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Polar Bears Are Turning To Cannibalism As Arctic Ice Disappears | Polar bears are now being observed by scientists resorting to cannibalism, and expect to see more as Arctic sea ice declines. In “Observations of cannibalism by polar bears (Ursus maritimus) on summer and autumn sea ice at Svalbard, Norway,” published in the journal Arctic, polar bear biologist Ian Stirling and photojournalist Jenny Ross describe seeing three different killings and cannibalism of polar bear cubs by adult males, a known behavioral response to food scarcity. At the American Geophysical Union conference in San Francisco, Ross described the kills, showing her photographs of one of the most gruesome signals of global warming.

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Bush-Era Climate Pollution Exclusion Struck Down From Polar Bear Endangerment Rule | A federal judge has ruled that the Bush administration erred in protecting global warming polluters from its 2008 polar bear endangerment finding. After years of litigation, the Department of the Interior found that polar bears are threatened with extinction by climate change, but added a “4(d) rule” that precluded the Endangered Species Act from applying to the pollution that causes climate change. “U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan ruled that the Department of the Interior violated the environmental review provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act when it issued a special rule that excluded from regulation activities occurring outside the range of the polar bear,” the environmental groups involved in the lawsuit write. “However, the court also held that Interior had broad discretion when crafting species-specific rules and therefore did not substantively violate the Endangered Species Act in adopting the exemption for the polar bear.”

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Witch-Hunt Suspension Of Polar Bear Scientist Lifted | Dr. Charles Monnett, the Arctic wildlife biologist who has been under an ideologically motivated investigation by the Department of Interior Office of the Inspector General, had his administrative suspension lifted. “During his paid leave, he was forbidden from doing any work, speaking to colleagues or entering any Interior offices.” The leave was ordered by Bureau of Ocean Energy director Michael Bromwich six weeks ago and rescinded yesterday.

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BP Security Guard Shoots, Kills Polar Bear | A security guard shot and killed a polar bear at a BP facility in Alaska’s North Slope this month after the bear approached the company’s employee housing units. The guard is calling the incident an accident, saying he thought he was firing a bean bag round, not a lethal projectile. It’s illegal to kill polar bears as they are a “threatened species,” and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is investigating the shooting. The Center for Biological Diversity is also looking into potential legal action if the federal government does not prosecute. “We dearly wish it had not happened,” a BP spokesperson said, “but it’s not a trend or a population impact.” BP and other oil companies, however, are contributing the deaths of polar bears indirectly as climate change destroys their habitat.

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Persecution Of Polar Bear Scientist Continues | The Interior Department Office of Inspector General interviewed arctic scientist Dr. Charles Monnett yesterday, focusing on “the scientific merit of a seven-page note authored by Dr. Monnett and a colleague published in the peer-reviewed journal Polar Biology in 2006 which reported sightings of drowned polar bears in open waters following a storm.” The politically charged investigation of the scientist has led to his suspension and a temporary stop-work order for Arctic research, right as Interior granted Shell provisional rights to drill in the Arctic Ocean. Bureau of Ocean Energy director Michael Bromwich claimed earlier that the suspension of Dr. Monnett “had nothing to do with his scientific work, or anything relating to a five-year old journal article.”

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As Interior Weighs Arctic Drilling, It Suspended Polar Bear Tracking | The Department of Interior’s director of its offshore energy bureau, Michael Bromwich, denied that Arctic scientist Charles Monnett was suspended because of questions over the integrity of his work studying how global warming is leading to the extinction of polar bears. New documents show that Monnett, placed on leave on July 18, was suspended over his work managing a polar bear tracking study, entitled “Populations and Sources of Recruitment in Polar Bears.” A stop-work order was issued for the study on July 13. However, a bureau spokesperson says that the stop-work order “has now been rescinded.” Meanwhile, the bureau is deliberating on whether to approve Shell’s risky plan to drill in the Arctic Ocean.

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Bromwich Denies ‘Witch Hunt’ Against Suspended Arctic Scientist | In a letter to Alaska employees of the Bureau of Ocean Management, Director Michael Bromwich said wildlife biologist Charles Monnett has not been suspended because of his discovery that polar bears have started drowning as the Arctic melts, the subject of an interview between Inspector General investigators and Monnett in February: “We are limited in what we can say about a pending investigation, but I can assure you that the decision had nothing to do with his scientific work, or anything relating to a five-year old journal article, as advocacy groups and the news media have incorrectly speculated. Nor is this a ‘witch hunt’ to suppress the work of our many scientists and discourage them from speaking the truth. Quite the contrary. In this case, it was the result of new information on a separate subject brought to our attention very recently.”