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A young polar bear sitting on the shore in southern Beaufort Sea, Alaska. In some parts of the Arctic, sea ice loss is causing polar bears to spend longer periods on shore each summer. Credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service/Eric Regehr

From the Arctic to the Mojave Desert, terrestrial and marine habitats are rapidly changing. These changes impact animals that are adapted to specific ecological niches, sometimes displacing them or reducing their numbers. From their privileged vantage point, satellites are particularly well-suited to observe habitat transformation and help scientists forecast impacts on the distribution, abundance and migration of animals.
In a press conference Monday at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco, three researchers discussed how detailed satellite observations have facilitated ecological studies of change over time. The presenters discussed how changes in Arctic sea ice cover have helped scientists predict a 30 percent drop in the global population…