Photo taken by Ansgar Walk Polar Bear at Cape Churchill (Wapusk National Park, Manitoba, Canada) image:39386:7::0

The polar bear is the first animal to be added to the list of threatened animals as a result of global warming. In Canada the bears are already listed as a species of "special concern."

Surveys ordered by Dirk Kempthorne, the U.S. Interior Secretary shows that the sea ice is even less than earlier models had predicted they would be.

If the ice continues to melt as rapidly as it is now the polar bear will be down to two-thirds of their now dwindling population by 2050.

There are an estimated 25,000 polar bears is in the Arctic now. Most of those live in the 30 million acres of the Alaska's Chukchi Sea. That area is about to be auctioned off for oil and gas exploration by the United States.

The World Wildlife Federation and other environmentalists had been after the U.S. to add the polar bear to the endangered species list prior to the auction which would allow for additional protections added to the sales agreements.