Mini Film Review: Before the Flood

It seems appropriate that the next blog I do after fracking would be on the movie 'Before the Flood'.  In case you haven't seen all the adverts for it this movie is presented by National Geographic and features Leonardo DiCaprio as he journeys around the world in his role as a United Nations Messenger of Peace and sees for himself the effects of climate change.  They talk to some of the scientists studying the effects of climate change and pro-climate politicians, look at the effects climate change is happening right now and the disinformation campaign being funded by the oil companies, and discuss some of the things we can do now to prevent it from going any further.

There is a slight naive feeling to this film, especially when they seem genuinely surprised that there are still politicians that deny that climate change is happening (predominantly for financial gain) and by just how destructive a number of our activities, such as the extraction of oil from tar sands and the growing of palm oil, are.  This seems particularly strange seeing as DiCaprio is meant to have been an advocate for climate change for many years.  It is also US-centric and I didn't feel that it necessarily provide me with any information I didn't know already (but I am a complete climate geek).  However, I did still feel that I still got some things out it.  

Firstly, it was a good reminder as to why I'm trying to live a more sustainable lifestyle - which is always good to have when you're surrounded by things telling you to buy stuff, buy!  Secondly, it reminded me of just how far behind Britain is, especially when compared to the rest of the Europe, in sorting out the sources of our energy consumption.  While many of the other European countries, predominantly Scandinavian countries, are forging ahead to meeting their 2020 targets, we are still at the bottom of the leaguer board with only 9% of the energy we consume coming from renewable or waste sources.  And, while Sweden has committed itself to 100% renewable energy production by 2040, we've promised 15% by 2020 which it is looking like we are going to miss.  Not only is this not enough, but as a nation of engineers and scientists with one of the world's highest GDPs it's embarrassingly low.  We definitely need to make our Government do better. 

But the main take for me were the actions of individuals working to make a difference and protect the planet we live on, despite the consequence to themselves (Dr. Michael E. Mann, a climate scientist, facing death threats comes to mind) and despite the fact that it doesn't seemed to have gotten any better.  For me, the person to most admire from this movie is Piers Sellers, ex-Astronaut and Direct at NASA/ GSFC Earth Science Division.  At the beginning of this year he found out he had stage 4 pancreatic cancer and, while the rest of us would probably decide to spend our last few months doing things for ourselves, he's chosen to spend his time making a difference by helping us understand the effects of climate change. 

If you don't know a lot about climate change this is definitely a film to watch, but even if you know a lot about climate change already it is still worth watching this if only to help boost your resolve.  You can also have a look at their website, which also gives advise on action you can take now.