One Photo Shows Why to Care About Climate Change Sophie Kleeman - News.Mic
go to original October 2, 2014

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an estimated 35,000 walruses have come ashore in northwest Alaska. This isn't normal: The tusked creatures normally hang out on Arctic sea ice, not these beaches. However, the amount of sea ice has declined considerably because of the warming climate, meaning thousands of walruses are now flocking to a foreign locale.

"It's another remarkable sign of the dramatic environmental conditions changing as the result of sea ice loss," Margaret Williams, managing director of the World Wildlife Fund's Arctic program, told the Associated Press. "The walruses are telling us what the polar bears have told us and what many indigenous people have told us in the high Arctic, and that is that the Arctic environment is changing extremely rapidly and it is time for the rest of the world to take notice."

She's not kidding. This walrus gathering is recent, but it's certainly not the first. As Vox points out, in 2010, about 20,000 walruses made landfall near Point Lay, Alaska; in 2011, almost 30,000 showed up.

Read the full story at News.Mic

Photo: Corey Accardo/AP

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