UPDATED: 1:50 p.m. BST, Sept. 5

LONDON — There's a spectral and menacing presence in the Thames this month. Four ghost white horsemen have been added to the riverbank, appearing as the tide falls and vanishing into the murky depths as it rises again.

The figures are the work of British artist Jason deCaires Taylor, who's perhaps best known for his underwater sculptures in Cancun, and they're here as a stark reminder of the dangers of climate change.

They form an artwork, entitled "The Rising Tide," that has been installed near Vauxhall Bridge. It's comprised of cement figures on horseback with steel inside the animals' legs keeping them upright. The middle-aged characters are meant to represent the political classes and the horses, which reference the apocalypse, have petrol pumps for heads.

“Working in conservation, I am very concerned with all the associated effects of climate change and the state of peril our seas are in at the moment,” Taylor said. “So here I wanted a piece that was going to be revealed with the tide and worked with the natural environment of the Thames, but also alluded to the industrial nature of the city and its obsessive and damaging focus just on work and construction.”

“The suited figures are ambivalent to their situation. I wanted to create this striking image of a politician in front of the Houses of Parliament, ignoring the world as the water rises around him. And they are sitting on horses that are grazing, taking as much as they can from the ground.”

Climate studies predict anywhere from 1 to 4 feet of sea level rise by the end of the century, potentially inundating low-lying countries and cities around the world.

The figures are on display for the next month.