Low mid-winter polar bear habitat in Barents Sea spawns warnings of more human-bear conflicts
Posted on February 17, 2023 |
There’s abundant sea ice in the Bering, Greenland and Labrador Seas, although less than usual in the Barents Sea because strong winds drove the ice north. Any time there is a bit less sea ice than usual the catastrophists begin caterwauling but this time the rhetoric is a little different.
Overall
At 14 Feb 2023, courtesy NSIDC Masie
Pretty typical for this time of year except for the Barents Sea (more details below) and the Gulf of St. Lawrence in eastern Canada (where there are no bears).
Greenland Sea and the Barents Sea
At 15 February 2023, courtesy Norwegian Ice Service
Strong winds–not melting ice–pushed ice north of Svalbard towards the pole and opened up a polynya north of Franz Josef Land caused a record low for sea ice in the Barents Sea on 13 February:
https://polarbearscience.com/2023/02/17/low-mid-winter-polar-bear-habitat-in-barents-sea-spawns-warnings-of-more-human-bear-conflicts/
