October 5, 2024

Brighton Journal

Complete News World

Viral polar bear on ice is a reminder of the effects of climate change

Viral polar bear on ice is a reminder of the effects of climate change

A stunning photo of a polar bear drifting off to sleep on a bed of ice has won the Natural History Museum's 2023 Wildlife Photographer of the Year award, drawing attention to the plight of polar bears, whose frozen Arctic homelands are being eroded by global climate. Change at an alarming pace.

The poignant image shows a polar bear curled up on the side of an iceberg off the Svalbard archipelago, an island north of Norway beyond the Arctic Circle.

Nima Sarekhani, the photographer who took the award-winning photo, spent three days searching for polar bears on a ship circling the Norwegian islands until he came across a pair of bears, according to a press release from the Natural History Museum. That night, the Little Bear made a resting place and drifted away, creating the perfect scene for Sarykhani's portrait.