That viral photo of the "melted" polar bear is a hoax and it keeps getting shared

I keep seeing that picture of a polar bear that looks like it melted over some rocks, and people post it as proof of global warming. But I checked it out with a wildlife photographer friend who told me that was a bear that died from old age in Norway years ago. The original photo was posted by a nature site in 2017 with a completely different caption. It makes me mad because it distracts from real climate issues when people fall for fake images like this. Has anyone else spotted this photo floating around on your feed lately?

3 comments

3 Comments

ward.jamie1mo ago

I hear you on this one. It really bugs me too when something like that goes around and people treat it as the whole truth. That photo gets shared every summer, and everyone thinks it's a slam dunk for climate change, but it's literally just a false story attached to a real photo of an old bear. It's a shame because it gives people who don't want to believe in global warming an easy way to say "see, they're lying to you." Meanwhile, actual scientists are stuck trying to explain that one fake picture doesn't mean a thousand other studies are wrong. The real data on polar bears and melting ice is bad enough without needing fake images to prove it. You did good by checking with your friend.

brianm661mo ago

It's funny how the people who share that fake bear photo the loudest are often the same ones who'd turn around and say you can't trust anything you see online. Makes you wonder if they just want any excuse to ignore the real stuff just because one story was wrong.

charles_young921mo ago

That photo's been debunked actually, a photographer confirmed it was a healthy bear that died suddenly from the heatwave.