Penguins Hope to Raise Environmental Awareness

November 24th, 2009 by Lynn Baker
UK

The issue of climate change has come to the forefront over the last few months as the world prepares for the United Nations summit on climate change in Copenhagen next month. Activists and protesters have taken to rooftops and even smokestacks to raise worldwide awareness for the issue of global warming. Scientists have also gotten in on the act, releasing reports and studies meant to lead into the U.N. summit and put pressure on governments and world leaders to come to a binding resolution on carbon emissions. Other groups including schoolchildren and celebrities have gotten involved in programs which also aim to raise awareness and get people talking about the importance of climate change and its potential effects on the planet.
Hundreds of glass fibre penguins are currently on display in Merseyside as part of a city scheme known as the Year of the Environment. The decorative penguins were painted and decorated by a combination of community groups, schoolchildren and celebrities. Penguins have become the symbol of the problems climate change has in store for the arctic, which many scientists consider to be the epicenter of the struggle against global warming. The penguins will be used to increase awareness of the problems of polar ice melting due to global warming.
The penguins will be on display in St. Helens, Liverpool, and Wirral until mid-January. Paul O’Grady, a radio and television presenter, designed a penguin based on his childhood memories of older women, which are known locally as Mary Ellens. Programs like this hope to get people around the world talking about what they can do to limit carbon emissions and slow climate change.

Source

Helping Penguins Slideshow