For the Polar Bears

I recently watched “To the Arctic” in Imax 3-D.  The story details the general plight of the polar bears, and specifically follows the journey of one particular mama polar bear and her two cubs.  It’s one of those stories that not only tugs at your heart strings, it rips them out.  Tears for sure.  It shows how global warming has dwindled the Arctic ice over the past 20 years, and this affects the polars because they use ice as their main hunting grounds, so the less ice, the less hunting, the less food.  The ice situation is so rough that one mother bear swam for 9 days straight searching for food so her family could eat.  That’s an expression of love so powerful, so beautiful that even we humans can respect and admire, but sadly that example of love is indicative of the pollutional abuse wrecked upon this our one and only earth.  After watching the film, I felt so troubled, so bothered because solving this problem seems way too daunting, it seems like a foregone conclusion.  I still feel that way, but I also don’t wanna give up, even in the face of impossibility.  Besides, I’m not alone in this struggle.  If our accumulated individual actions brought the world to this point, then maybe our collective efforts can bring the world to a better point.  Lots of little things can add up to big things, like eating less beef (because methane from cows and fertilizers used in farming contributes to the warming of the ozone), and writing government people about environmental issues (i.e. you can ask your city officials to ban plastic bags), and using more efficient means of transportation – carpooling, mass transit, bicycles, walking.  It might be too late for any of this to matter, but if a polar bear can swim for 9 days straight without giving up, then the least we can do is make some small sacrifices here and there. 

For more info check out polar bears international and this care2