John, it's no secret that the Arctic is on the front lines of climate change. Over the past 50 years, 40% of the Arctic summer sea ice has vanished. And if we don’t take drastic action, it could disappear by 2050.

This would be a tragic loss for polar bears and their cubs. Long distances of open water between ice sheets force polar bears to test their swimming endurance.

While adult polar bears can survive for days at sea, cubs can’t match their mothers’ swimming strengths and might drown as the ice sheets get further and further apart.

But we can do something to prevent that tragic fate. 

Our research shows that one of the fastest ways to slow global warming is by cutting methane pollution. Why? Because methane emissions are causing around 30% of today’s warming and we have the technologies available to cut methane emissions in half.

And since methane only lasts in the atmosphere for around a decade, by cutting emissions we can almost immediately reduce our warming impact.

Fast action to cut methane and slow global warming is critical to saving the sea ice. One of EDF’s lead researchers, Tianyi Sun, boils it down like this:
 

"If we hit net-zero carbon dioxide by 2050 but ignore methane, we have a 50-50 chance at preserving [Arctic summer sea ice]. But if we tackle methane too, we have a very good shot at saving this critical climate component that’s vital to us all."

It’s the steady support from our sustaining donors that allows us to budget and plan for long-term efforts that will fight climate change, cut methane emissions and reduce warming.

It also allows us the opportunity to think up and plan out trailblazing solutions like MethaneSAT, a bold mission to precisely track methane pollution from space and use that data to hold methane emitters, like oil and gas companies, accountable.