Scientist cleared in reports of polar bear drowning

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Wildlife researcher Charles Monnett wasn’t kidding or making it up, an investigation has found: Polar bears really did appear to be drowning in the Arctic for lack of ice, as he reported.

Monnet a wildlife researcher with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, did not “engage in scientific misconduct,” according to a two-year investigation by the Department of the Interior. 

Monnett and colleague Jeffrey Gleason wrote about the sighting in 2006 report, describing polar bears that had drowned in the Arctic. The report was widely publicized and used as an example of the dangers of climate change in the film An Inconvenient Truth.

Soon after, however, the Office of Inspector General in the Department of Interior received word that Monnett had engaged in “scientific misconduct.” On Friday, the department told Monnett it had found no evidence of wrongdoing.

See the story at NPR.