Rising temperatures and rapidly melting sea ice threaten polar bears across the Arctic. But the bears living 800 miles north of the Arctic Circle have stayed surprisingly fat, researchers report January 29 in Scientific Reports.
The Arctic is home to 20 populations of polar bears. Each group faces its own set of struggles — climate change, shifts in prey and human activity, among other factors. But loss of sea ice is one of the biggest threats to all polar bears. The bears use sea ice, which grows during winter and retreats in the summer, to hunt. Typically, when sea ice goes away, polar bears get thinner. If polar bears