Florian Schulz in National Geographic

Several months ago, photographer Florian Schulz told us that images from his work in the Arctic would appear in the July issue of National Geographic. The magazine arrived on newsstands in the end of June, and we couldn’t be more thrilled with how it turned out! The incredible photographs of polar bears accompany a story by Audubon Contributing Editor Susan McGrath. The article is called On Thin Ice, and it describes the threats facing polar bears in the rapidly warming arctic climate. If the sea ice continues to shrink, polar bears could face extinction in the wild.

Polar bears have become a symbol not only for the arctic, but for global warming in general. No other species is being affected as dramatically as the polar bears that rely on the sea ice to hunt for food.

See the photos that appear in the National Geographic story, along with many more photos from Florian’s travels in the far north, will be featured in his upcoming Braided River book To the Arctic, coming Fall 2011 . The book follows the cycle of a year in the arctic, and captures the incredible diversity of life that can be found there. It is the companion book to the IMAX Theatre film by MacGillivray Freeman Films, which will be released worldwide in spring 2012.

For the full story from National Geographic, click here

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