A new movie on climate change was released this week called The 11th Hour. This film is produced and narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio and provides a quality follow up to An Inconvenient Truth. While An Inconvenient Truth focused on mostly the science of Global Warming, this new film seems to focus on both the effects of global warming as well as the solutions to reducing our emissions.
Regarding the effects of climate change, one item really stands out for me, and that is the advent of environmental refugees. The trailer notes that the UN has stated that by the middle of the century, there may be 150 Million displaced peoples due to changes in our climate. It's really hard to fathom how many people that is, but what I try to focus on is this: there will be areas which humans have lived since the dawn of civilization that will no longer be habitable due to humankind's influence. These areas will include some of the places that were first developed and are now some of the most densely populated.. The great river deltas of the world, such as the Ganges, the Yangtze, and the Nile, will be affected in similar ways to the largest delta in North America - the Mississippi (New Orleans).
What I like best about this new movie is the attention it seems to pay to emerging technologies and the dispelling of myths about the economic collapse and the puritan lifestyles required to address our addiction to fossil fuels. These emerging technologies and methods can provide opportunity, one that both Canada and Nova Scotia can play large role in. We are on the cusp of the cost effectiveness of zero emission technologies such as wind power. Decreasing fossil fuel supply and increasing the costs to emit pollution, along with inevitable inflation, show that the wide spread use of renewable and sustainable energy is unavoidable. This movie seems to remind us all that the solution is achievable. Lets hope Steven Harper and Rodney MacDonald get the message.
The trailer:
No comments:
Post a Comment