Some excerpts from article on Arctic Nation coalition:
Arctic Nations Link Polar Bear Survival to Climate Protection 
TROMSO, Norway, March 20, 2009 (ENS) - Five nations obliged by treaty to
conserve polar bears have resolved to link the future of the species to
urgent global action on climate change. 
The polar bear range states - Canada, Denmark/Greenland, Norway, Russia
and the United States - in 1973 signed the legally binding Agreement on
the Conservation of Polar Bears, agreeing to protect the white bears and
their habitat. They gathered in Tromso for three days this week, their
first meeting since 2007. 
"We are very encouraged by the final declaration from this meeting,” says
Geoff York, polar bear coordinator for WWF International’s Arctic
Program. 
"We were concerned that some countries were lagging behind the others in
their commitment to dealing with climate change, but ultimately, the
parties recognized climate change as the primary threat to the future
well-being of polar bears," said York. 
"They also recognized formally "the urgent need for an effective global
response that will address the challenges of climate change,” to be
addressed at gatherings such as the meeting of the UN Framework
Convention on Climate Change in December in Copenhagen where a successor
agreement to the Kyoto 
"Climate change also makes the polar bear more vulnerable to other
threats such as hazardous chemicals, hunting, disturbances and
encroachment upon their natural habitat," he said. 
"Many polar bear populations are shared between neighboring countries,
and polar bears migrate across national borders. This means that
activities in one area may affect polar bears in other countries. Climate
change and increased industrial activity in many parts of the Arctic
therefore requires reinforced international cooperation on the management
of polar bears, 
At this week's three day meeting the polar bear range states also agreed
to come up with a circumpolar action plan for the management of bears,
and to formally designate the Polar Bear Specialist Group of the
International Union for the Conservation of Nature, IUCN, as the
scientific advisory body to the Agreement. 
These measures were proposed by WWF in advance of the meeting, York said.

"Although we are generally very pleased with the meeting outcome, this is
by no means the end of the story - it is the start on the path to polar
bear survival,” he said 
Polar bears rely almost entirely on the marine sea ice environment for
their survival so that large scale changes in their habitat will impact
the population. 
Sea ice has declined considerably over the past half century. Additional
declines of roughly 10–50 percent of annual sea ice are predicted by
2100. 
The summer sea ice is projected to decrease by 50–100 percent during the
same period. In addition the quality of the remaining ice will decline.
This change may also have a negative effect on the population size,
scientists say. 
"Due to their long generation time and the current greater speed of
global warming, it seems unlikely that polar bear will be able to adapt
to the current warming trend in the Arctic," the IUCN says, adding, "If
climatic trends continue polar bears may become extirpated from most of
their range within 100 years." 
Other stress factors that affect polar bear survival are toxic
contaminants, shipping, recreational viewing, oil and gas exploration and
development. In addition, the IUCN says, there is a potential risk of
over-harvest due to increased quotas, excessive quotas or no quotas in
Canada and Greenland and poaching in Russia. 
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