Polar bears pose new threat

A researcher at the Polar Institute in Tromsø, Norway, predicts polar bears around the Svalbard Islands off Norway’s Arctic coast will become more aggressive as the climate warms.

Andrew Derocher of the Polar Institute told the Norwegian newspaper Nordlys that it’s just a matter of time before summer ice in the Svalbard area disappears as a result of global warming.

This will make it more difficult for polar bears to hunt for food, such as seals, he said. As a result, the animals will be forced to find new hunting grounds and be more likely to enter human settlements.

This spring, a man returning to his cabin found that it had been taken over by a group of polar bears.