The pending federal decision about whether to protect the polar bear as a threatened species is as much about climate science as it is about climate change. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is currently considering a proposal to list the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, a proposal largely based on anticipated habitat loss in a warming Arctic. Climate models — mathematical representations of the natural processes affecting climate — factored heavily in the scientific information requested by the FWS to guide its official recommendation, which was due Jan. 9.