappy commercial for you to watch. I suggest getting your Visa card so you will feel better soon. Welcome to the world kids….Please, don’t play the sympathy card. I, and many others, don’t have time for that. It’s counterproductive to the problems of this world, and there are far many other species out there who are in FAR more danger of extinction than polar bears.
I will finish by saying that if you want to thank someone for the vast numbers of polar bears in this world NOW, then you can thank hunters who follow the law, pay their money for licenses (which pays for scientific research and management), and are told by Wildlife Managers (scientists, imagine that) what needs to go to build the species for the LONG TERM. You see, basic animal management will show you that if you don’t manage them by culling, then they will soon reproduce to the point of killing themselves through starvation because they wiped out their own habitat. Don’t attack me either, do the research….
A few years ago some well meaning kids from Ontario, 1500 miles away, started a well publicized “save the Starving Horses in Alberta” campaign. Problem was no horses were starving. Some of the local ranchers weren’t amused either. It died away.
We hear from the Iniut and the elected local governments ( mainly native themselves!!! ) from the northern regions all the time. This is Canada, we live here. They are not amused at the US’ calling Polar Bears “threatened”. Having the kids go there is pointless. They won’t talk to the locals who know, their conclusions are already in place before they make the trip.
while this is a “feel good” thing you are doing, you do need to check your facts. perhaps contact the different game & fish departments where polar bears are located, and see what they say. after all, they are the professionals here. what you’ll find is that there are actually TOO MANY polar bears, and they are eating themselves out of house & home.
have fun at what you are doing, folks, but don’t take it seriously without checking out the FACTS!
Great work, but I have one concern.Sending children to the arctic actually contributes to global warming, thus hurting polar bears even more.
Teri, good idea let’s look at the larger picture. This may sound cold, but shall we explore what repercussions placing the polar bear on the threatened species list will have. First off, this will undoubtedly forever kill any chance for oil drilling in ANWR, ensuring that we will be forever dependent on countries like Venezuela and Saudi Arabia for oil. This also ensures gas prices will continue to rise and spike at much faster rates, which has far more reaching affects than you being unable to buy an SUV. Transportation costs soar, and third world countries such as Haiti and sub-sahara africa will be unable to feed its populations leading to starvation.
So, when it comes down to it, you must pick one or the other. The polar bear, which despite everyone’s newfound love of ethanol, will become extinct due to natural climate change anyways. Or humans….just some food (no pun intended) for thought.
LG seems to be the only one or few here that has some common sense here. And for all of you “We need to stop global warming” people, there’s only 0.07% Co2 in the atmosphere so if this is as bad as “global warming” gets, keep it coming.
“Please tell me why polar bears have grown 5 times since the 80s there not threatened and have grown from 5,000 to present 25,000.
31,000 plus scientist (5 times the amount who support global warming) signed a petition saying there is no evidence of global warming”
LG
Ok i generally don’t get involved in these silly online fights but i must in this case.
To Connor, Hayley, and Emma:
I applaud your efforts and respect your choice to try to make a difference in this world. If there were more kids like you in this world then maybe it wouldn’t be as messed up as it is today. Keep up the good fight for what you believe in.
To those who have a problem with these kids:
It is really good that you can point out a flaw here regarding the fact that these three kids are being cleverly-manipulated through ads that are designed to tug at the heart strings. However in every instance of you people putting these kids down you all brought up similar things how people are truly endangered which i can understand as well. But the thing is this blog wasn’t created for you to bash younger children doing something they believe in, it was designed to show America what good some outstanding young people are doing to try to better this world. If you guys want to start problems just to make yourselves feel superior. These kids are making a difference granted you don’t see it but they are and i hope that they succeed because i would hate to tell my kids that all the polar bears are gone.
In the past, animal and plant species were placed on the endangered species act based on factual evidence that their numbers were decreasing to or below critical levels and possible extinction. That is not the case for the polar bears. Their numbers have quadrupled in the last 50 years (that means there are 4 times more if you are a product of todays education system).
