Video: Climate Change - Wake Up, Freak Out — Then Get a Grip
by Catherine LaineDecember 20th, 2008
A marvelous bit of animation discussing the potential impending eco-apocalypse. It feels very Children of Men-esque. Perhaps it’s the British accents.
Topics discussed include the Albedo Effect, changes in carbon absorption capacity of natural carbon sinks as well as the impact of uncondensed water vapor and methane on the Earth’s ecosystem. They do a nice job of explaining how the Earth’s current climate is very sensitive to seemingly small changes in temperature. They contend that a 1 degree increase in the Earth’s temperature could push us past a critical threshold that will cause widespread desertification, mass extinction of plant and animal species and much doom, i.e. war, uncontrolled migration, starvation, etc.
Their call to action to CONSUME LESS falls a little flat after their dire warnings. Worldchanging suggests that this might have been a more appropriate call to action, though consuming less would of course be step 1:
What we need is to completely reconstruct our civilization. For starters, we need better cities, smart grids, innovative architecture and wilderness preservation. We hope that one end result will be a society in which we consume less not because we all make the altruistic decision to abstain, but because we actually need fewer resources to support prosperous and attractive lifestyles.
Read the video’s script, plus references.
Scientists light methane gas trapped underneath ice in a lake near Fairbanks, Alaska
This video, recorded in November of 2007, on a lake near Fairbanks, shows Katey Walter from University of Alaska at Fairbanks and a research team drilling a hole through lake ice, then lighting the escaping methane. This video was shot by Carla Browning of University Relations at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Related posts:
Today in We’re Doomed: This Summer’s Arctic Sea Ice Melting
John Doerr on Global Warming at This Year’s TED Conference
2007/2008 Human Development Report focuses on Climate Change
So how do we get to Gore’s 100% renewable? Part 1
Kyoto, Mon Amour: 5 things you might not know about the Protocol
