Global warming could kill polar bears, seals in 20 years

Many Arctic animals, including polar bears and some seal species, could be extinct within 20 years because of the effects of global warming, a major conservation group said Sunday.

Many Arctic animals, including polar bears and some seal species, could be extinct within 20 years because of the effects of global warming, a major conservation group said Sunday. Traditional ways of life for many indigenous people in the Arctic will also become unsustainable unless the world "takes drastic action.

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In the past 50 years, average yearly temperatures in Alaska and Siberia have increased by about 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) to minus 15 C (5.4 Fahrenheit).

The United States is the only country in the Arctic region that has not signed the Kyoto Protocol. Russia ratified the U.N.-sponsored accord to combat global warming in November 2004.