On-Thin-Ice(v14)

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You decide that it is too early to get up. You hit the mental snooze button and decide you need a few more hours of shut eye. When you wake up you hear some noise outside of your burrow. This frightens you, do you go outside of the safety of your den and see what’s happening outside or do you sit and wait in the safety of your den. [[Wait inside the safety of the den]] [[Go outside and leave your den]]

You choose to leave your den. As you exit your den you see a hunter standing in front of you, do you attack it or do you run away as fast as you can? [[Attack it (RNG)]] [[Run Away]]

You choose to stay inside your den and wait out the noise. You start to feel hungry, do you go outside and look for food or stay inside your den and wait until potential dangers have left. [[Go outside and leave your den]] [[Stay in your safe den]]

You choose to attack the hunter, you stand tall and start attacking him with your paws and attempt to bite him several times. <<nobr>> <<switch random(1,4)>> <<case 1 2 3>> The hunter shot you in the head, you feel a sharp pain but it soon subsides as you rest your head on the snow and you go to dreamland, forever. <style> img{ max-width:100%; max-height:100%; } </style> <img src="images/OnThinIce-DEATH-SCREENS-HUNTERS3small.jpg"> In the 1960s, polar bears were heavily hunted and became endangered. Thankfully, a treaty in 1973 limited hunting to only native Inuits, which helped the polar bears repopulate back to above endangered levels. To learn more click on the following link. https://ypte.org.uk/factsheets/polar-bear/polar-bears-and-humans <<case 4>> You look down at the hunter’s body that is now lying in a pool of blood. You are one of the lucky ones that have survived an encounter with a hunter. You decide it’s time to move on with your day. [[Open your eyes]] <<default>> Blah. Something went wrong if this is shown. <</switch>> <</nobr>>

You attempt to run away but the speed of a bullet is faster than you. You are shot by a hunter and lay down to rest, permanently. <style> img{ max-width:100%; max-height:100%; } </style> <img src="images/OnThinIce-DEATH-SCREENS-HUNTERS3small.jpg"> In the 1960s, polar bears were heavily hunted and became endangered. Thankfully, a treaty in 1973 limited hunting to only native Inuits, which helped the polar bears repopulate back to above endangered levels. To learn more click on the following link. https://ypte.org.uk/factsheets/polar-bear/polar-bears-and-humans [[Easter Egg]]

You wait it out until the noise you hear vanishes. You conclude it is now safe to go outside. [[Go Outside]]

With the noise you heard now gone you decide that it is safe to go outside. You go outside and see the white fluffy snow that you’re used to. You can now begin your difficult day as you normally would. [[Open your eyes]]

Nothing but ice can be seen around you. Your urge for a bite to eat causes you to wander around looking for something to satiate your hunger. You wander around in what seems to be a never-ending antarctic. Finally you spot a splash of water in the distance. Thinking that it could be your first meal, you head over to check it out. The one thing that seems odd is that a splash from a seal or a fish would have been way too small to see from your current distance. When you finally reach the iceberg’s edge everything seems still and for a second you think you must have imagined it. As you’re standing there, you notice that the edge of the iceberg has started to turn slightly gray. You’re not quite sure why, but you’ve also noticed that there have been less fish in recent years and the ones that remain have almost looked sickly and slightly poisoned. While you’re lost in thought, you barely notice that a school of swim just swam by and before you can even react, a massive killer whale swims by at a fast pace, almost matching the tiny fish. The killer whale doesn’t target you, but your two species are at the top of their own respective food chains and compete for food such as seals and fish. You realize with anger that the presence of the killer whale has probably alerted all prey within a kilometer radius so it’ll almost be impossible to find food now. You realize you have two choices: [[Dive underwater and look for food anyway]] [[Sleep and hunt at night]]

You open your eyes to the expected whiteness of the snow den. Your stomach loudly grumbles, you need food soon and you know it. Shelter is important so you’re not scrambling to find a good place to dig a den at night. You can find food after making shelter. Lastly you can let your curiosity guide you to your next decision and figure your food and shelter situation along the way through your journey. Choose food, shelter, or go exploring. [[Find food]] [[Find shelter]] [[Go exploring]]

