Call for three seal species to join endangered listEnvironmental campaigners have called for three species of Arctic seal to be listed as endangered amid mounting concern about the impact on wildlife of the melting of sea ice caused by global warming global warming, the gradual increase of the temperature of the earth's lower atmosphere as a result of the increase in greenhouse gases since the Industrial Revolution. . The call by the Centre for Biological Diversity for listing of the ringed, spotted and bearded seals comes two weeks after the polar bear polar bear, large white bear, Ursus maritimus, formerly Thalarctos maritimus, of the coasts of arctic North America. Polar bears usually live on drifting pack ice, but sometimes wander long distances inland. was classified as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act The federal Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA) (16 U.S.C.A. §§ 1531 et seq.) was enacted to protect animal and plant species from extinction by preserving the ecosystems in which they survive and by providing programs for their conservation. . The move was hailed by environmental groups as a step on the part of the Bush administration towards recognising the serious impact of global warming. The three species of seal exist off Alaska in the Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort seas, and are linked to polar bears as their main prey. The seals are all dependent on sea ice for survival, but in different ways. The ringed seal ringed seal n. An Arctic seal (Phoca hispida) having white, ring-shaped markings on the sides of the body. is the best adapted to living on ice, with flippers n. 1. A type of shoe with a paddle-like front extending well beyond the end of the toe, used an aid in swimming (especially underwater). and strong claws to dig ice holes. They nurse pups in the snow that collects in the holes. Bearded seals, which can grow to more than 750lbs, have their young on drifting pack ice, while spotted seals breed on the icy front of the Bering Sea Bering Sea, c.878,000 sq mi (2,274,020 sq km), northward extension of the Pacific Ocean between Siberia and Alaska. It is screened from the Pacific proper by the Aleutian Islands. The Bering Strait connects it with the Arctic Ocean. . The petition from the centre warns that surface temperatures in the Arctic are warming much faster than expected. The extent of sea ice in winter in 2007 was reduced to an area that most climate forecasts had suggested would be reached by 2070, the group said. Satellite pictures have shown that the coverage of ice has declined by almost a third in the past 25 years. By mid-century scientists have predicted that the Arctic could be ice-free in summer. "Arctic sea ice is melting so rapidly that every ice-dependent marine mammal needs protection," said Shaye Wolf, a biologist who lead the petition. The National Marine Fisheries Service The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is a United States federal agency. A division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Department of Commerce, NMFS is responsible for the stewardship and management of the nation's living marine , the official body that handles the endangered list, is already looking at the ribbon seal, and it is coming under pressure from environmentalists to list the walrus. Like polar bears, the fate of the seals is also bound up with increased oil and gas divining in the Arctic. Environmentalists have accused the Bush administration of dragging its feet over protection to give the oil industry more time to explore. 
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