Victoria Gill

The ice-free summer period when bears aren't able to hunt is now about a month longer than it was in the 1980s. And in that time, this area has lost about half its polar bears.

The ice-free summer period when bears aren't able to hunt is now about a month longer than it was in the 1980s. And in that time, this area has lost about half its polar bears.

Monitoring and studying polar bears here is a research team that we're tagging along with on the subarctic tundra a few miles from Churchill. About an hour into our trip, a young male bear approaches. There's a polar bear under our tundra boogie right now. He's very curious about us. My heart's really beating.

Monitoring and studying polar bears here is a research team that we're tagging along with on the subarctic tundra a few miles from Churchill. About an hour into our trip, a young male bear approaches. There's a polar bear under our tundra boogie right now. He's very curious about us. My heart's really beating.

That's Polar Bears International's Geoff York. If bears are spending more time on land, does that mean there's more of a period where they're likely to be closer to people?

That's Polar Bears International's Geoff York. If bears are spending more time on land, does that mean there's more of a period where they're likely to be closer to people?

So for now, Churchill has to deal with hungry polar bears waiting for longer on shore. But in the long term, the sea ice that brings the polar bears and thousands of tourists here every year is melting away.

So for now, Churchill has to deal with hungry polar bears waiting for longer on shore. But in the long term, the sea ice that brings the polar bears and thousands of tourists here every year is melting away.

Dave Daly runs Wapusk Adventures, and he's raced sled dogs across the Arctic.

Dave Daly runs Wapusk Adventures, and he's raced sled dogs across the Arctic.

The disappearance of the sea ice here could transform this environment. That's why a new research facility that opened just this year is pumping cold water from the Hudson Bay into the laboratory to study it. Professor Fei-Yu Wang is a senior researcher at the new Churchill Marine Observatory.

The disappearance of the sea ice here could transform this environment. That's why a new research facility that opened just this year is pumping cold water from the Hudson Bay into the laboratory to study it. Professor Fei-Yu Wang is a senior researcher at the new Churchill Marine Observatory.

Because essentially that seaway has been blocked by the ice. And that ice is retreating. This is a town preparing for a less icy future. But the fate of its polar bears depends on us and whether we can rein in rising temperatures and preserve that sea ice that they depend on. That report by Victoria Gill.

Because essentially that seaway has been blocked by the ice. And that ice is retreating. This is a town preparing for a less icy future. But the fate of its polar bears depends on us and whether we can rein in rising temperatures and preserve that sea ice that they depend on. That report by Victoria Gill.