The June 2012 Photo of the Month by Elizabeth Dalziel shows a polar bear at Horseguards Parade in London.
A guard’s horse looks over to check out the realistic looking beast most at home on the Arctic Sea Ice, fast disappearing due to global warming. I like the framing of the image. The ignoring guards in their crisp red uniforms, set off against the white stone and black railings of the ceremonial part of the Briitsh Capital.
This photo is one of a series of images made around the world on the summer solstice June 21st. Greenpeace launched a bold and visionary campaign to save the Arctic in its pristine and natural splendor as governments and multinational corporations rush to exploit its resources as the sea ice that protected the wilderness at the top of the earth melts away under the effects of global warming.
From Rio de Janiero where world leaders failed to reach any kind of agreement on taking action to limit climate change, Greenpeace reached out to invite people all over the world to join together to claim the Arctic and stop industrial exploitation from contaminating the environment and accelerating the already rapid progress of global warming.
There were interesting images from many other locations as activists in polar bear costumes prowled a Washington DC Metrorail station, patrolled the White House, ambled along Switzerland’s Lake Lucerne, held signs in Mexico, Montreal, Madrid and Moscow. Protested in Berlin, Brussels, the Taj Mahal and the Great Wall of China. Polar Bears rode a camel in Jerusalem, a surfboard in Sydney and an inflatable in Copenhagen.
It’s a big idea and the right moment for action. Step up before we get stepped on. Save the Arctic.
