内容摘要：Tom Fletcher, head of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, briefed the Security Council, describing this work as a “grim undertaking” since

Tom Fletcher, head of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, briefed the Security Council, describing this work as a “grim undertaking” since

And it’s getting lower on polar bears.There are now about 600 polar bears in the Western Hudson Bay, one of the most threatened of the 20 populations of the white beasts. That’s about half the number of 40 years ago, says York, senior director of research and policy at Polar Bears International. His latest study, with a team of scientists from various fields, shows that if the world doesn’t cut back more on emissions of heat-trapping gases “we could lose this population entirely by the end of the century,” he says.

Water from the Churchill River, left, drains into the Hudson Bay, top right, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Churchill, Canada. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)Water from the Churchill River, left, drains into the Hudson Bay, top right, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Churchill, Canada. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)Geoff York, left, director of research at Polar Bears International, and Kieran McIver, right, manager of field operations, look for polar bears along the shoreline of the Hudson Bay, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, near Churchill, Manitoba. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Geoff York, left, director of research at Polar Bears International, and Kieran McIver, right, manager of field operations, look for polar bears along the shoreline of the Hudson Bay, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, near Churchill, Manitoba. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)More than polar bears are threatened in this changing gateway to the Arctic, where warmer waters melt sea ice earlier in the year and the open ocean lingers longer. For what grows, lives and especially eats in this region, it’s like a house’s foundation shifting. “The whole marine ecosystem is tied to the seasonality of that sea ice cover,” University of Manitoba sea ice scientist Julienne Stroeve said.

When the sea ice melts earlier it warms the overall water temperature and it changes algae that blooms, which changes the plankton that feed on the algae, which changes the fish, all the way up the food web to beluga whales, seals and polar bears, scientists say.

“What we’re seeing is a transformation of an Arctic ecosystem into more of a southern open ocean,” York says in August from the bobbing up-and-down edge of a 12-foot Zodiac boat. “We’re seeing a transformation from high-fat plankton that leads to things like beluga whales and polar bears to low-fat plankton that end up with the final part of the food chain being jellyfish.”Palestinians evacuate after the Israeli army issued an evacuation warning for several schools and a hospital in Gaza City’s Rimal neighborhood, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Israel has vowed to facilitate what it refers to as the voluntary migration ofto other countries, which many Palestinians and others view as

Israel wants to “ensure the forced displacement of people from the area” by putting hospitals out of service, said Rami Shurafi, a board member of al-Awda hospital.The Indonesian hospital, once the largest in northern Gaza, has been surrounded by Israeli troops, who were positioned about 500 meters (545 yards) away. Drones have hovered above, monitoring any movement, since Sunday, an aid group that supports the hospital said.