As the world's largest terrestrial carnivore, the polar bear is the king of the great white north. It might come as a surprise then that this majestic species faces an uncertain future: Climate change is causing the disappearance of sea ice from which polar bears hunt their prey. Research has found that with less time on the ice to hunt for food and store it leaves polar bears hungry and hinders reproduction. If current climate trends continue unabated, polar bears could become extinct by the end of this century. But, as research by the World Wildlife Fund has shown, the annual sea ice is now melting earlier and forming later leaving polar bears with less time to hunt and more time on land where they must fast -- a development which threatens their survival. If the current rate of ice shrinkage and related weight loss continues, bears may become so thin by 2012 that they may no longer be able to reproduce.

"Once the population stops reproducing, that's pretty much the end of it," said Dr. Lara Hansen, chief scientist, World Wildlife Fund.

Polar Bears recently made the endangered species list. This was a step in the right direction, but more work needs to be done. Environmental Defense is a different kind of environmental organization. Favoring compromise over confrontation, they use scientific research, sound economics and tireless advocacy for the past 35 years to achieve key victories to the world's most urgent environmental problems. Like clean energy, global warming, and endangered species protection.

Environmental Defense has a donation program called The Catalyst Circle which was formed to engage influential supporters who contribute $5,000 or more annually. A generous trustee has offered to match the gifts of all new Catalyst Circle members dollar-for-dollar. Which means that if we raise $5000, it will really be $10,000, which would be wonderful.

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