Polar bears could have more dangerous run-ins with people as ice melts

A polar bear chased residents near a school in a small Alaska village last week, killing a mother and her 1-year-old son before another resident shot the bear dead, state troopers said.

Polar bear attacks are exceedingly rare. Between 1870 and 2014, there were only 73 documented attacks by wild polar bears across Canada, Greenland, Norway, Russia, and the United States, resulting in 20 human deaths, according to a 2017 study. Still, the recent mauling has raised questions about whether the impact of global warming heightens the risk of attacks by polar bears, which are powerful predators.