The Polar Bear and the Wobbling Earth

by bernt & torsten

In the heart of the Arctic, where the land of snow and ice once stretched endlessly, a mother polar bear named Freja fights a quiet battle. Freja, once confident in her hunting grounds, now finds herself in an unfamiliar world. The ice, which was her home and her livelihood, is melting, forcing her to adapt in ways no polar bear should have to. Her cubs, Thor and Ymer, follow her as she hunts for caribou instead of seals—hardly enough to sustain them.

This is not just Freja's story. It’s the story of our world. Climate change is altering everything around us and in ways we might not expect. Did you know that in September 2023, a landslide in Greenland caused the entire planet to wobble for nine days? Yes, climate change made the Earth vibrate like a drum! And if that’s not strange enough, it’s also making the Earth...fatter.

Wait, What? Fatter?

Let’s break it down. As glaciers melt, all that ice doesn’t just vanish. It turns into water, which flows into the oceans, redistributing massive amounts of weight across the planet. Imagine a spinning top—it stays steady when it’s balanced, but the moment you shift its weight, it starts wobbling. The same thing is happening to Earth! All the melting ice is causing the Earth to redistribute its mass, leading to tiny shifts in its rotation, even making the planet bulge slightly at the equator—hence, a 'fatter' Earth.

The 9-Day Wobble

Now, about that Greenland landslide. In 2023, a mountain peak, standing over 1,200 meters tall, collapsed into a fjord after the glacier that had been supporting it melted too much. The impact of the collapse triggered a massive 200-meter-high tsunami—an enormous wave that would dwarf any building. The wave sloshed back and forth in the fjord like a potted plant dropped into a bathtub. This event was so powerful that it sent seismic waves through the planet for over a week, making the entire Earth vibrate for nine straight days.

Freja's Struggle Mirrors Our Own

Freja may not know about tsunamis or wobbles back in the Arctic, but she feels the changes deeply. Once steady and predictable, her home is now unsteady, just like the Earth. And just like Freja’s cubs, we, too, are facing a future where the world we once knew may not be the same.

But here’s the important part: unlike Freja, we have the power to make changes. By coming together, by learning about how our actions impact the planet, we can ensure that Freja, Thor, and Ymer—and the rest of us—can still thrive in the future. Because if we don’t, it’s not just the polar bears who will feel the strain of a wobbling Earth.

Let’s join hands and protect our world, for the bears, for us, and for all the creatures we share this planet with. The time to act is now—before the next wobble gets worse.