A formidable hunter and powerful swimmer, the polar bear is perfectly adapted to the harsh demands of the wild Arctic landscape. Feeding primarily on seals at the nutrient-rich edge of the polar sea, responding to the constant motion of the ever-changing sea ice, the polar bear thrives in one of the Earth's most bitter and unpredictable climates, integral to the web of life that fluorishes on the Arctic ice pack.

But human consumption of fossil fuel has placed this fragile and the polar bear in peril. Global warming is weakening the edge ice and shortening the season during which it is close enough to shore for polar bears to move easily between floes and onshore denning areas. Many bears find themselves stranded either on land, where adequate prey is difficult to find, or miles out at sea. Biologists and climatologists alike believe that by century's end, unless we make signifcant changes in our energy use and energy technologies, the polar bear will be the first to disappear altogether from its Arctic ecosystem.

The effects of global warming are distilled in the delicate balance of the Arctic ecosystem, and the continued survival of the charismatic white bear is uncertain. The Last Polar Bear places the reality of climate change--and the fate of the polar bear--in our hands. Its plight is a wake-up call: we must act now to stem the tide of climate change while there is still time and space for hope.

For more than eight years, wildlife photographer Steven Kazlowski followed and photographed the magnificent white bear from Herschel Island in the Yukon to Point Hope in Alaska, weathering some of the most unforgiving conditions on Earth. The Last Polar Bear pairs more than 200 of his stunning images with anecdotes of his Arctic adventures, as well as authoritative essays by noted authors, conservationists, scientists, and native Alaskans that discuss the polar bear in the throes of climate change.