Day 48: Have you hugged a polar bear today?

Have you seen the Nissan Leaf commercial?  It follows a polar bear as he takes a journey from his native icy waters, through forests and greenery, into civilization.  It is a beautiful video, and yet as you watch him sleep in a man-made concrete tunnel, and lap water from a puddle on a sidewalk, or walking through farmland with an 18-wheeler driving by, the stark realization is that it isn't right.  He shouldn't be here in our concrete jungle.  He should be at home.  Swimming in cold waters.  Resting on icebergs.  Rolling around in the snow.  It kinda chokes me up, thinking about how we are impacting this beautiful creature.

But there is good news.  Steps are being taken to protect this animal.  On November 24, the day before Thanksgiving, President Obama's administration "finalized the designation of 187,000 square miles of "critical habitat" for the polar bear...Protecting polar bear habitat, the offshore sea ice that bears rely on to find food and mates and the onshore areas where they rest and raise their young, is vital to conserving these magnificent creatures."  This is a first step, with the hope that this will protect these animals and others living in that habitat from the "threats associated with oil development and toxic contaminants." switchboard.nrdc.org

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