The canary in the coal mine was supposed to warn miners of potentially lethal gas leaks in the mines. The idea was the small bird would die long before the much larger humans, giving the miners time to escape. There are modern parallels to the little yellow bird in the world today. Instead of warning us about gas, they are warning us about climate change. The Canary Project seeks to show these “dead birds” of the environment in the hopes that we will open our eyes and start to take action. These are some of the saddest pictures you will ever see, but also in their own way stunningly beautiful.

Check out these and more pictures at The Canary Project, it is not all doom and gloom the site also highlights some solutions.