A polar bear plays on the tundra near Churchill, Manitoba, Canada, Nov. 3, 2006. The United States proposed Wednesday to list polar bears as "threatened" on government list of imperilled species, marking the first time the Bush administration has singled out climate change as the potential driving force behind the demise of a species.(Photo: China Daily) Photo Gallery >>>

    BEIJING, Dec. 28(Xinhuanet) -- The United States proposed Wednesday to list polar bears as "threatened" on government list of imperilled species, marking the first time the Bush administration has singled out climate change as the potential driving force behind the demise of a species.

    The Interior Department cites thinning sea ice as the big problem; outside the government, other scientists studying the issue say pollution, overhunting, development and even tourism also may be factors.

    There are between 20,000 and 25,000 polar bears worldwide, Greenland and Norway have the most, and 4,700 live in Alaska and travel to Canada and Russia.

    Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne proposed listing polar bears as "threatened." The "endangered" category is reserved for species more likely to become extinct.

    "Polar bears are one of nature's ultimate survivors, able to live and thrive in one of the world's harshest environments," he said. "But we are concerned the polar bears' habitat may literally be melting."

    A final decision on whether to add the polar bears to the list is a year away, after the government finishes more studies.

    Such a decision would require all federal agencies to ensure that anything they authorize that might affect polar bears will not jeopardize their survival or the sea ice where they live. That could include oil and gas exploration, commercial shipping or even releases of toxic contaminants or climate-affecting pollution.

    "This is a victory for the polar bear, and all wildlife threatened by global warming," said Kassie Siegel, a lawyer for the Center for Biological Diversity. "There is still time to save polar bears but we must reduce greenhouse gas pollution immediately."

  ¡¡Kempthorne, however, said his department's studies indicate that coastal and offshore oil and gas exploration ¡ª heavily promoted by the Bush administration, particularly in Alaska ¡ª shouldn't be curtailed.

    Experts, however, say it is unlikely the proposal will not go through, since the government has already received more than 200,000 comments in support of listing the polar bear.

    The United States is the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, the byproduct of fossil fuels blamed for trapping heat from the sun and altering Earth's delicate climate system.

    Since taking office in 2001, U.S. President George W. Bush has come under heavy criticism by environmental groups for failing to ratify the Kyoto Protocol on global warming. (Agencies)

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