A Jan. 4 Facebook post (direct link, archived link) shows a graph that claims to chart the global polar bear population dating back to the 1960s.
“Polar Bears 1960s-2021,” reads the text above the graph. “Increasing – But they don’t want you to know.”
The graph was shared more than 500 times in three weeks.
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Experts say the rising tally of polar bears reflects an increased ability to track bears – not an actual increase in the population. The graph is based on various estimates of the global population that include unscientific estimates, extrapolation and insufficient data sets, according to scientists.
The graph shows global population estimates from 1993, 1997, 2001, 2005, 2009 and 2021 taken from the Polar Bear Specialist Group’s most recent status report. But experts say those figures, especially the earliest ones, are unreliable, and the variety of methods used makes comparisons between those years illegitimate.
“Populations have not grown,” Steven Amstrup, chief scientist for Polar Bears International, said in an email. “Rather our growing knowledge has shown there may be more bears in these areas than we previously thought.”
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