“If there’s a bear this close to you,” she says as she measures a distance of about 30cm with her hands, “make a fist – and punch it in the nose.

“Polar bears have very sensitive noses – it’ll just run away.”

Tee has not had to put this advice to the test. But growing up here – alongside the planet’s largest land predator – means bear safety is part of everyday life.

To read the entire story and learn about how the UM is involved, please follow the link to the BBC.

The full-length documentary will be on BBC World News on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, then repeated the following weekend.

Under current emissions policies, the world is on track to surpass 1.5 C of warming in the 2030s.

“The disappearance of the Southern Hudson Bay polar bears is imminent, with Western Hudson Bay not far behind,” said study lead author Julienne Stroeve of the University of Manitoba.

To read the full story, please visit Reuters.