Contrary to public opinion: Polar bears are not actually going extinct due to climate change. But they are suffering major threats. (Photo: Wikimedia)

Feature

Arctic warming alert moves on from polar bear symbol

Green Economy

Nordics

by Martin Breum, Reykjavik,

Contrary to public opinion: Polar bears are not actually going extinct due to climate change. But they are suffering major threats. (Photo: Wikimedia)

The widespread image of the polar bear and the threat of its extinction is perhaps the world's most powerful image of climate change, but for at least one of the large environmentalist groups behind it, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) this image has become a dilemma.

According to UN scientific assessments the polar bear does not face extinction, and the common understanding that it does now stands in the way of more nuanced communication about climate change in the Arctic.

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