Polar Bear Sighted on Golden Gate Bridge
by Jane Hudson
Tim Woods, a late-night commuter from Marin County, reported seeing a polar bear running across the Golden Gate Bridge as he was driving home from San Francisco early Tuesday morning. “I nearly ran into this huge creature galumphing toward my car,” he said. “Of course, seeing a polar bear on the Bridge was totally unexpected, and I was really shook up for hours after the encounter.”
Local authorities have been out in force since the sighting searching for the bear, but so far without success. They’ve been patrolling Ocean Beach and the Embarcadero because they believe it likely the creature headed for the shore when it reached the City. They have cordoned off those areas and warned residents to stay away from any ocean- or bay-side land.
Wildlife experts and climatologists at UC Berkeley speculate that, because of the loss of their usual icy habitat in the far north, polar bears are now ranging into more southerly lands in search of food. Over the past two years, these bears have been sighted in British Columbia and Washington state, far south of their Arctic home. Scientists have further speculated that, due to accelerated climate change/global warming caused by use of fossil fuels, evolutionary processes have also accelerated, allowing some cold weather species to adapt quickly to warming conditions.
Can Bay Area residents expect to see more polar bears migrating into the area? The experts say they’re taking “a wait-and-see approach,” although “it’s looking more and more likely,” they add.
Jim Smoot, prominent local climate-change denier, called the supposed sighting “nothing but a bunch of bunk.”
Local authorities have been out in force since the sighting searching for the bear, but so far without success. They’ve been patrolling Ocean Beach and the Embarcadero because they believe it likely the creature headed for the shore when it reached the City. They have cordoned off those areas and warned residents to stay away from any ocean- or bay-side land.
Wildlife experts and climatologists at UC Berkeley speculate that, because of the loss of their usual icy habitat in the far north, polar bears are now ranging into more southerly lands in search of food. Over the past two years, these bears have been sighted in British Columbia and Washington state, far south of their Arctic home. Scientists have further speculated that, due to accelerated climate change/global warming caused by use of fossil fuels, evolutionary processes have also accelerated, allowing some cold weather species to adapt quickly to warming conditions.
Can Bay Area residents expect to see more polar bears migrating into the area? The experts say they’re taking “a wait-and-see approach,” although “it’s looking more and more likely,” they add.
Jim Smoot, prominent local climate-change denier, called the supposed sighting “nothing but a bunch of bunk.”
