Photo of the Year Reminds COP16 That People Are Waiting for Climate Change Solutions

Just in time for COP16, this photo used by WWF has won an OBS-awards prize for PR Photo of the Year 2010. To celebrate, WWF Germany has revived the image at the head of an appeal to world leaders attending COP16 to reinvigorate the process after the dreadful failure of COP15 in Copenhagen.

The photo captures the rapid melting of 1000 ice sculptures of tiny people sitting on the steps of the Concert Hall on the Gendarmenmarkt in Berlin. The art installation, conceived by the Brazilian artist Néle Azevedo and set up by hundreds of volunteers, melted in about 30 minutes. But as the sculptures wasted away, photographer Rosa Merk captured the moment, creating a poignant permanent visualization of the threat climate change poses to humankind.

Rosa Merk's photo won first prize in the category Events and Campaigns in the Obs-awards, a contest established by the image service OBS (Originalbildservice) of the German Press Agency (dpa, Deutschen Presse-Agentur). Photos selected by a jury in the first round win based on votes from invited PR-people and journalists.

Photo of the Year Reminds COP16 That People Are Waiting for Climate Change Solutions : TreeHugger