The real reason why the polar bear is the mascot for climate change
How did the polar bear become the poster child for climate change? And why do we see the polar bear as cute in the first place? I tried to find those answers. Along the way, I found a crazy story with Arctic hide-and-seek, a bloodthirsty toy, and a controversial viral video.
Special thanks to Dr. Saffron O’Neill, Dr. Dorothea Born, and Carolyn Kozak Loeffler for their contributions to this video!
▶ CHAPTERS
0:00 okay so hear me out
1:50 polar bears as FIERCE ENEMY
5:32 polar bears as CUTE VICTIM
8:17 polar bears as CLIMATE CHANGE SUPERSTAR
12:15 let the culture war begin
12:45 the critics
13:59 the stans
15:36 the reformers
17:49 i’ve never said polar bear so many times in my life
▶ ABOUT LOWER ED
Lower Ed is an edutainment video series that looks at big questions about culture, media, history, and other topics in the humanities.
▶ SOURCES & FURTHER READING
“Wild Ones” by Jon Mooallem
“Polar bears as cultural symbols: Threatening monsters and threatened species” by
Dorothea Born
“Arctic paradox: polar bears, climate change and American environmentalism” by Carolyn Kozak Loeffler
“Bearing Witness? Polar Bears as Icons for Climate Change Communication in National Geographic” by Dorothea Born
“Ice Bear: The Cultural History of an Arctic Icon” By Michael Engelhard
“From Fierce to Adorable: Representations of Polar Bears in the Popular Imagination” (2015)
by Kristoffer Archibald
“Beyond polar bears? Re‐envisioning climate change” by Kate Manzo
“#Sickbear: Photographing Polar Bears as Ideal Nonhuman Victims” Matthew Tegelberg and Anita Lam
https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/som...
https://www.theatlantic.com/technolog...
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/12/cl...
▶ IMAGES
“Polar Meltdown” by Arne Naevra
Polar bear army by Jens Galschiot on Wikimedia Commons
Discovery of John Franklin's cairn AND Arctic explorations- the second Grinnell expedition in search of Sir John Franklin, 1853, '54, '55 (1856) (14762148836).jpg by Internet Archive Book Images on Flickr
Image from page 402 of "Arctic explorations- the second Grinnell expedition in search of Sir John Franklin, 1853, '54, '55" (1856) (14782042061) by Internet Archive Book Images on Flickr
Marguerite Roberval defending herself from a bear (8256363333) by seriykotik1970 from Moscow Russia on Flickr
“Photographic postcard of a man, a young boy and a teddy bear (10322309574)” By Australian National Maritime Museum on The Commons
Sedated Polar Bear Near Beaufort Sea Alaska by NOAA Photo Library and anim0035 on Flickr
Karin Kneissl (47958458987).jpg by Karin Kneissl
Sheilawatt (cropped) by TheSilentPhotographer
Winter snowmobile camper - D. Buchanan, Rec. Staff Officer, 01 1969 (5187440537) by David F. Benway and uploaded by AlbertHerring
Knut april 2007 1 by Andrea & Stefan from Zweibrücken, Germany
Knut011 AND Knut001 by Jean-Luc 2005
▶ HASHTAGS
#polarbears #climatechange #history #globalwarming #media #environment