Arctic Seals Face Rising Extinction Risk
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List currently documents 172,620 species, with 48,646 categorized as facing varying degrees of extinction risk.
Within the Arctic, six species of true seals exist: harbor seal, ringed seal, harp seal, hooded seal, bearded seal, and grey seal. Recent updates to the list reveal that three of these species have moved closer to extinction.
Specifically, the hooded seal has been shifted from vulnerable to endangered, while both the bearded seal and harp seal have been reclassified from least concern to near threatened.
The IUCN report highlights the loss of sea ice, driven by global climate change, as the principal factor behind the growing extinction risk for Arctic seals.
The region’s warming rate — nearly four times faster than the global average — is accelerating the disappearance of sea ice.
According to the 2025 Arctic Report Card, published in December by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Arctic surface air temperatures between October 2024 and September 2025 reached the highest levels ever recorded since observations began in 1900.
Autumn 2024 was documented as the warmest season on record, while the winter of 2024–2025 ranked as the second-warmest in history.
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