The polar bears have been listed as threatened based on computer models that predict catastrophic Anthropogenic (man-caused) Global Warming. None of the 20 or so global climate models used for these dire predictions take into account changes in the sun. None of them.
The sun is the source of ALL thermal energy that keeps earth from being a ball covered in ice. Current models that the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) use totally ignore recent theories and evidence linking solar wind and low cloud formation which cools the earth.
You kids should start doing some real internet research. Try http://www.icecap.us or http://www.solarcycle23.com for a start. Stay away from http://www.realcimate.org as it is a farce for information.
There is a big difference between conservationism and environmentalism. The former is a way of life and hope. The latter is a religion of self appology and hate for mankind.
Please check out http://www.icecap.us
It strikes me as funny that the people who are the most vocal in putting down the Gilberts’ venture are the ones who seem to have no cause to live their own lives. Here’s the closest I’ve found to each of them offering up a reason to strive for anything in life:
LG: “How about saving real human beings everywhere.”
Tony: “I wonder sometimes why polar bears are more important then endanger human beings? We need to set our priorities on this Planet.”
Glenn: “Folks,we have lost our minds..People’s needs should come come first…”
Tino: “Hey soon maybe we’ll have to save ourself to! How about a foundation for that ?”
David Fitzmorris: “Polar Bear populations have increased significantly since the 80’s and THERE IS NO GLOBAL CLIMATE DANGER TO THE SPECIES. Get it tree huggers.”
AI: “This is a classic example of youths/kids who act on impulse and emotion, and don’t understand the reality behind the hype. . . But I guess this looks great on the Princeton application . . .”
Booty Malone: “The great greenie propaganda machine has snaged more converts. The fact is polar bears are fine. The ice is still there. If it is warming a little it is nature not us. We are not causing a weather change.”
Notice that the most they could come up with is, if i may paraphrase, “Screw animals and the earth; humans are more important.” There is nothing productive about any of their comments. They do not present any facts to back up their claims, they do not present a clearly outlined alternative on which the Gilberts should focus their efforts, and they do not attempt to bring anything new to the discussion besides, “Stop worrying! Everything’s fine!”
I’m trying my best not to sound elitist, but it won’t work. Low-functioning humans see issues in black and white, right and wrong, good and bad. Only intelligent people can look at all sides of an issue and see them in shades of gray and with a moral ambiguity that belies America’s colonial Puritan upbringing.
The Gilberts are to be commended if for no other reason than they saw an issue that they felt was wrong with the world, researched that issue with a keener sense and judiciousness than most 16-year-olds, and they took action to address it. Forget whether you think they’re right or wrong; quite frankly, it doesn’t matter what you think. What matters is what the Gilberts think; and that’s because they’re actually doing something about it.
Do you their whole idea is a huge crock? Great! No one cares. Do you think their idea is the greatest thing since Birkenstocks and hemp necklaces? Great! No one cares. People will start caring about you when you put in the kind of effort that the Gilberts have.
I wish I had that kind of social awareness and work ethic at the age of 16. It took me two years out of college to realize that the first 24 years of my life were wasted on greed and apathy. It’s clear that the Gilberts are functioning on a higher level than much of us armchair scientists and politicians who are telling them what to do on a CNN message board.
All of you (and me) need to do some research, then get out and do something about it. Otherwise, no one cares what you think.
The polar bears are THREATENED, not endangered. And it’s not even really the bears themselves, but the habitat that they occupy. Yes, bear populations have been increasing over the last 25 years. It’s a fact. But what we are seeing now is that their habitat is being eroded away by global warming.
Personally, I think these kids have their heads in the wrong place. Instead of trying to “save the bears” through merchandising, they need to raise awareness of the UNDERLYING cause: global warming. More research needs to be done into the causes of this phenomenon, and whether we can actually stop it or not. If global warming continues, it’s more than the bears that will be threatened.
