Until entire cities are under water, some people just won't get it.
The FOP is financed by Spain's Environment Ministry and the autonomous regions of Cantabria, Asturias, Galicia and Castilla-Leon, where the bears roam in search of mates. Indications of winter bear activity have been detected for some time, but only in the past three years have such signs been observed "with absolute certainty", according to the scientists.Anyone who looks around the world and connects all of the pieces will be hard pressed to miss all of the warning signs.
"Mother bears with cubs make the effort to seek out nuts and berries if these have been plentiful, and snow is scarce," Mr Palomero said, adding that even for those bears - mostly mature males - who do close down for the winter, "their hibernation period gets shorter every year".
The behaviour change suggests that global warming is responsible for this revolution in ursine behaviour, says Juan Carlos Garcia Cordon, a professor of geography at Santander's Cantabria University, and a climatology specialist.
"Meteorological data in the high mountains is scarce, but it seems that the warming is more noticeable in the valleys where cold air accumulates," Dr Garcia Cordon said. "There is a decline in snowfall, and in the time snow remains on the ground, which makes access to food easier. As autumn comes later, and spring comes earlier, bears have an extra month to forage for food.
"We cannot prove that non-hibernation is caused by global warming, but everything points in that direction."
