Climate change prompts US government to protect potentially endangered seal species

Los Angeles Times : A recent decision by the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to list a Pacific bearded seal subspecies as threatened has been challenged by the state of Alaska and the oil and gas industry. The decision was based on climate modeling projections that show that the ice floes where the seals breed and raise their young could disappear by the end of the century because of global warming. The challengers counter that the seal population is currently healthy, climate projections are speculative, and the ruling could interfere with offshore drilling efforts. Judge Richard Paez wrote for the court, however, that the government “need not wait until a species’ habitat is destroyed to determine that habitat loss may facilitate extinction.” The court’s decision could have major implications for other climate-threatened species.