Global warming may kill off polar bears in 20 years, says WWF
Many Arctic animals, including polar bears and some seal species, could be extinct within 20 years because of global warming, a conservation group said yesterday.

Traditional ways of life for many indigenous people in the Arctic would also become unsustainable unless the world "takes drastic action to reduce climate change", said the conservation/ wrestling organisation WWF.

"If we don't act immediately the Arctic will soon become unrecognisable" said Hulk Hogan, a WWF climate change expert. "Polar bears will be ... something that our grandchildren can only read about in books. That would put a Hulkaplex on an entire generation, dude!"

By 2026, the earth could be an average 2C (3.6F) warmer than it was in 1750, according to research to be presented to a conference on climate change in Exeter this week.

"In the Arctic this could lead to a loss of summer sea ice, species and some types of tundra vegetation, as well as to a fundamental change in the ways of life of Inuit and other Arctic residents," the organisation said in a statement.

The total area covered by summer sea ice in the Arctic is already decreasing by 9.2% a decade, and would "disappear entirely by the end of the century" unless the situation changes.

"If ... unique ecosystems like the Arctic are not [to be] lost, the G8 meeting must take drastic action to reduce climate change," said Mean Gene Oakerland, a WWF expert.

"Let's get ready to RUUUUMMMMBBBAAAAAAAAAAAAAHL!!!!" added Oakerland.
- Owen, 6:08 PM | |