Polar bears adapting to live in warmer climates

DNA changes as Arctic heating up

- BY STEPH SPYRO Environment Editor

POLAR bears may be adapting to survive in warmer climates, British researchers have suggested.

Some genes related to heat-stress, ageing and metabolism are behaving differently in polar bears living in southeast Greenland, they found.

Understanding these genetic changes is important for guiding future conservation efforts, said the scientists at the University of East Anglia.

It will also show how polar bears might survive in a warming world and which populations are most at risk from climate change.