Heartbreaking video of starving polar bear shows the devastating impact of global warming
Dec 11, 2017
Dunja Đuđić
Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, concerts, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
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National Geographic photographer Paul Nicklen has recently filmed a video which shows how terrifying global warming really is. The video shows a weak, starving polar bear in a desperate search for food. It’s heart-wrenching, but more than that – it’s a warning of the planet Earth that an entire species may disappear if we don’t make a change.
Nicklen posted the video on his Instagram profile, and it soon went viral. As he writes, the heartbreaking scene made him and his entire team pushing through their tears and emotions while filming:
It’s a soul-crushing scene that still haunts me, but I know we need to share both the beautiful and the heartbreaking if we are going to break down the walls of apathy. This is what starvation looks like. The muscles atrophy. No energy. It’s a slow, painful death.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BcU-6PsAoIp/?taken-by=paulnicklen
Nicklen writes that the bear wasn’t old, and sadly points out that it died within hours or days after being filmed. As National Geographic writes, the rise of temperatures and melting of the sea ice causes polar bears to lose access to the main staple of their diet—seals:
Starving, and running out of energy, they are forced to wander into human settlements for any source of food. Feeding polar bears is illegal. Without finding another source of food, this bear likely only had a few more hours to live.
The sad scene made Nicklen and his team cry while filming, and I am crying as I’m writing this. But there’s no point in crying and doing nothing else. No matter how heartbreaking this scene is, I believe it had to be shared. Maybe it can help us realize how devastating climate changes really are, and get us to make a change. As Nicklen points out, the solutions exist: “We must reduce our carbon footprint, eat the right food, stop cutting down our forests, and begin putting the Earth—our home—first.”
Apart from being a contributing photographer to National Geographic, Nicklen is also a co-founder of conservation group Sea Legacy. You can see more of his work on his website and Instagram profile.
[via DPReview]
Dunja Đuđić
Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, concerts, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
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16 responses to “Heartbreaking video of starving polar bear shows the devastating impact of global warming”
I am sure I will be unpopular for this, but one bear doesn’t mean they are all starving. Could be it has an injury and can’t hunt. Could have cancer or some other illness. Yes, it is sad and I would have hated seeing it, but one animal doesn’t prove anything.
Was thinking same thing. Take a photo of a starving kid in Africa and then post that the entire human race is starving to death. While I feel pity and empathy for the bear, no animal should suffer like that, it being sick and starving could be the result of any number of things. So instead of pushing your left-wing global warming conspiracy mumbo-jumbo, prove that this bear was starving due to your stated reasons.
How does this one photo in one location show “…the devastating impact of global warming”? Hahahahaha. You lefties lie and distort and grasp at straws.
We need a few more snowflakes to go to the arctic, so that the bears will have more access to food.
Anybody above the age of 50 doesnt care because “i wont be here so fuck the next generations”
I really thought the comments would be different. My beef with climate change is if everyone were to eliminate our ‘carbon footprints’ tomorrow would it change anything?
At one time all animals eventually died of injury, sickness, starvation or predation. Now it’s conjectured that anytime an animal dies it must be from “climate change”, “global warming” or whatever the latest catch phrase is for the latest crisis-du-jour..
This bear could be in that condition from a number of different scenarios, very disappointed to see DIYP jumping on the alarmist bandwagon.
I can’t even watch this. This is disgusting. I hate humans.
Then go help the bear
Get your GED, cries-in-the-night cretin.
BS, I was in the Arctic six months ago, polar bears are protected and thriving.
Always Coca-cola …
Is it far fetched to think the best course of action here would be to put the cameras down and save the bear? Can we really be expected to be taught the value of life from a person who preferred to shoot a picture rather take action and do all they could in the moment?
Welcome to the Scientific Method in 2017.
Global warming is real. I just returned from the polar bear capital of the world, Churchill, MB where I worked as a polar bear viewing guide. The problem is getting worse every year, however this bear is more likely injured, ill, or simply old. An individual bear does not illustrate anything. Please keep in mind that while this video may not illustrate a bigger problem, the problem still exists. Polar bear weights are getting lower every year and the amount of time they have to feed on pack ice is also shrinking.
And yet they didn’t give it food? Hmmmm…