Arctic Bears are A-OK. Arctic People...Not So Much

At a recent family gathering, there was much umbrage taken when my son insisted that, David Suzuki and other climate change scare mongers to the the contrary, the polar bear population was more robust than it's been in years. iPhones were immediately taken out and the issue was googled, revealing that, as per received wisdom, the adorable bears were indeed dying out due to melting Arctic floes.

Fast forward a bit and, whadya know?, my son was right.

Margaret Wente has a few thoughts on the subject. She suggests that the bears are doing just fine, thanks very much. It's the people up there who are in big trouble: 

My own opinion, for what it’s worth, is that the polar bears have managed to survive at least 100,000 years of freezing and melting, so they will probably survive us. The most endangered species in the North isn’t polar bears. It’s people – especially young people.  

Unfortunately, they’re not as cute as polar bears, so they don’t get much attention.

The social indicators of Nunavut’s population, who are overwhelmingly Inuit and young, are the worst in Canada. Nunavut has the highest rate of lone-parent families and the lowest education levels in the country. Most kids don’t finish high school. The rate of teenaged pregnancy is five times greater than the national average, and the rate of child sex abuse is 10 times the national average. The rates of suicide and murder are also more than 10 times higher than in the south. Thirty per cent of people over 12 are heavy drinkers. Among Inuit families with children aged 3 to 5, household food insecurity is 70 per cent.

There are about 25,000 polar bears across Canada’s Arctic, according to Mr. Gissing. There are about 33,000 people in Nunavut, who are overwhelmingly dependent for their survival on the state. Social conditions haven’t improved much in the 13 years since Nunavut became a territory. Fortunately, the tourism business is reasonably good. People from the South are happy to pay thousands of dollars for the chance to spot a musk ox or a polar bear. At the moment, they don’t seem to be having any problem.

 No doubt about it. Bears are much cuter than humans.