VANITY: Photo of polar bears in global warming headline PHOTOSHOPPED?

Daily Mail ^ | 2-2-07 | Vanity

[OKSooner]

I think it's photoshopped.

[OKSooner]

Those who know about such things can figure it out...

BTW, how about a "hot topic" for Global Warming?

[OKSooner]

"Hot topic" ping.

[mnehrling]

Looks normal to me.. The funny thing is if you watch any discovery channel show on polar bears, you see pics like this all the time as a 'normal' image..

[SolidWood]

I don't think it's photoshopped, but I think the story is hyped. The bears must have been able to access this narrow piece of ice... It's incredible the ice melted away quickly while they were sitting on it.

[Williams]

Well the polar bears are up pretty high on very narrow ledges. but the photo means absolutely nothing even if it's the real thing. These polar bears were not in any trouble. It's silly.

[cripplecreek]

I don't know why you would think it was photoshopped. It shows polar bears in their natural environment.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

[GourmetDan]

Polar bears don't get 'marooned' on ice floes anyway.

They are quite good swimmers and probably swam out there in the first place.

[libs_kma]

Exactly.

Unless of course these are non-swimming polar bears.

And if they are, it's Bush's fault for not building swimming pools in the neighborhoods where these deprived creatures have to live.

[CDHart]

Another poster said polar bears can swim very well, and are in no danger from being stranded on ice.

Carolyn

[verum ago]

I don't think it's photoshopped... I just think they're taking picture of a couple of polar bears playing on some floating ice or climbing to get a better view and trying to use it as some sort of vastly overdramatic metaphor.

[TET1968]

Pssssst.....Polar bears can swim.

[OKSooner]

Three of the four pics, with bears swimming around, walking around, etc, look normal to me but I'm calling bull$#!+ on the one with the bears on top of the ice floe.

It ain't right.

[My2Cents]

Man, that global warming! Looks like that iceberg melted in a matter of minutes. Poor bears, caught completely by surprise!

[Cletus.D.Yokel]

What is on the right? The edge shows continuous ice, is it connected to more ice or "land"?

[D-Chivas]

The ice probably broke away while the big fat polar bears were walking on it. Any of you Einsteins ever thought of that?

[oyez]

Those polar bears are "fishing" and are just taking advantages of visibility from that vantage point. They are not dumb enough to get stranded. And they don't need human beings to worry about them.

Leave it to the media to turn a common occurrence into a production.

[Joe 6-pack]

Those bears look pretty clean...and articulate!

[My2Cents]

It does look photoshopped. Doesn't look like enough footing for the bear on the right to just be standing there.

[wolfpat]

...not to mention that if that much ice is above the water, there's much more below the surface.

[OKSooner]

Really.

Can they climb vertical, wet faces of ice, especially when there's no apparent reason for them to except to strike a pose for the camera?

I say the other three pictures weren't suggestive enough for the editors, and the picture with the bears on top of the ice floe is photoshopped.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

[Williams]

No one claims anything about them being trapped or the ice melting quickly. That's the beauty of liberal claptrap. The short caption I read acknowledged it's no big deal for polar bears to swim 100 miles, but speculated that as distances between ice grows, the polar bears can become more tired and "vulnerable."

I doubt that distances between chunks of ice mean very much at all. The polar bears walk on the ice and swim out to sea to hunt. It's not like the bears have to swim between two particular ice chunks which are getting farther apart.

And in terms of "vulnerable" I don't think the polar bears have any natural predators. This whole "story" is a do over. last year it was bears spotted swimming in the open sea, but of course it came out they do that all the time.

[GRRRRR]

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

If not photoshopped, the ice berg that the visible structure is part of is either very, very large; or it is actually grounded -- otherwise the whole thing would just tip over.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

[TommyDale]

My tagline says it all.

[GottaLuvAkitas1]

On the right middle of the page looks to be a rock or mailbox looking thing inside the ice.
Weird, but I'm sure the bears can swim.