You find a little bluff that protects against the wind and start digging a little hole where you can blend in and sleep for the coming night. The bluff is not far from the water and you can even see the edge of water from where you’re standing, shiningly bright from the way the sun strikes the water. Your stomach grumbles as you look towards the ocean, longing for some food. The last time you ate a nice juicy seal was seven days ago. The sun is still quite high in the sky, but it’ll be only a few hours until dark. You could choose to take a nap and then hunt during nighttime, since you’ll be more likely to find seals. [[Sleep and hunt at night]] [[Find food]]

You’ve been wandering around for what seems like forever but in reality it hasn't been more than an hour. Your stomach begins to grumble. You see a faint shadow in the distance; it might be a seal or a deadly hunter. Do you take your chances and see if it’s the seal, or sprint in the other direction as fast as possible? [[Investigate the shadow]] [[Sprint in the other direction]]

<<nobr>> <<switch random(1,2)>> <<case 1>> You survived congrats you ate the fish the end. <<case 2>> YOU DIED!!! (add pic here)(add climate change paragraph) <<default>> Blah. Something went wrong if this is shown. <</switch>> <</nobr>>

(4.2) You choose to look for fish as you think it might be the easier option. You notice that the water seems to be an endless abyss, as if saying that it has nothing to give you. You wander around the edge of the ice for countless hours, staring back into the cold, black water with only the moonlight to show you the way. Finally, you spot flickers of movement within the corner of your eye. You immediately jump at the chance, diving into the water in hopes for the chance of finding that one bite to eat. [[Outcome]]

Welcome to On Thin Ice! <style> img{ max-width:100%; max-height:100%; } </style> <img src="images/OnThinIce-2Photoshopsmalljpeg.jpg"> Made by: Brandon Cho, Faris Elzeyadi, Kenta Tsukamoto, and Victor Dossin Made during: codeORcreate on December 13, 2020 Word count: 5571 words How to play the game: - Read the story on each slide and make the best decision based on the information given by clicking one of the options presented. - If you die, feel free to read the information at the bottom of the image to see how your death was caused by climate change. - When starting over, please click the “Restart” button in the left hand column. - Some choices will have (RNG) at the end of them. This means that the outcome of that choice will be randomly generated, sometimes giving you a good or bad outcome. Different outcomes will be more or less likely to show up, so good luck! - Lastly, have fun! :) Click the following link to start the game! [[Start Game (Day 1)]]

Test <style> img{ max-width:100%; max-height:100%; } </style> <img src="images/deathscreen1.jpg">

You decide to ignore the killer whale and continue to look for food. You dive underwater and search for a couple of hours, but just as you suspected, you can’t find any fish nearby to catch. You also see no sign of the killer whale. Frustrated that you wasted most of a day, you make your way back to the iceberg’s edge and climb back on land to rest. You’ve exhausted most of your energy on hunting and now your stomach grumbling is taking on a more desperate urgency than before. You can try your previous plan of taking a nap and hunting at night or you can try to explore the iceberg for other sources of food. [[Go exploring]] [[Take a nap]]

You wake up when the moon is high in the sky and the temperature has dropped drastically. You have to use much more energy keeping warm as you walk to the edge of the water. You realize that you can also submerge yourself and hunt for fish under water but you’ll also be exposing yourself to the cold for much longer. You choose to: [[Look for fish]] [[Look for seals]]

