evidence: Often photographed clinging to Arctic ice floes as its habitat melts away into warming waters, the polar bear is the poster child for U.S. efforts to save wildlife on the brink of extinction using the Endangered Species Act. [...] When the George W. Bush administration listed the polar bear as threatened in 2008, it helped raise public awareness about the connection between global warming and the plight of iconic wildlife. But the Bush administration stipulated that the listing could not be used to regulate the greenhouse gas emissions that are causing the polar bear’s habitat to melt away. "The polar bear was the first species protected under the Endangered Species Act solely because of threats from global warming," said Shaye Wolf, climate science director for the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group. "The listing not only raised public awareness that climate change is already driving vulnerable species like the polar bear toward extinction, but also forced the Bush administration to adopt the consensus view of the world’s scientists on global warming."