It seems to me that these kids are just a big marketing ploy. Nobody wants to see the 50yr old doctorate scientist selling things about real endangered species or global warming or pollution, or any other topic. People like fresh, young faces to market things with, and I see through this ploy: it’s a gimmick to acquire your cash. 1/2 of profits going to research… ya, that’s nice, but how much is each kid getting from each shirt sold that isn’t considered profit? How much are manufacturer’s getting, managers, and other middle-men? How much per each shirt is ACTUAL profit, and ACTUALLY donated?
If you *REALLY* want to make a difference, donate your money DIRECTLY to a known, reputable, scientific foundation that supports a cause that you want supported. Don’t buy into hype or merchandise.
Kids doing such things is great, but if they are wrong in their facts then they are WRONG and need to be corrected. No matter the effort they put in, or how good and wholesome they seem to the public.
Please don’t say that we who disagree have no causes of our own. That’s really kind of dumb. You can usually find us on the opposite side of your cause.
Much of the country is in a drought. We are constantly seeing stories about places such as my home state of NC that have been in a severe drought status until recently. The ice caps are melting, and the bears are suffering. For those of you who don’t agree, venture to the website for the NRDC. One whereby former Senator and AG’s son Bobby Kennedy is involved. We are losing time and losing Earth and the bears. Water conservation is at an all time low. Destruction of the planet in many ways is at an all time high. Is there a reason why the federal government in recents months has been ordered by federal courts to stop drilling, stop sonar off the west coast and other things? If we go into ANWR to try to get oil, it will help in 20-30 yrs. Not now. As a father of a 4 year old, I am afraid of what we will not have left on the planet in the way of resources for her generation and that of my grandchildren. I have a 94 year old grandfather who wants to know why the Earth is falling apart since the time when he was born prior to recession. Where are all the fish going, the bears, and other animals? We are killing them off. We need to stop. Hooray kids for trying to make an impact and statement.
This was the coldest spring I have been through since I was a kid (born and raised in south central Alaska) I don’t think that there is “Global Warming” and I think that the polar bears are more than fine. However, to ensure the polar bear’s survival, I think we should introduce penguines to the Arctic. If there is not enough ice for the bears and they have to go to land, there would be food there for them.
This is absolutely ridiculous. I applaud young people for doing something about an issue they care about. I think it’s a terrible shame though that this is their issue and that they’ve been fed a bunch of bunk and believe that this is worth making an issue over. The whole man-caused climate change is based on an enormous amount of speculation. I wish they had adults in their lives helping them to discern true issues of much more importance.
To all who have cited the fact that “31,000 SCIENTISTS HAVE INDEED SIGNED THE PETITION against the SCAM OF MAN-MADE GLOBAL WARMING” –
visit: http://www.sourcewatch.org/wiki.phtml?title=Oregon_Institute_of_Science_and_Medicine
for information on the institute that circulated this petition. There are too many problems with their approach to mention – they circulated an article with the petition formatted as a peer-reviewed scientific study, when in reality it was nothing of the sort. They sent this petition to graduates in any scientific field, making their expert opinions less than valid. The man behind this, Arthur Robinson, has no climatological experience himself.
To those citing this petition as a reason to check sources, i would suggest you do the same.
I agree, the warming has become an issue. I honestly think there is no hope for these animals!! The only thought i have to get DNA from cubs. This way, if there rising numbers do fall, it’s all good!
I am talking about cloning. If done from a enough young off spring, the end result is a healthy animal. This would cover all basses, If warming will kill them,because of failure to adapt we can choose to repopulate at a later date.
If the bear can make it through, and thrive in their new habitat, the DNA gets destroyed. It can also be kept in cause this issue ever comes in play again. The bears butts, would be covered.
Lets face it, the kids might raise a lot of money, but there is now way your going to stop it. The third world country’s play a big role in this. So it will have to deal with tons of politics, and for us adults we know how that works. If you raise money for the bears, i hope this can be one of the ideas to work with. WE might not stop it, but we can preserve an awesome animal here!!!!