[iceskater]

trying to use it as some sort of vastly overdramatic metaphor.

A metaphor for what I like to call "Gore-Bull Warming."

[CindyDawg]

They are riding on the back of a big duck. Probably supper after they hitch a ride:')

[lormand]

Personally, I think it is photoshopped.

The thickness of ice under the bear in the foreground does not look like it could support something as heavy as a polar bear.

[antiRepublicrat]

I'm sure those polar bears swam to a level chunk of ice and then sat on it for weeks, possibly months, while it melted to that state. And now they're stranded.

Give me a break! Polar bears would be extinct if they were that stupid. They'll jump off and swim to shore when they want to.

During eight years as Bill Clinton's vice president, Gore pushed for climate measures, including for the Kyoto Treaty

I don't think he pushed very hard given that he couldn't even convince ONE Democrat senator to vote for it.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

Those bears look pretty clean...and articulate!

Well...they are Polar Bears.

However, Joe Biden says that, at long last, Black Bears can be clean and articulate too.

[Desperately Seeking Freedom]

These particular polar bears are not in trouble. But melting ice in the Arctic is general trouble for polar bears, you can bet on that. And melting ice is a symptom of warming. Polar bears could become extinct in the next 50 years, I have no doubt of that, and it is a shame. My own view is that warming is almost entirely cyclical and there is little we can do to make it speed up or slow down.

[EQAndyBuzz]

"Can they climb vertical, wet faces of ice, especially when there's no apparent reason for them to except to strike a pose for the camera? "

Yes. Ever hear of bear claws? Their claws are a couple of inches plus this is what polar bears do. This is their environment.

[Spiff]

I guess these morons don't know that polar bears can SWIM. I've seen it myself in the zoo. The bears I saw loved swimming under water, playing with a ball in the water, etc.

[SolidWood]

"They cling precariously to the top of what is left of the ice floe, their fragile grip the perfect symbol of the tragedy of global warming. ...the pair of polar bears look stranded on chunks of broken ice."

The article does suggest that those bears are "trapped"...

[Williams]

Bear on the right, identify yourself.

[iceskater]

LOL.... ya'll owe me a new keyboard.

[Joe 6-pack]

That raises an interesting question...Do Bidens sh!t in the woods?

[aruanan]

Big deal. Polar bears get on and get off pieces of floating ice all the time. Anyone suggesting they look "trapped" is just being absurd.

[OKSooner]

No kidding. I saw polar bears swimming at the zoo before I could walk. I'm not convinced that they can climb ice like that, unless

a) they just walked over from whatever it is that isn't pictured on the right, or

b) they're photoshopped.

I think the latter is the case. Look how they're both looking up at something, even from a high vantage point on the ice. If they were on top of something, it would be most likely that they'd be looking down.

[Lee Heggy123]

I think the photo was cropped to not show other ice nearby. I don't see any photoshopping evidence. Thats not to say it couldn't be. I'm pretty good at it myself but far from the best. There are some very skillfull shoppers out there. Those bears look to be in pretty good shape, not exactly starving or anything.

[Natchez Hawk]

Photo shopped?

Nawhh, go to the zoo/circus and those bears are all the sudden acrobats--very agile when trying to get a few scraps of junk food.

[Brilliant]

To me, it looks like these polar bears have gotten themselves into a fix. They obviously do not know how to survive in these hostile natural conditions. We need to capture them and put them in a zoo where they will be safe from mother nature.

[SquirrelKing]

TO THE RESCUE!

[Domandred]

Not photoshopped. Also not an indication of "global warming". Those bears can get on or off that iceberg at will. For that matter they weren't on there when the ice formed that way either. They aren't stuck or in danger.

[ican'tbelieveit]

Probably some tasty seals out there.

[iceskater]

On the voters maybe...

[dead]

It doesn't look Photoshopped to me.

[Argus]

You are right - they're looking for fish. When they see some, they'll dive in and get them.

If an environmentalist swims by, same story.