This viral video of a starving polar bear gives a terrifying glimpse into what climate change actually looks like

Climate change is causing lots of devastation all across the world. Just try watching the effects on one single starving polar bear and not crying. Photographer Paul Nicklen took the footage of this solitary polar bear while on a trip for the conservation group Sea Legacy. They found the bear on land, not it’s usual hunting grounds of sea ice. It clearly looks sick and hungry – it’s so skinny. The bear limped around looking for food while Nicklen followed it with the camera. He posted it online just recently, because he wanted the world to see what it looks like to watch climate change decimate  a species.

The scientific data has been there for some time. But climate change deniers continue to resist all the accumulated evidence from plenty of studies and research. One dying polar bear probably won’t be enough to convince them, but Nicklen didn’t want the bear to die in vain. And he wanted people to see what the reality of climate change translates to in our world. Melting sea ice means it’s getting harder and harder for polar bears to stalk their hunting grounds. They need the ice in order to hunt seals, and without it? They get stuck on land, digging through trash, dying.

"When scientists say bears are going extinct, I want people to realize what it looks like," Nicklen said. "Bears are going to starve to death.This is what a starving bear looks like."

The starving polar bear isn’t easy to look at.

In fact, plenty of people wish that they hadn’t seen it — Kumail Nanjiani included. false

But it’s a necessary reminder that while we debate about climate change and pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement, the world doesn’t stop heating up.

It’s too late for this poor bear, but it’s not too late for us to fight global warming.