You lay down to rest and you notice that the snow is a little too comforting, even though you’re very, very hungry. It takes some time, but you finally feel your muscles relax and you doze off to sleep. The problem is that you never wake up. <style> img{ max-width:100%; max-height:100%; } </style> <img src="images/OnThinIce-DEATH-SCREENS-SLEEPsmall.jpg"> Polar bears are large animals that are well suited to survive the arctic environment. While being the top predator in the food chain, they are poor terrestrial hunters due to the high amount of energy expended when walking. This means they rely on the arctic aquatic marine life for survival. While polar bears are great swimmers and can swim extended periods, they need to rest on ice packs or land otherwise they will quickly exhaust themselves. With the ice packs melting due to climate change, polar bears have less area to walk and rest on making death by exhaustion more likely. If you would like to learn more, please click on the following link. https://www7.nau.edu/itep/main/tcc/Basic/Ak_inupiaq

You choose to look for fish as you think it might be the easier option. You notice that the water seems to be an endless abyss, as if saying that it has nothing to give you. You wander around the edge of the ice for countless hours, staring back into the cold, black water with only the moonlight to show you the way. Finally, you spot flickers of movement within the corner of your eye. You immediately jump at the chance, diving into the water in hopes for the chance of finding that one bite to eat. [[Attack the small school of fish (RNG)]]

You choose to look for seals to spend as little time as possible in the water. You paddle as quietly as possible around the edge of the ice in search of seals resting on the edge of the iceberg. You search for hours and you’re finally rewarded with a glimpse of one seal sleeping at the edge of the ice with its tail dipping into the water. The moonlight reflects off the slippery seal’s back as you get closer and closer. You decide to get as close as possible before jumping up and dragging the seal away from water, where you’ll be able to feed on it without the seal escaping. [[Attack the seal (RNG)]]

<<nobr>> <<switch random(1,2)>> <<case 1>> By the time the seal knows what hit them, you’ve already dragged the seal completely onto the iceberg and have immobilized it with your front paws. You quickly bite off its head so that it stops struggling. You then take several minutes gorging out all of the meat that you can out of the dead seal. By the time you finish, the snow surrounding the corpse is stained red and you realize that your own face must be surrounded with the red liquid as well. It’s brutal, but it’s the only way to survive. With the food safely tucked into your stomach, you’re finally able to rest easy by digging another small shelter and tucking in for the night. [[Day 2]] <<case 2>> As you swim up out of the water, the seal is suddenly aware of your presence and slips into the water before you can grab it. Unfortunately, seals are much more agile than you in the water and it quickly swims away. Your rumbling stomach provides the reminder that you will die if you don’t find food soon. You’re too exhausted to continue swimming so you continue to walk across the bare landscape until you collapse. <style> img{ max-width:100%; max-height:100%; } </style> <img src="images/OnThinIce-DEATH-SCREENS-EXHAUSTIONsmall.jpg"> Polar bears are large animals that are well suited to survive the arctic environment. While being the top predator in the food chain, they are poor terrestrial hunters due to the high amount of energy expended when walking. This means they rely on the arctic aquatic marine life for survival. While polar bears are great swimmers and can swim extended periods, they need to rest on ice packs or land otherwise they will quickly exhaust themselves. With the ice packs melting due to climate change, polar bears have less area to walk and rest on making death by exhaustion more likely. If you would like to learn more, please click on the following link. https://www7.nau.edu/itep/main/tcc/Basic/Ak_inupiaq <<default>> Blah. Something went wrong if this is shown. <</switch>> <</nobr>>

