Climate change, global warming: what’s in a name?
This is the second official installment of the weekly Monday lunch blog. Please do check in the rest of the week for other posts.
Perusing through Apple’s film trailers last night, I discovered a documentary called “The 11th Hour,” produced and narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio and featuring the likes of designer Bruce Mau and scientist Stephen Hawking. While at first it might appear to be another “An Inconvenient Truth,” which I actually haven’t seen yet but will soon, the content seems to be more diverse and equally urgent, if not moreso. The film’s main tagline is “consuming less, living more,” and it’s in this consumption that lies the greatest problems for the earth. Fortunately, the messages present a very positive, action-oriented, YOU can do it approach that I think will be successful. Mobilization of individuals is key.
The film, unlike many other films, articles and campaigns, actually focuses on the environment and ecosystems as a whole, rather than just our economy and safety. It provides a counter-argument to those in denial about climate change: even in the non-existence of climate change, there is nothing to legitimate the destruction humans are enacting on our planet. Industries, companies and people who deny the existence of climate change are simply telling us it’s OK TO POLLUTE… that the excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere isn’t a problem, so keep at it, folks. This is completely the wrong mentality.
The other false assumption is that the problem is simply global warming: a nice catchphrase, but as recent events in North America have demonstrated, abnormal cooling in some areas is just as prevalent. So there is something in a name. Finally, the argument based on precendent falls in two categories: climate change is happening, proven by an unprecedented rise in global temperatures over the last century; climate change (warming, at least) is normal because the temperature of the earth has fluctuated since the beginning of time. True enough: oxygen levels have changed, and recent studies in the Arctic have shown it used to be considerably warmer [link to come]. I’m convinced the warming trend that is occuring at apparently a much faster pace is NOT normal.
Regardless of it being caused by this or that, regardless of whether it’s real or not, something MUST be done because ultimately, we are a) depleting non-renewable resources, b) destroying habitat so we can produce a disgusting amount of hamburgers, etc., c) consuming too much and producing too much trash, d) polluting our waters, earth and sky, contaminating ourselves and the earth’s animals, e) etc. This is not ok.
I think this film will clearly show the problem is not limited to a changing climate. The film debuts this week.
