You may not immediately recognize what data center management has to do with polar bears, but there is definitely a connection.

Back in 2007, Gartner (News - Alert) estimated that a quarter of global carbon dioxide emissions could be attributed to data center output. And these emissions are killing off the polar bear population and good data center management practices may help alleviate some of those greenhouse gasses.

But according to a new study published in the respected journal Nature, if we cut back on our emissions over the next two decades, we may give polar bears a better chance of survival. The study comes at a time that is integral to the polar bears’ status within the Endangered Species Act.

And the experts are speaking out about how this is not just a matter of bear necessity. According to Kassie Siegel, director of the Clime Law Institute at the Center for Biological Diversity "Global warming is not just a future threat for the polar bear or for the rest of us. It's here now. The Obama government needs to acknowledge the reality that global warming has arrived and grant the polar bear the 'endangered' status it desperately needs."

It is reported that warming temperatures are responsible for eroding the sea ice the polar bears require in their habitat – a theory that is still under debate to this day. There have been plenty of talks about limiting carbon dioxide output across a breadth of different countries (i.e., summits and agreements such as the Kyoto Protocol), for reasons just such as this; but more action is required.

Steven C. Amstrup, an emeritus researcher with the U.S. Geological Survey and a senior scientist for Polar Bears International, projected back in 2007 that two thirds of the world’s polar bear population will perish by 2050. He is the author of the new article in Nature and has strong thoughts on the actions the world needs to take.

"Conserving polar bears appears to be largely a matter of curbing temperature rise," Amstrup told reporters. "We also do realize this will take some considerable effort to do so."

But knowledge is half the battle, according to Amstrup.

"If people and leaders think there's nothing to do, they will do nothing. We have now shown there is something that can be done to save polar bears. This problem is not irreversible. "