Nowhere more evident will you see habitat displacement than with the polar bear. This majestic creature of the ice has survived thousands and thousands of years by prowling through the icy north’s land and waters and hunting food. The polar bear, once a prominent part of the north’s lure, is now in real danger of becoming extinct. They can no longer find enough food to sustain their massive bodies. But the polar bears are not alone in their losing fight for survival. Warmer spring temperatures are drying up critical breeding habitat for waterfowl in the stretch of land between central Alberta and northern Iowa known as the prairie pothole region.

Some of these species are able to move into new habitats and thrive. But for most, the sheer amount of human population makes this near to impossible. Lands that may be suitable for animals to inhabit are promptly being leveled and built on for the sake of commerce. Human settlement has stolen land from other animals for over 100,000 years. At the peak of our indulgence, capital growth and development seems to swallow the need to protect helpless species of animals.

YIf the fox, polar bear, waterfowl, and other types of animals losing their habitats wasn’t enough of a predicament brought on my Global Warming, birds and a series of hibernating animals are also being affected as the problem increases. The shift in a hibernating animal’s natural cycle is put off by conflicting temperatures. They end their slumbers earlier and earlier each year. And the birds have been forced to unwillingly alter their migration cycle.

Many animals are being affected in different ways, contrary to the previously accepted theory which states animals in the same ecosystem experience the problem as a single entity. Instead, every species of animal has their own set of problems – problems which the animals can’t solve. Their fate rests solely in the hands of human intervention.