New Impact For Polar Bears Years After Arctic Visit

"And we're seeing an incredible change in the sea ice, especially in the summertime," said Steger. "This summer alone we lost about 50 percent of the sea ice on the Arctic Ocean."

"The ice is a casualty of global warming and the other name for the polar bear is the ice bear," said Steger. "And if we lose the ice, we lose the bear along with many other species."

Those other species include caribou, wolves, owls on down through the food chain. Steger believes that, right now, 20 percent of the polar bear population is in danger.   [Do caribou really need summer sea ice to survive?]