<<nobr>> <<switch random(1,4)>> <<case 1 2 3>> You lunge at the small school of fish near the iceberg’s edge, biting for anything in the vicinity. As you feel the strength of the fish’s struggles, you swim back up onto the surface with a successful catch. You toss the fish onto the iceberg’s edge and greedily munch on the flesh of the fish, leaving almost nothing behind. All that’s left is the bloody mess of an unrecognizable fish carcass and a slightly satisfied bear. You’re able to create a small shelter by digging into the side of a small hill and sleep with a somewhat satisfied appetite. Although you did find some food to eat, something inside of you says you should have gambled for something bigger. [[Day 2]] <<case 4>> As you lunge into the water for the small school of fish, the fish suddenly notice your splash of water and quickly escape from your mouth’s grasp. Frustrated, you climb back up onto the surface and decide to try a little longer. After multiple attempts and continuous failure, you finally decide that you can’t continue. You feel the searing pain of hunger creeping up until your legs can’t carry you any longer. Due to exhaustion and hunger, you collapse and feel the cold close in. You think to yourself moments before the end how unlucky you must have been to not have been able to catch even a single fish. <style> img{ max-width:100%; max-height:100%; } </style> <img src="images/OnThinIce-DEATH-SCREENS-STARVATIONsmall.jpg"> Polar bears can be seen in numerous viral, heart-wrenching videos where they can be seen barely alive and having a very thin, bony frame. The beasts needed to eat 60 percent more than anyone had realized. They burn through an enormous amount of 12,325 calories per day even when they're just simply sitting around. The increasingly heating Arctic due to climate change has greatly affected the polar bear's main source of food, the seals. To learn more click on the link below. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2018/02/polar-bears-starve-melting-sea-ice-global-warming-study-beaufort-sea-environment/#close <<default>> Blah. Something went wrong if this is shown. <</switch>> <</nobr>>

You choose to investigate the shadow. As you keep trekking forward moving closer and closer to the shadow you start to see that it is not a seal but a group of three hunters. You’re too close to them to start running away now, you have no choice but to stand tall and fight. You stand tall and start swinging your paws and attempting to bite them. You must keep fighting if you want to live. [[Keep fighting the hunters]]

Out of fear, you sprint in the opposite direction as fast as you can. You are now a safe distance away from the suspicious shadow that you saw in the distance. You’re feeling a bit tired and hungry from all the walking you’ve done. It is now time for you to decide if you want to keep exploring or you can sleep and hunt at night. [[Keep exploring]] [[Sleep and hunt at night]]

<<nobr>> <<switch random(1,10)>> <<case 1>> You, by some miracle, killed all three of the armed hunters. You’re tired from all the fighting you did and hungry, do you sleep and hunt at night or push through your tiredness and hunger and keep exploring and hope for the best comes your way. [[Sleep and hunt at night]] [[Keep exploring]] <<case 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10>> You keep fighting the hunters but you feel sharp pains throughout your body. Blood starts oozing out of your body, you feel lightheaded. As you lay down on the cold, crisp, comfortable snow that you’re used to, you die. <style> img{ max-width:100%; max-height:100%; } </style> <img src="images/OnThinIce-DEATH-SCREENS-HUNTERS3small.jpg"> In the 1960s, polar bears were heavily hunted and became endangered. Thankfully, a treaty in 1973 limited hunting to only native Inuits, which helped the polar bears repopulate back to above endangered levels. To learn more click on the following link. https://ypte.org.uk/factsheets/polar-bear/polar-bears-and-humans <<default>> Blah. Something went wrong if this is shown. <</switch>> <</nobr>>

You decide to keep exploring. You've been walking for an eternity and the sun is setting. If you don’t start thinking about food and shelter now you’ll die. You can see a large tall structure that is 75 feet tall. By it’s tall height you know it’s not something dangerous and it might have some food around it. You can also try and find food elsewhere. Do you try and find food elsewhere or do you explore the tall structure? [[Find food elsewhere]] [[Explore the tall structure]]

You decide that the tall structure is unsafe and that you’re going to look for food elsewhere. It has gotten dark. You’re completely vulnerable and stranded in the snow storm with no shelter. You’re starving, you haven’t eaten and it’s now been ten days since your last meal. You don’t have enough energy to build a den to sleep in for the night. You die from starvation. <style> img{ max-width:100%; max-height:100%; } </style> <img src="images/OnThinIce-DEATH-SCREENS-STARVATIONsmall.jpg"> Polar bears can be seen in numerous viral, heart-wrenching videos where they can be seen barely alive and having a very thin, bony frame. The beasts needed to eat 60 percent more than anyone had realized. They burn through an enormous amount of 12,325 calories per day even when they're just simply sitting around. The increasingly heating Arctic due to climate change has greatly affected the polar bear's main source of food, the seals. To learn more click on the link below. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2018/02/polar-bears-starve-melting-sea-ice-global-warming-study-beaufort-sea-environment/#close

