Study: Polar bears could feel bite of climate change by 2025

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- A government report indicates about a third of the world's polar bears could be in imminent danger from greenhouse gas emissions as soon as 2025.

The U.S. Geological Survey says updated scientific models don't bode well for polar bear populations across the world, especially in Alaska, the only U.S. state with the white bears.

The report released this week is part of the government's recovery plan for the polar bear. It's expected to be published Thursday in the Federal Register.

Greenhouse gases are blamed for the climate warming that's reducing the polar bear's summer sea ice habitat. The effects of diminished sea ice are projected to lead to population declines throughout the century.

Scientists saw no rebound in population numbers in their research models, which stretched to the year 2100.

Forced onto land by melting sea ice, polar bears are struggling to find enough to eat. One polar bear was even spotted eating a dolphin.

Last year, the USGS found that polar bear numbers in Alaska and Canada have declined by almost half, mostly due to the impact thinning ice was having on their ability to hunt ringed seals and bearded seals.