Polar bears multiply, invade Russian town; media blame ‘melting ice’ (in the dead of winter)

by Roger Roots, founder, Lysander Spooner University

Polar bear populations have grown by thousands since 2000. Arctic ice has expanded for years and is now at its highest level in a decade. And it’s the dead of winter when it is impossible for Arctic ice to melt.

Yet when large numbers of polar bears recently began invading a Russian settlement, breaking into buildings and attacking people, the mainstream media reported that climate change and melting Arctic ice are to blame.

Russia’s Novaya Zemlya islands, home to a few thousand people, have recently seen bears attacking people and entering residential and public buildings.

Even news organizations with enough resources to double-check their facts reported the false claim.

The BBC (chartered by the British government) reported that “Polar bears are affected by climate change and are increasingly forced on to land to look for food.”

Just two months ago the BBC falsely reported that south African penguin populations were declining due to rising seas caused by climate change. The penguins were actually declining due to overfishing. (Seas have risen no more than A FOOT PER CENTURY near the southern tip of Africa).