Polar bears plunge into melting Arctic

For 12 years Steven Kazlowski lived in the Arctic with a single mission: to photograph polar bears. On Friday, June 27, he spoke at the Burke Museum about The Last Polar Bear: Facing the Truth of a Warming World, an exhibition of his photographs.

The exhibit displays what he calls his life’s work, a visual narration of effects of global warming: melting Arctic ice and habitat destruction.

“There used to be icebergs around … but now they’re just gone,” Kazlowski said.

“We’ve got some pretty cool stories between us,” said Nathan Sutton, a friend of Kazlowski’s, who was at the opening of the exhibit.

The exhibit has the same title as a book of Kazlowski’s photographs, which aims to promote conservation.

“It showed how a book can be used to broaden public engagement,” said Helen Cherullo, executive director of Braided River, Kazlowski’s publisher.

Kazlowski’s years of photography and study of the Arctic have lead to what Cherullo said is conclusive evidence that the Arctic is “just the first domino” of the effects of global warming.

“When it begins to fall, we’re all going to feel the impacts,” she said.

Richard Moritz, department chair of the UW Polar Science Center, said Kazlowski’s work does a good job of capturing the effects of global warming in his depiction of polar ice as the melting habitat of the bears. “I think it’s great,” he said.

“I was absolutely astonished by the encompassing body of work that he had, because he is — through the many, many hours of work in the Arctic — able to tell the complete story of the ecosystem,” Cherullo said.

Those involved with the exhibit hope it will help show people that the threats faced by the polar bears of the Arctic are imminent, convincing them to step up, take action and protect our planet, Kazlowski and Cherullo said.