Thanks Snail, that's a better chart. I 'can' find 'em, but I have not taken the extra time.

Yes, it is important to be sure you are charting the mean, the median, the average over the years: and for what months, what specific areas, daytime vs. nighttime, etc. With enough charts, it is easy to misconstrue the overall trend.

Sawzaw...if I read correctly, there was one polar bear image that was used as an 'iconic image' to get attention, while the actual bears pictured were not specifically in danger. That's unfortunate, but it is a very common technique to get attention in many fields or campaigns.
'Proving' that a particular image was used does not invalidate the claim that a problem exists. The polar bears primary food source is seals. They catch seals by finding breathing holes in the ice and waiting. If the seal don't need specific places to come up for air, the bears have no easy way to locate them. Bears 'can' swim, but not as fast as seals.
Now, it IS a fact that the sea-ice has been breaking up earlier and freezing later in recent years, limiting the bears hunting season and making feeding new cubs harder. Some bears have taken to more raids on hunters camps or villages out of hunger.
Yes, the polar bear population did rise for a number of years after hunting was restricted, but that has changed.

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