You decide to take your chances and head towards the tall structure. You pass a sign that says “Pillaging Penguins Arctic Research Facility.” You don't know what that means since you’re a polar bear. Your nose picks up the smell of fish. You walk around the structure until you find some trash barrels filled with food and you determine that that’s where the smell is coming from. You’re lucky to have found the food and luckily there was some fish in there to satisfy your hunger. You’re able to dig a shelter since you’ve gained some energy by eating the fish. You have found food and dug a shelter. Congratulations, you’re one of the one of lucky ones to survive the first day, but there are still many more days that you need to overcome to survive. [[Day 2]]

Although it seems to be the more arduous journey, you decide to choose the left path towards the high mountain peaks. As you travel through the hills and mountains, you realize that there is a plentiful amount of shade and shelter, making multiple stops and being sure to get lots of rest. As you near the end of the mountains, you then suddenly hear a large rumbling noise and the sky darkened. It’s an avalanche! You start frantically sprinting for any safe area you can find. In the distance, you see what seems to be a safe cave. You dive for the entrance and turn to see the sight behind you. You’re barely safe. As you look back, you see that the snow has completely blocked off the entrance to the cave. You’re trapped! You could try to burrow out but there is no telling how many tons of snow are behind the entrance. Looking behind you, you can see that the cave continues into the heart of the mountain. [[Start burrowing out]] [[Continue in the cave]]

Seeing as though the icy-plains seemed to be the safer route, you decide to turn towards the right path instead. As you travel through the flat plains of the arctic, you suddenly trip as you feel a tight sensation tying your body down. You look around and see a group of people armed with firearms and chains. The sinking realization of you being hunted suddenly infuriates you. You try and fight back the ropes with all your might, but to little success. Where did they even come from? Eventually you're strapped onto a cart and are taken away with the people. They inject you with a sleeping formula and the last feeling you have is the fire of life being snuffed out. <style> img{ max-width:100%; max-height:100%; } </style> <img src="images/OnThinIce-DEATH-SCREENS-HUNTERS3small.jpg"> In the 1960s, polar bears were heavily hunted and became endangered. Thankfully, a treaty in 1973 limited hunting to only native Inuits, which helped the polar bears repopulate back to above endangered levels. To learn more click on the following link. https://ypte.org.uk/factsheets/polar-bear/polar-bears-and-humans

The cave seems to be an endless maze of different tunnels and routes. There’s a fork in the tunnel where fresh air can be felt from both. Which side should you choose, right or left? [[Go right!]] [[Go left!]]

You start to shift the massive amount of snow filling the entrance of the cave. But no matter how long you keep shifting out the snow into the cave, the more it replaces it and soon you aren’t even close to the entrance anymore. After an hour, you finally decide to give up and turn back towards the back of the cave. [[Continue in the cave!]]

The right path is very complex. It curves many different ways and the damp feel under your feet makes you think that this cave was carved by a big river. It’s night time when you finally get out of the cave which ends right at the edge of the ocean, with a small path connecting along a cliff that goes back towards the mainland of the iceberg. After your long journey through the mountain, you have become very hungry. Your brain subconsciously takes in the light gray sheen the ice has to it and the large cracks in the ice. The water looks slightly gray and you notice the lack of any type of life. You need to find more food or else you won’t be making it to the following morning. The water seems wrong but your only other option is to climb up the path to the mainland and try and hunt animals in the mainland. What do you do? [[Look for fish in polluted water (RNG)]] [[Go up and hunt for animals]]

The left path is relatively short and takes you back to the mainland in the shadow of a cliff. The landscape is flatter than usual with few hills beside the one facing your back. You’ve conserved enough energy that you don’t have to think about food. It’ll be getting dark soon so you decide to dig a small shelter and rest until tomorrow morning. [[Day 3]]

