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A polar bear walks on rocks with sky above

CTV News: Potential impact of wildfires on polar bear denning habitats

August 1, 2025 — 

University of Manitoba professor Dr. Meaghan Jones has studied the impact climate change is having on polar bears.

In her ongoing study, “Climate Change, age acceleration, and the erosion of fitness in polar bears,” she and her team are looking at biological aging, which means researching whether these polar bears are aging faster than expected because of the impacts of climate change.

Examining tissue samples from polar bears between the early-mid 1980s to 2023, she discovered that for every degree of climate warming, these polar bears along the western shores of the Hudson Bay are aging by one year.

She says the climate has warmed three degrees over the last four decades.

To read the full story, please follow the link to CP24.

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