Video of dying polar bear reminds us why climate change is mad sad

A polar bear was so emaciated that it had to crawl on its knees before sticking its head into a rusted oil drum for some old and moldy human food — a torturing bite that would only give a couple more hours of life.

Put yourself in the same position. Crawling on the ground of a barren tundra with hard rocks trying to squeeze between whatever crevice of bone and cartilage your body has managed to salvage.

Who knows how far you’ve traveled? All you know what used to be is no longer and all that means is death for you.

Put yourself in this polar bears paws and press play on the IG video below.

My entire @Sea_Legacy team was pushing through their tears and emotions while documenting this dying polar bear. It’s a soul-crushing scene that still haunts me, but I know we need to share both the beautiful and the heartbreaking if we are going to break down the walls of apathy. This is what starvation looks like. The muscles atrophy. No energy. It’s a slow, painful death. When scientists say polar bears will be extinct in the next 100 years, I think of the global population of 25,000 bears dying in this manner. There is no band aid solution. There was no saving this individual bear. People think that we can put platforms in the ocean or we can feed the odd starving bear. The simple truth is this—if the Earth continues to warm, we will lose bears and entire polar ecosystems. This large male bear was not old, and he certainly died within hours or days of this moment. But there are solutions. We must reduce our carbon footprint, eat the right food, stop cutting down our forests, and begin putting the Earth—our home—first. Please join us at @sea_legacy as we search for and implement solutions for the oceans and the animals that rely on them—including us humans. Thank you your support in keeping my @sea_legacy team in the field. With @CristinaMittermeier #turningthetide with @Sea_Legacy #bethechange #nature #naturelovers This video is exclusively managed by Caters News. To license or use in a commercial player please contact info@catersnews.com or call +44 121 616 1100 / +1 646 380 1615”

A post shared by Paul Nicklen (@paulnicklen) on Dec 5, 2017 at 8:52am PST

Heart-wrenching isn’t it? Well, blame me, blame us, but most importantly blame yourself.

Blame yourself for not giving a rat’s ass about climate change and how together as a country and as a species in general we have neglected climate change and its effect on the polar bear’s environment.

Because of climate change, an endangered species will become extinct if there isn’t a change in policy and human behavior.

Why? When sea ice forms over the ocean in cold weather polar bears head out onto the ice to hunt seals, which are a primary source of the polar bear’s diet.

Video by @PaulNicklen // Earlier this week, we shared a heartbreaking video of a starving polar bear. It was incredibly hard to watch, and impossibly sad to endure filming, but it provides an important perspective into the future for polar bears. Unless we curb carbon emissions and pursue solutions to achieve drawdown, this is the grim fate for species. The good news is that a wide array of both proven and promising new solutions already exist. Reforesting the oceans and restarting natural nutrient cycles can drawdown carbon, deacidify and cool surface waters, at the same time as producing sustainable food and biofuel. @Sea_Legacy went to the Canadian Arctic to document the effects of climate change. We found them. We also found healthy bears. Follow us and join The Tide (link in bio) to see the good, the bad and the ugly, but mostly the beautiful animals we pursue protection for. #TurningTheTide

A post shared by SeaLegacy #TurningTheTide (@sea_legacy) on Dec 9, 2017 at 11:34am PST

Atop of the sea ice, polar bears wait for their prey to surface for air. The effects of climate change are melting the sea ice earlier and causing them to re-form later than ever before.

Do the math sheeple. A lack of sea ice equals a lack of food. Ultimately leading to the extinction of the polar bear.

Dig deep and believe that this is really happening and not a scare tactic. If we don’t do something soon humans could be next.

After all, how long do the fit really survive?