Polar bears may be standing on a slippery slope for survival, as recent attention given by the Bush administration toward the snowy creatures brings their well-being into question.

The Bush Department of the Interior announced its proposal to list the polar bear as threatened with extinction in late December – an unexpected step for an administration that resisted signing the United Nation’s Kyoto Protocol on controlling greenhouse gasses.

“Education on the issue is definitely key,” said Sarah Heuer, bioethics program assistant and graduate assistant in philosophy and religious studies. “The government’s recognition is important because it prompts the people’s recognition and consciousness to follow.”

The estimated 25,000 polar bears that dwell in Alaska, Canada, Greenland and Norway are looped in a vicious cycle.

Studies of polar bears around Canada’s Hudson Bay between 1997 and 2004 documented a 21 percent decline in their population while the bay’s sea ice started breaking up and melting earlier and earlier.

This is not good for the bears because they rely on the ice to hunt their primary source of food: ringed seals. Earlier habitat melting means less hunting time, thinner bears, lower reproductive rates and, therefore, decreased survival of cubs.

The administration’s admission of the polar bears’ problems of preservation creates widespread implications.

If the polar bear is listed as threatened, it will prohibit the federal government from doing anything that might imperil the species. This could include ceasing oil and gas exploration in Arctic regions.

Clark Wolf, bioethics program director and associate professor of philosophy and religious studies, feels the administration may not be quick to change its ways.

“Global climate change is a serious issue, and a major cause for concern for polar bears,” Wolf said. “Many scientists are concerned the polar bear will be extinct in our lifetime, yet the current administration simply denies the facts. I find it very unlikely that polar bears will cause [the] administration to change their tune with greenhouse gas emissions.”

The Endangered Species Act of 1973 requires by law that all decisions for proposed protection be based solely on scientific information and not political or economic consideration.

According to the proposal by the U.S. Department of the Interior, to list polar bears as threatened under the Endangered Species Act requires the government to identify and eliminate the threats to species in jeopardy.

Although some may think the act seems foolproof, others feel that the granted proposal seems too vague to be successful.

The proposal does not designate the polar bears’ critical Arctic habitat areas and deems the bears’ habitat needs to be undeterminable.

The proposal also does not mention the commonly identified causes of global warming, such as carbon, emissions or greenhouse gas.

The polar bears’ predicament may prompt wider discussion about joining the United Nations’ efforts to control carbon dioxide emissions and develop alternative fuels.