The Times Online is reporting that a polar bear was found stranded on a block of ice travelling down the Thames in London yesterday.

Although the polar bear only was a giant sculpture designed to help promote a new natural history channel in the UK it highlighted the effects of man-made climate change, in this case melting ice caps.

“A total of 15 artists spent two months constructing the 20ft by 20ft square structure, which was launched at 6:30am before travelling up the Thames, stopping besideTower Bridge and the Houses of Parliament. The structure weighing, 1.5 tonnes, was winched into place.

The event coincides with the Eden Channel’s Fragile Earth series, presented by Sir David Attenborough.”

Sir David said in an interview with the Times Online that “the melting of the polar bears’ sea ice habitat is one of the most pressing environmental concerns of our time. I commend Eden for highlighting the issue; we need to do what we can to protect the world’s largest land carnivores from extinction.”

Adrian Wills, head of the Eden channel, claimed it would address issues like climate change in an informative and entertaining way: “The Earth is a fragile place and we were keen to launch with a message that would draw attention to the uncertain state of our finely balanced environment.”

According to the Eden channel the polar bear will also be visiting other major cities in the UK, such as Glasgow and Birmingham.