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Polar Bears are Champion Insulators

Despite what our eyes tell us, a polar bear's fur is not white. Each hair shaft is pigment-free and transparent with a hollow core. Polar bears look white because the hollow core scatters and reflects visible light, much like ice and snow does.
In 1979, three polar bears at the San Diego Zoo turned green. Scientists discovered that colonies of algae were growing in the bears' hollow hair shafts.
A polar bear is so well-insulated that it experiences almost no heat loss. In addition to its insulating fur, the bear's blubber layer can measure 4 inches thick.
So effective is the polar bear's insulation that adult males quickly overheat when they run.
Because polar bears give off no detectable heat, they do not show up in infrared photographs. (Infrared film measures heat.) When a scientist attempted to photograph a bear with such film, he produced a print with a single spot--the puff of air caused by the animal's breath.

Arctic's toxic burden harms bears

Evidence that the health of polar bears is being damaged by chemicals has been reinforced by new Arctic research. Most polar bears probably have several hundred man-made chemicals in their bodies. The chemicals may affect the bears' behaviour and breeding, and make them more vulnerable to infection. In 2000 scientists on Svalbard said more than 1% of the islands' bears were hermaphroditic, showing the reproductive organs of both sexes. Max's comment: "Yikes!"

Play the Toxic Blaster Game

Shoot the pollutants with this WWF game