The Guardian is having a field day following the publication of a report from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. The paper endorsed the report’s rather sensationalised claims that polar bears are likely to have their numbers decimated by global warming:

Global warming is now the single most important threat to the survival of the polar bear with retreating sea ice set to decimate populations, according to a new study by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It found a “high probability” that the planet’s 26,000 polar bears will suffer a 30% decline in population by 2050 due to the loss of their habitat, which is disappearing at a faster rate than predicted by climate models.

There is one minor snag however. It actually transpires that polar bear population has reached a record high. Not only that, but the current population trend is yet to be determined, completely calling into doubt the ICUN’s claims about polar bears’ vulnerability. Guido is rejoicing that the bears are doing fine. A world without them just doesn’t bear thinking about after all…