But scientists are warning that climate change could spell danger.

但科學家警告說，氣候變化可能帶來危險。

As the temperature rises and melts, ice, polar bears need to hunt seals.

隨著氣溫升高，冰層融化，北極熊需要捕食海豹。

They're being forced to spend more time on land, bringing them closer to people.

它們被迫花更多的時間在陸地上，使它們更接近人類。

Our science correspondent, Victoria Gill, has been in Churchill along with a team of polar bear researchers.

我們的科學記者維多利亞-吉爾和一組北極熊研究人員一起來到了丘吉爾。

There's a polar bear under our tundra boogie, right now.

我們的凍原boogie下面現在就有一隻北極熊。

He's very curious about us.

他對我們非常好奇。

Oh my word.

我的天啊

At the height of polar bear season in Churchill, Manitoba, conservation scientists are out on the tundra, monitoring one of the most southerly polar bear populations in the world.

在馬尼托巴省丘吉爾的北極熊繁殖季節，自然保護科學家們正在凍原上監測世界上最南端的北極熊種群之一。

So the polar bears are starting to gather in this area because there's going to be sea ice here first.

北極熊開始聚集在這一區域，因為這裡將首先出現海冰。

And for polar bears, sea ice means food.

而對於北極熊來說，海冰意味著食物。

The bears are waiting for the bay to freeze so they can use it as a platform to hunt seals.

黑熊在等待海灣結冰，這樣它們就可以利用海灣作為捕獵海豹的平臺。

But as the climate warms up here, the bears are having to wait for longer.

但隨著這裡氣候變暖，黑熊不得不等待更長的時間。

We had about 1,200 polar bears here in the 1980s and now we have closer to about 618.

20 世紀 80 年代，我們這裡有大約 1200 頭北極熊，而現在大約有 618 頭。

So we've lost almost about 50% of these polar bears in the last several decades.

是以，在過去的幾十年裡，我們已經失去了將近 50%的北極熊。

And we've tied that to these bears are on land about a month longer than their grandparents were.

我們將此與這些熊在陸地上的時間比它們的祖輩多一個月聯繫起來。

In the long term, this threatens the survival of this polar bear population.

長此以往，北極熊種群的生存將受到威脅。

But in the short term, it means the bears here are getting hungrier.

但從短期來看，這意味著這裡的熊越來越飢餓。

The longer they're on shore, the longer they're fasting.

他們在岸上的時間越長，禁食的時間就越長。

And the longer they might need to start looking for alternative sources of energy and food.

他們需要開始尋找替代能源和食物的時間就越長。

And sometimes those sources are us.

有時，這些資訊來源就是我們自己。

That poses a particular challenge for Churchill and the team of rangers who run its Polar Bear Alerts programme.

這給丘吉爾和負責北極熊警報計劃的護林員團隊帶來了特殊的挑戰。

I came down this trail and I caught him up on this deck.

我從這條小路下來，在這塊甲板上追上了他。

It was testing the door.

它在試探那扇門。

What did you do?

你做了什麼？

So at that point you haze them, right?

所以，在那個時候，你就對他們進行霧化，對嗎？

You use your vehicle, horns, croc or shells and you chase them in a desirable direction, which in this case would be away from town.

您可以使用車輛、喇叭、鱷魚或炮彈，朝理想的方向追逐它們，在這種情況下，就是遠離城鎮。

This is a place that takes pride in setting an example for how humans can coexist with these big predators.

這裡為人類如何與這些大型食肉動物共存樹立了榜樣，並以此為榮。

Everyone here that we've spoken to is very aware of it all the time.

與我們交談過的每個人都非常清楚這一點。

And should we go?

我們應該去嗎？

I can hear cracker shots over there.

我能聽到那邊的槍聲

That means that they may be moving a bear.

這意味著他們可能正在轉移一隻熊。

There's a bear there.

那裡有隻熊

It's crossing the road.

它在過馬路

Get in the car.

上車

We heard crackers going off and now the Polar Bear Alert team are moving around.

我們聽到了爆竹聲，現在北極熊警報小組正在四處活動。

So we're going to get back in the car.

所以我們要回到車裡去

So you can just see it through the trees there.

所以，你可以透過樹叢看到它。

We could see the Polar Bear Alert team's quad bikes and their trucks moving the bear along.

我們可以看到北極熊警報小組的四輪摩托車和他們的卡車正在運送北極熊。

While a loss of sea ice threatens the survival of Churchill's polar bears, it could also open up the bay and the town's port for more of the year.

雖然海冰的消失會威脅到丘吉爾北極熊的生存，但它也會使海灣和該鎮的港口一年中有更多的時間開放。

The new marine observatory here, that opened just this year, is carrying out experiments that aim to better understand what winter conditions on the bay will be like in the future.

這裡今年剛剛啟用的新海洋觀測站正在進行實驗，目的是更好地瞭解未來海灣的冬季情況。

The bay is open water, essentially, on average, about five months a year.

海灣基本上是開放水域，平均每年約有五個月。

And it's on its trajectory to become all year round.

它正朝著全年無休的方向發展。

And my colleague right there, he's working specifically on improving the projection of ice conditions to facilitate, to help make better decisions on the shipping season.

我的同事就在那裡，他正在專門研究如何改進冰情預測，以促進、幫助做出更好的航運季節決策。

This is a town preparing for a future without sea ice in the bay.

這個小鎮正在為海灣沒有海冰的未來做準備。

The town's mayor, Mike Spence, says that could present opportunities.

該鎮鎮長邁克-斯彭斯（Mike Spence）說，這可能會帶來機遇。

What do you think this place could look like in ten years' time?

您認為十年後這裡會是什麼樣子？

It'll be a bustling port.

這將是一個繁華的港口。

The future looks bright.

前景一片光明。

The fate of the polar bears, of the polar bear capital of the world, though, depends on us, and whether we can rein in rising temperatures and preserve the ice that they depend on.

不過，世界北極熊之都北極熊的命運取決於我們，取決於我們能否控制氣溫的上升，能否保護它們賴以生存的冰層。

We can keep Arctic sea ice in the north and protect the species as a whole.

我們可以把北極海冰留在北部，保護整個物種。

Sea ice is so much more than just, like, frozen ocean.

海冰不僅僅是冰凍的海洋。

It really is, it's a garden, it's a platform, it's access to food.

它確實是，它是一個花園，它是一個平臺，它是獲取食物的途徑。

It's life, really.

這就是生活，真的。

Victoria Gill, BBC News in Churchill, Manitoba.

維多利亞-吉爾（Victoria Gill），BBC 新聞駐馬尼托巴省丘吉爾市記者。