Can anyone anywhere show me an animal put on the endangered species list that has more than quadrupled its population in the last 40 years? This is ridiculous! These kids have been brainwashed. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on the Arctic coastal plain has the highest concentration of on-shore denning polar bears in the Alaskan Arctic. The Canadian Arctic has even more, THOUSANDS in fact, of Polar Bears and they can survive quite well on land because they are fantastic hunters! If anyone doubts the hunting ability of a Polar Bear they should try to pet one!!!! The only reason this was done was so that we will not be allowed to drill anywhere a Polar Bear could have been in the last 100 years! $10/gal. gas anyone? World Bankruptcy?
If the planet is really warming slightly more every year and will continue, then their is way anyone could save them. The earth, by itself, is naturally getting warmer.
If you wanted to save their habitats you would have to completely cut human emmisions to 0%. Then you would even have to reduce the earths naturally warming trend so that it balances out by some type of machine that would take Co2 out of the atmosphere.
Now if the all the icebergs do go maybe we could make artifical floating platforms for them to live on if they dont mind the warmer climate but if the icebergs do go then flooding of major citys and the displacement from the people that live in those cities would be the top concern.
Shame that so many people are mislead by our liberal friends in the media and by politicians with an agenda to cram down our throats. Al Gore would have us all to believe that we are the reason for our own future demise and while he is flying around in his jet that consumes far more fuel than most of us probably would use in a year in our vehicle, he is setting a great example of how concerned he really is.
Not to take away from you kids, as it is good to get involved in what you feel is right, however it is wise to know as much as you can about something prior to throwing yourself in it full force and promoting without knowing all the facts. Research the facts for yourself, do not settle for what someone is telling you.
I am no scientist, nor am I a doctor, but I am bright enough to be able to read statistics and see things for myself. Cyclic changes have taken place since long before man made pollutant’s. Do a little research on cyclic changes and warming periods of the earth and find out what the reasons for them were back many many years ago.
While it is a fact that polar ice at the arctic is not what it once was, the ice at the opposite pole is growing. If in fact global warming was the reason, don’t you think the ice at the opposite pole would also be melting rather than increasing? Global warming is a farce!
You kids are to be commended for your efforts. Facts, not emotions, should be the basis to conclusions. Too many people run wild with emotions driving them.
A misguided organization!
I guess they did not think about all the carbon emissions and all the resulting environmental pollution they are causing by taking all these unnecessary flights to the North Pole.
For all the money that is spent on travel to the North Pole, the money would have been better spent on other education activities.
Can someone please show me some evidence that polar bears are actually endangered? Otherwise I would say stop worrying about it and don’t believe everything the government tells you.
You guys are doing an awesome and amazing thing.
Truly an inspiration to me and i’m sure, to many other teens out there.
I am a proud supporter of your organization, and i’d like to wish you the
best of luck with your future endeavors. Keep up the great work!
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I LOVE it! and I LOVE POLAR BEARS! I think this is a wonderful idea for a serious cause. Please send me the website so that I can purchase a shirt to support Polar Bears. I dont care what anyone says…polar bears are endangered. Does anyone watch the discovery channel? They have an Alaska Expedition show where they had a photograph of the ice caps in Alaska from approximately 20 years ago or older and revisted the same location on the photo and re-photographed the ice caps and the majority of it has melted!!! I mean drastically melted! this is soooo sad. The Polar Bears are really suffering from this. It is becoming a struggle for them to catch fish to eat because they ice has melted so much. It has been said that Polar Bears and brown bears have mated and have created a hybrid bear that could possibly become the species after the polar bears have died off. These hybrid bears are a combination of both types of bear that can survive a combination of both environments. This is horrible. We got to do what we can to preserve the POLAR BEAR species. Please send me information on your site so that I can purchase a shirt.
http://hateitorloveit.typepad.com/hate_it_or_love_it