Polar Bear Prediction 🐻‍❄️☀️ (Groundhog Day)

It’s #GroundhogDay, and while others consider groundhogs the experts on weather predictions, your Toronto Zoo has decided the best-equipped animals to make weather predictions are those most impacted by weather and climate changes ❄️ Juno the Polar Bear has stepped up and made a prediction about when we can expect some warmer weather! To no one’s surprise, this arctic bear has predicted late spring for this year. While this may not seem like good news in the wake of a very cold January, this is good news for our planet, as shifting seasonal patterns have serious consequences for Arctic species like the polar bear 🐻‍❄️ When we burn fossil fuels like coal, oil and methane gas for energy, we release carbon dioxide gas into the atmosphere. This excess carbon dioxide builds up, acting like a heat-trapping blanket, warming the air, land and ocean. As this heat trapping blanket thickens, causing the climate to warm, the melting of arctic sea ice poses a threat to these communities as well as the polar bears that call it home. Sea ice is crucial habitat for polar bear reproduction, hunting, and migration; and without it, it dramatically lowers the polar bear's chances of survival putting them at risk for extinction. Sadly, in 2024 the Southern Hudson Bay population of polar bears were off the sea ice for a record-breaking 197 days. This means the polar bears are stuck on land, fasting for over 6 months, and can lose up to 1kg (or ~2.2lbs) per day, which can equal half their body weight per year. Changes to sea ice also impact the livelihoods and food security of people living in the Arctic tundra and threatens transportation corridors. Climate-driven loss of the permafrost is causing severe damage to homes and infrastructure in surrounding communities 💨 Test your Climate IQ for a chance to WIN a behind-the-scenes experience with the polar bears at your Toronto Zoo! Discover how climate change is impacting their Arctic habitat and enter by March 1, 2025, for your chance to win: https://woobox.com/tev7c3