The End of Polar Bears?

This is pretty depressing. Brace yourselves.

"The Interior Department has decided to protect the polar bear as a threatened species because of the decline in Arctic sea ice from global warming, officials said Wednesday...

The department, in deciding to list the bear as threatened, will cite studies by its own scientists that the decline of Arctic sea ice off Alaska and Canada could result in two-thirds of the polar bears disappearing by mid-century, said federal officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision had not been announced.

This is the first time that the Endangered Species Act has been used to protect a species threatened by the impacts of global warming."

-H. Josef Herbert, AP