Go left! You’ve tired yourself out too much from burrowing out the snow in the cave so it’s nearly dark when you walk out of the left cave. You can see a flatter landscape with the only big hill being the one directly behind you. You really need more food after expending so much energy exploring the iceberg and trying to shift the snow from the entrance of the cave, but you notice that the cracks have gotten bigger under your feet. [[Sleep anyway]] [[Explore cracked ice]]

You sleep anyway although you’re hungry but you luckily manage to get through the night without dying. [[Day 3]]

As you’re out looking for food, you realize you’re underestimated how deep the cracks run in the ice. After walking a bit longer, the ice finally gives way and you fall through the ice. You try to claw your way back up to the surface, but the ice is too deep and you quickly exhaust yourself. <style> img{ max-width:100%; max-height:100%; } </style> <img src="images/OnThinIce-DEATH-SCREENS-ice-fall-small.jpg"> Polar bears depend on ice for more than just their home. If there is no ice, they cannot hunt for food. In addition to that, less sea ice opens more shipping lines which increases pollution around the polar bears' habitat. To learn more about the dangers of melting ice in the arctic, visit the first link "Home is Where the Ice Is". To learn how you can help and prevent global sea ice melting, visit the second link "Intervention". https://polarbearsinternational.org/story/home-is-where-the-ice-is/ https://polarbearsinternational.org/story/intervention/

<<nobr>> <<switch random(1,4)>> <<case 1>> You swim for a little while and you’re quickly running out of energy. All of a sudden, a fish sluggishly swims past and it looks like it’s barely alive. You decide to change that and quickly grab up the fish in your mouth. You just manage to make it back to the iceberg and quickly eat up the fish. It’s not much but it keeps you going. Licking the bones clean, you continue up the path towards the mainland to find a better place for a shelter, make a half-effort to dig up a shelter and then fall into the hole, fast asleep. [[Day 3]] <<case 2 3 4>> You swim and swim but you don’t find any fish. You push yourself further and further, convincing yourself that you’d be saved if you could just find one fish, but eventually you black out from exhaustion and drown. <style> img{ max-width:100%; max-height:100%; } </style> <img src="images/OnThinIce-DEATH-SCREENS-POLLUTION.jpg"> Burning oils releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, contributing to the increasing temperature. Carbon emissions from oil and gas is predicted to raise the global temperature by 1.5°C. To work towards the cause, in 2014 major global oil companies worked together to form the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative to fund clean energy. Due to the increase in temperatures, the habitat of the polar bears, the sea ice is melting away.To learn more click on the following links. https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/global-warming/issues/oil/ https://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/why-are-glaciers-and-sea-ice-melting <<default>> Blah. Something went wrong if this is shown. <</switch>> <</nobr>>

You continue along the path, choosing to bypass the ocean because you are unsure that it holds anything promising. You continue along the path towards the mainland, the whole time noticing that the cracks under your feet are growing larger and more numerous. You search for some time but can’t seem to find anything. Finally, when you’re already exhausted you catch a glimpse of an arctic fox lying camouflaged next to a small pile of snow. It’s your only chance at this point, but arctic foxes are one of the smartest and most agile types of prey… [[Attack the arctic fox (RNG)]]

<<nobr>> <<switch random(1,10)>> <<case 1>> You miraculously somehow manage to sneak up on the fox without drawing its attention. It hears you at the last second and tries to run away, but you’ve already pinned it with your claws, fatally wounding it. You finish the job with your mouth and get all the food you can off the fox. It’s not enough to last forever, but you manage to survive until the next day. [[Day 3]] <<case 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10>> The fox uses its superior senses to hear you and quickly darts away right before you catch it. That’s the last straw for you and you collapse from despair and exhaustion. <style> img{ max-width:100%; max-height:100%; } </style> <img src="images/OnThinIce-DEATH-SCREENS-EXHAUSTIONsmall.jpg"> Polar bears are large animals that are well suited to survive the arctic environment. While being the top predator in the food chain, they are poor terrestrial hunters due to the high amount of energy expended when walking. This means they rely on the arctic aquatic marine life for survival. While polar bears are great swimmers and can swim extended periods, they need to rest on ice packs or land otherwise they will quickly exhaust themselves. With the ice packs melting due to climate change, polar bears have less area to walk and rest on making death by exhaustion more likely. If you would like to learn more, please click on the following link. https://www7.nau.edu/itep/main/tcc/Basic/Ak_inupiaq <<default>> Blah. Something went wrong if this is shown. <</switch>> <</nobr>>

