BERLIN – A thousand miniature people have slowly melted away in a Berlin square in an effort by the World Wildlife Fund to draw attention to melting ice caps in Greenland and Antarctica.

Brazilian artist Nele Azevedo carved the figures out of ice and placed them on steps in the central Gendarmenmarkt square where they began to melt within about half an hour.

Temperatures in Berlin were about 73 degrees Fahrenheit (23 Celsius) Wednesday.

The action was meant to spotlight the WWF’s warning that melting ice could possibly cause levels to rise more than 3.3 feet (1 meter) by 2100.

The group warns that the warming of the Arctic will change weather in different parts of the world and increase the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.