Scientists recorded a cold snap in the Pacific part of the Arctic. They are not yet ready to judge whether this moment will become the end of global warming or its temporary cessation, for this five to ten years should pass. Even so, researchers note the positive effect of such temperature changes on polar bears and walruses.

“First of all, we can talk about a cold snap in Chukotka and Alaska, because there were no walruses in places that have been occupied by walruses for the last 20 years... This is not an anomaly, this is a return to normal. There was a warming. Now the ice is not as heavy as it was 40 years ago, for example, but it is close to that ", - Anatoly Kochnev, a researcher of the Beringia National Park, a specialist in marine mammals, candidate of biological sciences, told the RIA Novosti  newswire.

The expert stressed that bears and walruses need ice for their normal existence. In such conditions, walruses can safely drift in the water, dive there and get food, and then return to their ice floe or another, which is closer. When there is no ice, the animals have to rest on the shore, and in order to find food, they swim hundreds of kilometers from the rookeries. This leads to their depletion and high mortality. Polar bears also have to move to land in such conditions.

"The problem for them was that when there is no ice, they cannot hunt seals. They love them more than walruses - they are tastier, fatter, easier to get, you can't get them with tusks," Anatoly Kochnev explained.

The predators forced to eat walruses constantly took risks. This time they were able to spend almost the entire summer at sea, getting ashore only in those rare moments when the ice floes broke.

Scientists note that if the trend towards cooling continues, there will be no threat to reduce the population of these animals. In this case, the researchers are going to start studying how the animals were affected by the warming years and whether they will continue to have new habits.

Photo: TASS
Source: RG.ru