You take the chance and begin to head towards the human voices coming from the other direction. As you begin to approach that direction, the humans seem to have noticed you within a long distance. Ignoring them, you keep walking along, hoping they won’t harm you. Your hopes suddenly sink as the humans bring out their guns, full with glee and laughter. Sensing danger from that direction, you charge at them with the full intention of taking their lives. The gunshots were fired, and you can only see the human’s devilish faces running towards you as you begin to sink into death’s hands. <style> img{ max-width:100%; max-height:100%; } </style> <img src="images/OnThinIce-DEATH-SCREENS-HUNTERS3small.jpg"> In the 1960s, polar bears were heavily hunted and became endangered. Thankfully, a treaty in 1973 limited hunting to only native Inuits, which helped the polar bears repopulate back to above endangered levels. To learn more click on the following link. https://ypte.org.uk/factsheets/polar-bear/polar-bears-and-humans

Instead of heading towards the voices, you begin towards the boat. You notice a black substance slowly trickling into the water from the boat and gray puffs gradually invade the blue sky. You also see that the white snow seems to be a much darker tint in some areas than others. You notice there’s also a nearby laboratory that seems to have quite a few people in them. As you get close, your eyes can’t help but wander towards a nearby school of fish in the darkened water. [[Go catch the fish]] [[Keep going to the boat]]

Hunger gets to the best of you and you decide to go for a little snack. You lunge into the dark water and successfully find a bite to eat. Although the fish seemed to be coated in a sickly, black coating, your appetite tells you to start munching down already. You have an awful feeling within you as you realize that maybe eating during this time wasn’t in your best intentions. <style> img{ max-width:100%; max-height:100%; } </style> <img src="images/OnThinIce-DEATH-SCREENS-POLLUTION.jpg"> Burning oils releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, contributing to the increasing temperature. Carbon emissions from oil and gas is predicted to raise the global temperature by 1.5°C. To work towards the cause, in 2014 major global oil companies worked together to form the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative to fund clean energy. Due to the increase in temperatures, the habitat of the polar bears, the sea ice is melting away.To learn more click on the following links. https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/global-warming/issues/oil/ https://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/why-are-glaciers-and-sea-ice-melting

You look around for a hiding spot, but don’t seem to find any. The only option seems to be jumping into the polluted waters in order to escape. As you make a dash for the water, you hear the scientist’s yelling in the background. Some dash to bring out their guns while others frantically run away from you. Although some are aiming at you, they aren’t shooting and are simply, carefully observing you as you swim away. You seem to have gotten away to safety, but the polluted water seems to have gotten into your body system while swimming. Your vision is going darker and darker and the water feels more solid around your limbs as you struggle to swim. You need to get out of the water soon but you might be close enough to the humans’ boat to attract their attention. What do you do? [[Get out of the water]] [[Keep swimming]]

As you climb back onto the iceberg’s gray shore, you feel much heavier and you barely manage it. Your usually pristine white fur has been stained black by whatever the humans put in the water. You take in your surroundings and notice that you’ve made it about 500 feet from the boat in the opposite direction of the human voices. The good news is that the majority of humans around the boat haven’t noticed you, still looking in the opposite direction. The bad news is that there was one human standing not more than 10 feet from you holding a gun. In their eyes, you can see fear and they’re trembling badly. However, you can’t be sure that they won’t shoot. If you move quickly you can try to knock them out before they can react. If you turn away you’ll be leaving yourself completely vulnerable to the human while you attempt to run away. This is your final decision... Choose wisely... [[Attack the human]] [[Turn away from the human]]

