Spring 2008 - Ian Stirling Consequences of Climate Warming on Polar Bears and Seals in Western Hudson Bay and the High Arctic May 11th, 2008
Full audio: runs 1:01:00, introductory remarks by Sally Otto, Wayne Maddison, and Kathy Martin. Click play to listen or download the MP3 file.
Global climate change is causing sea ice in Western Hudson Bay to break up earlier than it used to, and the polar bear population there is in decline as a result. Reductions in ice cover elsewhere in the Arctic are affecting other polar bear and seal populations in ways scientists do not yet fully understand. Come hear one of the world's experts on polar bear behavior, ecology, and
conservation speak about the future of Canada's most charismatic Arctic inhabitants.
Presented in conjunction with the Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution conference 2008
Ian Stirling is a Scientist Emeritus with the Canadian Wildlife Service and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Alberta. He has done research on
polar bears and seals for 42 years, particularly in the areas of ecology, behaviour, evolution, relationships between polar bears and seals, the
biological importance of areas of open water in sea ice, and the conservation and management of polar marine mammals and ecosystems.
For his work, he has won the Northern Science Award and been made an Officer in the Order of Canada and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.
He participates in a number of national and international committees on polar bears and marine mammals and has authored or co-authored over 200
scientific articles and 3 books.
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