National Geographic News, Reporting Your World Daily

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Photo: Polar Bears Proposed for U.S. Endangered Species List


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A polar bear climbs on ice floes in Canada's Northwest Territories. The U.S. government today proposed listing polar bears as threatened with extinction under the Endangered Species Act because the animals' sea ice habitat is melting.

Scientists have linked the ice loss to human-caused global warming—raising the prospect that the proposal could eventually lead to federal curbs on greenhouse gas emissions.

Photograph by Flip Nicklin/NGS