A World Wildlife Fund photograph taken along the western shore of Hudson Bay in November 2010 shows a female polar bear with two cubs near Churchill, Canada, in this image released to Reuters on February 9, 2011.  [Xinhua/Reuters]

Polar bear mothers will have a harder time carrying cubs to term as Arctic sea ice dwindles, a new study said, and the U.S. government recognized that Pacific walruses need protection in their melting icy habitat.

Arctic ice reached the third-lowest level ever recorded in 2010, and was at record low levels in January.

Because the Arctic is a major weather-maker for much of the Northern Hemisphere, these changes are being blamed for severe storms in some of the world's most densely populated areas.