Science predicts as many as 15,000 polar bears could die as a result of climate change melting ice caps. But a
federal judge wrote he was powerless to substitute his judgment for the US Fish & Wildlife Service which found the bear to be "threatened" under the federal
Endangered Species Act and not "endangered" which would afford them the Act's maximum protection. Judge Sullivan upheld the agency's determination saying it was operating at "the edge of science". Plaintiff conservation groups including NRDC and Greenpeace wanted the federal government to extend the bear an endangered finding since their evidence shows the polar bears is already headed toward eventual extinction. Their population across the Arctic is now around 25,000. Despite the grim outlook, the state of Alaska argued that the polar bear should not be protected at all given the current health of the species. Trophy hunting continues unabated. Scientists are all but certain the Arctic Ocean will be ice free in the summertime by 2030. 2011 is on course to break the all time record for lowest ice coverage set in 2007.
