Polar Bears in the U.K.

On January the 26th, 2009, people in London witnessed a rather interesting event : The sculpture of a polar bear on a iceberg floating on the Thames river. This very realistic looking bear was made by 15 different artists who spent 2 months constructing this 6 by 6 meters (20 by 20 ft) structure to raise awareness of melting ice caps but also of the already beginning extinction of Polar bears, one of the first victims of the global warming.

The sculpture is now in Birmingham since February the 6th. They plan on sending it to Glasgow and other cities.

This event was organized by the natural history tv channel : Eden for the launch of their new Fragile Earth Series, presented by Sir David Attenborough.

On the same subject, Polar Bears from Alaska have been added on the endangered species list in the USA (Endangered Species Act (ESA)) because of the destruction of their ecosystem, the ice cap. A half victory for ecologist as this decision is not followed by any other initiatives to fight the global warming. According to scientists, by 2050, 2/3 of the polar bears will disappear if not protected. As others (Sarah Palin) say that the polar bears are not in danger.