claim: The polar bear population has been growing. Polar bears are thriving even where sea ice is diminishing.
evidence: We’ve long known that sea ice is an important platform for polar bears to hunt and raise young, but it turns out that the ice itself also carries a valuable energy source. [...] If you’re now picturing massive jaws chowing down on a crunchy icy meal covered in green slime, no, that’s not it. Polar bears do not eat sea ice directly. Instead, researchers found that the majority of polar bears’ diet is made up of critters that ultimately depend on sea-ice algae as a food source. Their study examined polar bears from Baffin Bay, western Hudson Bay, and southern Hudson Bay. [...] Sea ice is already known as important habitat for polar bears. "But what if we’re not seeing the whole picture, and what if sea ice is more important than we’re giving it credit for?" says Brown. "Less sea ice means less habitat, not only for polar bears but, importantly, also for the sea ice microorganisms that form a big part of the very base of the bear’s food chain," he says.