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

Daily Mail ^ | 2-2-07 | Vanity

[OKSooner]

I think it's photoshopped.

[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.

[Leg Olam]

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.

[rabidralph]

Can we get the Red Cross to air drop them some hay or something? Maybe Nancy Pelosi can loan them a C-130 or something :-)

[Argus]

Polar bears have survived as a species through previous natural warming cycles that featured higher temperatures than we're talking about now. I think they'll do fine.

[OKSooner]

I'm not suggesting they're trapped. I know that polar bears can swim. I DON'T know that they can climb ice structures like the supposedly "melting" ice floes in that picture. I'm suggesting they're photoshopped.

[Las Vegas Dave]

Wow, I didn't know these bears could climb 20+ feet of ice straight up,(as heavy as they are)!

[Rodney Kings Brain]

The forground and backround values do look very suspicious -it has the look of a pretty good photoshopped image. I am going to try and put the image into another program I have so I can measure the luminance across the image. That usualy gives a pretty good if it is fake or not.

[OKSooner]

If they're up high like that looking for fish they would be looking DOWN. These bears are looking UP. I don't think they're hunting for sea gulls. I think they're photoshopped.

[Williams]

It says they are a "symbol" and "look" trapped and are a "metaphor". I agree it's misdirection, but they never claim the bears actually are trapped. As I mentioned, they pulled this with bears spotted swimming in the open sea last time. So this year the bears have ice, disproving global warming.

For God's sake the bears can easily swim 100 miles. They look incredibly healthy. BTW they like to stalk and eat humans.

[farlander]

Yea... well... good luck with that.

[TET1968]

You may be right.
I'm thinking it was just a couple of bears parked at a rest stop.
They can leave whenever they choose.

The image was obviously used to support the idea that the bears went to sleep on a glazier and woke up stranded on an ice cube. That plays to the morons that nominated Gore for an Academy Award.

[Joe 6-pack]

...or on his campaign's own chances...