You decide to keep swimming rather than heading towards the nearby, human-infested lands. Due to the heavy pollution, you begin to feel very nauseous and grow heavy with fatigue. Biting through the pain, you continue to sluggishly swim through the dark water in hopes of getting to land farther away from the human settlements. However, you begin to struggle to find the strength in your body to lift yourself up from drowning. You find that you’re unable to properly swim and eventually begin to dip below the water’s surface. You start drifting deeper into the black water and draw your last breath before being engulfed by the deep, endless abyss of what seems to be a bottomless black sea. <style> img{ max-width:100%; max-height:100%; } </style> <img src="images/OnThinIce-DEATH-SCREENS-EXHAUSTIONsmall.jpg"> Polar bears are large animals that are well suited to survive the arctic environment. While being the top predator in the food chain, they are poor terrestrial hunters due to the high amount of energy expended when walking. This means they rely on the arctic aquatic marine life for survival. While polar bears are great swimmers and can swim extended periods, they need to rest on ice packs or land otherwise they will quickly exhaust themselves. With the ice packs melting due to climate change, polar bears have less area to walk and rest on making death by exhaustion more likely. If you would like to learn more, please click on the following link. https://www7.nau.edu/itep/main/tcc/Basic/Ak_inupiaq

You decide that your only chance of survival is to attack the human. You move quickly and reach them before they can properly hold their gun. However, as you strike them, they pull the trigger and hit your leg, gravely injuring you. Their scream also has alerted the nearby humans and they start running in your direction to try and help their fallen comrade. You try to run away but the wound in your leg slows you greatly. Some humans give chase and eventually catch up to you, every bullet they shoot making you slower and slower. Eventually, you drop to the ground, bullets riddling your body, and in your final moments of life you wonder if you should have trusted that last human. [[The End!]] <style> img{ max-width:100%; max-height:100%; } </style> <img src="images/OnThinIce-FINAL-DEATH-redo.jpg"> In the 1960s, polar bears were heavily hunted and became endangered. Thankfully, a treaty in 1973 limited hunting to only native Inuits, which helped the polar bears repopulate back to above endangered levels. To learn more click on the following link. https://ypte.org.uk/factsheets/polar-bear/polar-bears-and-humans

You and the human stare at each other for a few moments. Neither of you makes a move. Then slowly, you turn away and start to run away. Even as you’re fully committing yourself to try and put some distance between you and the human, you can’t help but glance back at the human. The human’s gun is lowered, pointing toward the ground as they look longingly towards you with respect. It’s obvious that they could have killed you, but they decided to let you live. As you run away, you consider the possibility that all humans might not be so bad. [[The End!]] <style> img{ max-width:100%; max-height:100%; } </style> <img src="images/OnThinIce-JOURNEYS-END-2.jpg">

Thank you for playing our game! :) Some of the most severe issues that have been prominent within the arctic regions include problems such as greenhouse gas emissions. Polar bears (Ursus Maritimus) and their dependence on “sea ice” make them very vulnerable to the effects of climate change. They rely heavily on the sea ice for traveling, hunting, mating, resting and more. Their prey, the ringed and bearded seals, heavily depend on this environment, as well. Polar bears especially have low reproductive rates and, due to their lack of adaptability, are predicted to go extinct by 2100 if this trend is projected to continue. These species are a big niche within the arctic environment and it is crucial to protect these “last ice areas” in order to preserve these majestic and important creatures. We must reduce the burning of fossil fuels and any other productions of carbon dioxide to try and reduce the effects of climate change in the arctic. <style> img{ max-width:100%; max-height:100%; } </style> <img src="images/OnThinIce-2Photoshopsmalljpeg.jpg">

Here's a happy polar bear :) to let you know that we can still make a difference! Creators Note: Yes, we know this game is really depressing. <style> img{ max-width:100%; max-height:100%; } </style> <img src="images/OnThinIce-Easter-Egg-Happy-Polar-Bear.jpg">