Friday, April 14, 2006; Posted: 11:14 a.m. EDT (15:14 GMT)
LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- Two U.S. explorers plan to start a four-month summer expedition to the North Pole next month to gather information on the habitat of an animal they believe could be the first victim of global warming -- the polar bear.
Lonnie Dupre and Eric Larsen plan to travel 1,100 miles by foot and canoe over the Arctic Ocean to test the depth and density of the ice in summer in a mission sponsored by Greenpeace, the environmental group said on Thursday.
***
Polar bears cannot survive without sea ice and the U.S. government said in February it would consider whether the bears should be protected under the Endangered Species Act.
***
The polar bear population fell 14 percent to just 950 in the 10 years to 2004, according to Greenpeace and the Natural Resources Defense Council.
more:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/science/04/14/polar.bear.mission.reut/index.htmlSoon to be homeless and starving?