Move polar bears to Antarctica to find ice

[Rog]

This has to be one of the more bizarre things I've come across lately.

f the most dire climate predictions come to pass, the Arctic ice cap will melt entirely, and polar bears could face extinction. So why not pack a few off to Antarctica, where the sea ice will never run out? It may seem like a preposterous question. But polar bears are just the tip of the "assisted colonization" iceberg.

Last-Ditch Resort: Move Polar Bears to Antarctica?

[Andrea]

What an odd decision. Surely you can't just dump a species in a whole new environment? I know they look quite similar but there must be some big differences between the two poles.

[include]

Geez that does sound random. Lets just hope it doesn't come to that!

[Karl]

Yes, and then there would be issues raised on the impacts to the native biodiversity of Antarctica, since these Arctic polar bears would be exotic (non-native) species in the Southern Hemisphere.

There was a time when (albeit less extreme) versions of these practices were the norm; however, based on impressions from positions that they usually take on these matters, it would seem that modern day conservationists would be unable to support such a measure in principle.

In any case, who can say that the sea ice will never "run out" in Antarctica? It has been alleged that there was a time in the past when that continent was ice-free, and was inhabited by dinosaurs.

[Karl]

Some other researchers suggesting solutions of this nature (albeit in a more general sense)

Moving species threatened by climate change - environmentalresearchweb

Many species are struggling to adapt to climate change as their preferred temperature conditions shift to higher latitudes or higher altitudes. In some cases, populations are unable to migrate because of natural barriers, such as large expanses of water, or manmade barriers like areas of cultivated land or cities. Also, the organisms may simply not be able to migrate fast enough to keep up with changing conditions.

Now, researchers from Australia, the US and the UK say that moving species that are threatened with extinction by climate change to new habitats could be an important conservation option. “This strategy flies in the face of conventional conservation approaches,” they write in a policy forum in Science. “The world is littered with examples where moving species beyond their current range into natural and agricultural landscapes has had negative impacts. Understandably, notions of deliberately moving species are regarded with suspicion.”

But the team believes that keeping species within their natural biogeographic region, as well as today’s more detailed scientific understanding, could help avoid some of these problems.“Moving species carries potential risk to other species, as well as benefits to the species being moved, so we have to be careful to weigh up the pros and cons on a case by case basis,” said Chris Thomas of the University of York, UK. “But not to act may represent a decision to allow a species to dwindle to extinction.”

[include]

Just seems a bit arrogant that we can engineer nature like this.

[altyfc]

Save the polar bears and, in the process, we'll no doubt make penguins extinct...

We really shouldn't meddle sometimes.