A polar bear story: climate change for children
Carla the polar bear walked along on the ice, hungrily searching for food. Her normal
hunting grounds had recently melted, and she swam for a day and a half in order to reach this ice
floe. Carla was very tired and wondered if there were any seals around. She peered over the edge
of the ice into the smooth, dark water. Nothing. Carla continued to walk, thinking about her food
options. One time, she got so hungry that she had to eat some kelp floating in the water. She
hoped it wouldn’t come to that this time. Carla hated kelp.
Carla’s big paws crunched through the snow. Exhaustion soaked through her fur and skin
to her very bones. She would like nothing better than to find a nice ice cave to curl up in, but
Carla’s hunger won out over her desire for sleep. The Arctic sun shone weakly overhead as Carla
trudged onward. If she didn’t find something to eat soon, things would get ugly.
Suddenly, Carla heard a strange noise. She raised her large head, and saw some very
strange creatures standing still, watching her. They were unlike any she had seen before; nothing
she had encountered on her Arctic roamings came close to these odd beings. For starters, they
stood on two legs. Carla had only seen that when male bears fought each other. The strangers
also had fur on their heads, but not the rest of their bodies. Instead, they were covered in colorful
puffy skin. Carla did not understand how such thin creatures could survive the cold. She was
curious, but not sure if she should take a closer look. She decided to test and see if they were
friendly creatures.
Carla let out a low, rumbling growl that made the newcomers move away. They opened
their mouths and Carla heard very high pitched, weak noises. Such skinny, quiet things couldn’t
possibly be dangerous, she thought. They reminded her a bit of the nervous seals she liked to
hunt. Maybe they knew where she could find food. Maybe they were food. Either way, Carla
figured they weren’t a threat, so she lumbered curiously towards them.
The skinny creatures took a few more steps back as they watched Carla approach. Once
again, Carla heard the odd noises coming from their mouths. She had no idea what they were
saying, but continued to walk in their direction.
Out of nowhere, Carla felt a sharp poke in her back leg. Turning her head to see what
happened, she spotted a creature kneeling on the ground, pointing a stick at her. She tried to run,
but suddenly felt very slow and sleepy. Carla fell over onto the ice as she watched the other two
creatures run towards her.
Carla opened her eyes and found herself alone on the ice once again. The creatures were
nowhere in sight as Carla struggled to her feet. She noticed there was something around her
neck, but she could not see it. Slowly, she walked to the edge of the ice and looked at herself in
the water. It seemed there was a ring of some kind around her neck. Carla shook her head
vigorously, trying to get the thing off, but that did not work. After a few more unsuccessful
attempts, Carla gave up; it was not that uncomfortable anyway. But she was still hungry. The
need for food was more important than what had just happened.
A few moments later, Carla spotted some movement in the water. Finally, a meal! She
waited until the small seal resurfaced for air, then dove swiftly after it, pulling her catch back
onto the ice. At long last Carla had some food, and she continued wandering across the ice. The
ocean stretched out in front of her, open water without the typical chunks of floating ice. Carla
knew there was more food out further, but there was no easy way to hunt out there without the
ice floes. And as good of a swimmer that Carla was, there was no telling how far away the next
ice floe was. She would just have to continue on, in hope of better hunting grounds.
Of course, Carla could not know that she had been tagged by scientists. The thing around
her neck was in fact a satellite collar sending information to the scientists about Carla’s
movements around the Arctic.
The lives and habitats of polar bears are changing due to the effects of global warming.
As more of the Arctic ice melts, polar bears’ hunting habits become increasingly difficult. Like
Carla, they have to swim for longer periods of time in order to get from ice platform to ice
platform, and this can become dangerous. The more we know about these animals and their
movements, the more we can do to help prevent them from becoming endangered.