By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Year: 2015
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Kyle
says: “’May 2014. Scientists declare West Antarctic ice sheet melt
unstoppable.’ As you attempt to digest the word ‘unstoppable’, the
typeface changes from black to red. This outstanding documentary will
probably never be seen by any of the mediocrities running for the
Republican presidential nomination, whose vision extends about as far
as their own pockets, but it should be seen by everyone for whom the
realities of climate change have resonance.
“To hear a young man observe that the ‘winter sea ice season is 90 days
shorter’ may require some explanation for understanding, but not this:
‘We are heading to the fastest winter warming place on Earth — the
West Antarctic Peninsula, which has experienced a winter temperature
increase of 11˚ Fahrenheit over the last 50 years; that’s six times
faster than the average global warming.’ To learn that the number
of breeding pairs of certain penguins has decreased 85 per cent due to
the loss of sea ice is to feel the 21st century version of Weltschmerz
about the imminent extinction of yet another species. But to understand
the connection between what is happening in Antarctic waters and
American East Coast waters, such as hundred-year storms like Hurricane
Sandy becoming ten-year storms, is an altogether different kind of
sorrow.
“The scenes of the detailed and methodical labors by dedicated
scientists who collect samples and analyze data provide a human
dimension for the workers, amidst an otherwise terrifying barrage of
negative information about how humanity is progressively and ignorantly
laying waste to this planet. One scientist states clearly: ‘These are
serious life-threatening challenges that we will all have to face’.
Another shows us the exquisite and unearthly beauty of the Antarctic
landscape but then observes: ‘The human part of me is sad’. This is a
beautiful piece of work, and one of the truly essential documentaries
of 2015. 5 cats
“Seen Wednesday, August 12, 2015, on Netflix, New York” |
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