Hard Rain is an open-air exhibition of dramatic and moving photographs set to the lyrics of Dylan's famous 60s protest song, A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall.

Aimed at encouraging action on climate change, habitat loss, pollution and poverty, the exhibition features hard-hitting photographs taken by London-based photographer Mark Edwards.

The exhibition is touring the world and is accompanied by a Hard Rain book which has been sent to every world leader encouraging them to reveal the policies they are implementing to reduce CO² and other greenhouse gases and deal with the problems illustrated in Hard Rain.

Gill Wells, of Chester Zoo's Education Department, said: "Hard Rain is making its way around the world and bringing with it some very important messages about the problems facing civilization in the 21st century.

"People fortunate to have already seen Hard Rain have found it terribly moving but also inspirational. It certainly provides food for thought and, as a conservation charity, we share the environmental concerns that Hard Rain highlights."

The inspiration for the Hard Rain project came in 1969 when Mark was lost on the edge of the Sahara Desert. He was rescued by a Tuareg nomad who took him to his people and produced a cassette player. A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall was the soundtrack and subsequently set Mark on his project path.

Over the following years, Mark travelled to more than 150 countries to photograph our headlong collision with nature. The result is Hard Rain.

"There is a wide spread acknowledgement that we are changing the climate and causing the loss of an estimated 50,000 species a year. But we are still in denial.

"The implications of global warming hover just outside the grasp of our imaginations. Can Bob Dylan's piercing words and photographs that conjure up a future too terrible to contemplate, bring alive the problems that are ours to solve?

"Will we, our governments, the faith community, business leaders, the media and the arts world be bold and brave enough to act? Or do we brace ourselves for a truly miserable descent into environmental and social collapse?" said Mark.

Hard Rain can be found near the zoo's aquarium where it will remain for 12 months. Copies of the Hard Rain book will also be available for sale in the zoo.