Photo by Observe the Banana

Yahoo has got a new Buzz article up about all the baby seals that will die this season as a result of global warming. The World Wildlife Fund is reporting out of Germany that the loss of arctic ice will severely hamper the babies’ development, but the fight over the Arctic circle is just as much to blame.

It’s true that arctic ice is vitally important in the first few months of life, but that’s true for many mammals living there - not just the cuddly and cute ones. Polar bears, seals, and arctic foxes all use ice-dens and their mother’s heat for shelter while they wait for warmer weather and develop the layers of fat and fur needed to survive in that climate. This is especially important for the seals, whose blubber is the only thing insulating them against the icy waters.

However, every organism in the arctic is threatened at the moment, and during all this pandering, nothing is really being done. We need to look at the broader scope of this issue - whether you believe global warming is real or not, and natural or not, the arctic ice IS melting and the whole area is going to be endangered.

Still, the race for arctic resources and the Bush administration’s constant threats to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska prevail - one of the most unique and most threatened ecosystems on Earth is ineligible for protection because of the potentially profitable resources it contains.

The difference between conservation and preservation is simple, but makes an essential difference in this situation: preservation says leave things like they are, completely untouched, while conservation tries to balance the needs of the people and the wildlife. There are ways in which business and wildlife can coexist, even in the arctic circle, but as long as both sides believe that protection of the animals means that industry must stay out, we’ll have situations like these where industry simply wins, unchecked.

When there’s no middle-ground, the animals always lose. It is the argument over industry, not the industry itself, that is leaving the baby seals out in the cold.

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