Polar bears living around Norway's Arctic archipelago of Svalbard are getting "fatter and healthier" despite allegedly melting ice caps, according to new scientific research.

For years, scientists and climate change alarmists have warned that declining ice coverage would sharply reduce hunting opportunities for polar bears, leading to poorer health and falling populations.

However, long-term monitoring of bears in the Svalbard region suggests a different outcome.

Researchers analysed 1,188 records from 770 adult polar bears collected between 1992 and 2019.