Svalbard's polar bears are sending messages to scientists

(CNN)Polar bears take some cajoling as pen pals. First you need to find one, then sedate it and quickly give it the necessary tools before it wakes up. It's an awkward first encounter -- how many friendships do you know that start with a tranquilizer dart? -- and admittedly a one-sided correspondence, but soon they're sending messages daily. Photos: The effects of climate change around the worldRussia – In Ryrkaypiy, a village in Russia's Far Eastern region of Chukotka, polar bears come in close contact with humans in December 2019. Higher than average temperatures driving coastal ice melt prevented over 60 bears from migrating, forcing them to approach the village in search of food.Hide Caption 1 of 15 Photos: The effects of climate change around the worldFlorida – A flooded street in Miami Beach in September 2015. The flood was caused by a combination of seasonal high tides and what many believe is a rise in sea levels due to climate change. Miami Beach has already built miles of seawalls and has embarked on a five-year, $400 million stormwater pump program to keep the ocean waters from inundating the city.Hide Caption 2 of 15 Photos: The effects of climate change around the worldVirginia – Sea water collects in front of a home in Tangier, Virginia, in May 2017. Tangier Island in Chesapeake Bay has lost two-thirds of its landmass since 1850. Now, the 1.2 square mile island is suffering from floods and erosion and is slowly sinking. A paper published in the journal Scientific Reports states that "the citizens of Tangier may become among the first climate change refugees in the continental USA."Hide Caption 3 of 15 Photos: The effects of climate change around the worldAustria – The Pasterze glacier is Austria's largest and it's shrinking rapidly: the sign on the trail indicates where the foot of the glacier reached in 2015, a year before this photo was taken. The European Environmental Agency predicts the volume of European glaciers will decline by between 22 percent and 89 percent by 2100, depending on the future intensity of greenhouse gases. Hide Caption 4 of 15 Photos: The effects of climate change around the worldGreenland – A NASA research aircraft flies over retreating glaciers on the Upper Baffin Bay coast of Greenland. Scientists say the Arctic is one of the regions hit hardest by climate change. Hide Caption 5 of 15 Photos: The effects of climate change around the worldSwitzerland – A wooden pole that had been driven into the ice the year before now stands exposed as the Aletsch glacier melts and sinks at a rate of about 10-13 meters per year near Bettmeralp, Switzerland. Hide Caption 6 of 15 Photos: The effects of climate change around the worldLouisiana – In the Mississippi Delta, trees are withering away because of rising saltwater, creating "Ghost Forests."Hide Caption 7 of 15 Photos: The effects of climate change around the worldCalifornia – A street is flooded in Sun Valley, Southern California in February 2017. Powerful storms