In the Arctic, polar bears are perfectly built for 24 hours of darkness. But the moment the sun refuses to set, the clock starts ticking on its demise.
Scroll down to explore the deadly extremes of the Arctic light cycle.
We're focusing on Utqiagvik, Alaska, the northernmost city in the United States, deep inside Polar Bear Territory.
This location experiences extreme seasonal variations in daylight, from 24 hour night to the 24 hour midnight sun, making it the perfect lens to see how polar bears adapt.
Loading Arctic Data...
Initializing...
If this doesn't disappear, check the browser console (F12)
Toggle through seasons. Experience a polar bear's varying 24 hour cycle in the Arctic.
Current Time
00:00
Brightness Index
0
Cloud Cover
0%
Daylight Hours
0h
Seasonal Avg
Current Location
Utqiagvik, Alaska
Polar Bear Territory
Scroll to experience a polar bear's 24 hour day
What you just experienced in the 24 hour cycle above happens every single day. But as the seasons change, the pattern shifts dramatically.
In winter, those 24 hours are mostly darkness, with ice remaining solid. In summer, those same 24 hours bring endless daylight, but the ice beneath their paws melts away. The daily cycle you witnessed repeats 365 times, but each season transforms what that cycle means for survival.
The charts below show how this daily pattern compounds over months. The same relationship between daylight and ice that you saw in one day plays out across an entire year, with devastating consequences.
Imagine surviving on stored fat for months. No food. No way to hunt. Just waiting, starving, as your body consumes itself. This is the reality for polar bears in summer.
With climate change, the Arctic's summer is seeing dramatic ice melt, often occurring weeks earlier and lasting months longer. This extended ice-free season forces bears off their hunting grounds and onto land. Instead of hunting, they must enter a prolonged, life-threatening fasting period, surviving only on stored fat.
We often think of polar bears as masters of the cold, perfectly adapted to survive in temperatures that would kill us in minutes. And they are. But their greatest enemy isn't the cold, it's the warmth that takes away their world.
As you explore the visualizations ahead, remember: the charts aren't just showing numbers, they're showing a countdown to extinction if we don't act.
As daylight increases, sea ice melts. This chart shows the inverse relationship that threatens polar bear survival. Hover over data points to see exact values.
Data source: MODIS Arctic data (2023), Utqiagvik, Alaska
The chart reveals a cruel irony: The more daylight there is, the more time they have to hunt, but the less ice there is to hunt on. By June, when the sun never sets, the ice has melted to dangerous lows. The bears' greatest hunting opportunity coincides with the disappearance of their hunting platform.
Discover how polar bears adapt to changing daylight throughout the seasons.
Compare how sea ice and daylight vary across seasons. Summer's combination of maximum daylight and minimum ice creates the perfect storm. Click on seasons to highlight and compare values.
Look at the chart below. Notice how Summer stands out, not just in color, but in danger. While other seasons offer a balance, summer delivers a double blow: maximum daylight with minimum ice.
This isn't just data. This is the difference between life and death. A polar bear can survive the polar night because the ice remains. But in summer, when the ice melts, they're stranded on land with no way to reach their prey. The longer the ice-free period, the more bears starve.
Data source: MODIS Arctic data (2023), Utqiagvik, Alaska
The bars you see represent averages, but climate change is making each summer worse. The ice-free season is starting earlier and ending later. What used to be a few weeks of fasting is now stretching to months.
Notice how Winter and Spring offer hope, plenty of ice for hunting. But Summer? It's a death trap disguised as endless daylight. The bears can see their prey, but they can't reach it. The ice that should be their bridge has become open water.
Explore how different conditions affect polar bear survival. Adjust the parameters below to see the real impact.
Lower ice = less hunting opportunity
Days without food during ice-free period
Adult male polar bear weight
14.4% of body weight
Moderate weight loss. Bear needs food soon.
Some ice available. Limited hunting.
Based on what you've learned from the charts, facts, and calculator, test your understanding of how climate change affects polar bear survival.
The world's largest land predator, perfectly evolved for darkness and cold, faces its greatest threat not from the polar night, but from the endless summer sun. As daylight stretches to 24 hours, sea ice, the foundation of their existence, melts away, transforming their hunting grounds into open water.
The problem isn't the cold. It's the warmth that removes their platform for survival.
"Addressing the length of the ice-free season is not just about conservation, it's about preventing the starvation of a species that has survived for millennia in Earth's harshest environment."
Data source: MODIS Arctic data (2023) | Research: Polar bear fasting behavior and sea ice dynamics