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Documentaries on climate change and the environment aren't easy to watch, but they matter a lot. They don’t just present facts, but also the emotional and vulnerable aspects we very much need to pay attention to. We've compiled a list of five must-see climate change documentaries for beginners and environmentalists alike.
We are starting the list of climate change documentaries with this Academy Award-winning documentary. An Inconvenient Truth, released in 2006, documents the former US vice president Al Gore’s message on our planet and the climate crisis.
It is a filmed version of Al Gore's slide show presentation on the dangers and impact of global warming. The film outlines the basic science behind global warming and uses data to back up claims; showing the connection between CO2 levels and global temperature rise, and highlighting the fact that today’s levels are way beyond Earth’s natural cycle.
The film also marks the link between rising global and ocean temperatures and extreme weather events like Hurricane Katrina, something that unfortunately finds a brutal update in the second film An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power, which was released in 2017.
An Inconvenient Truth is a classic documentary that chronicles former U.S. Vice President Al Gore’s 2000 campaign to educate people about global warming, making this documentary stand out for its experimental storytelling and creating massive public awareness.
Before the flood is a climate documentary co-produced by the actor Leonardo DiCaprio in association with the National Geographic. The documentary features Leonardo and attempts to openly discuss the industry’s impacts.
In the documentary, Leonardo encourages people to educate themselves on climate issues rather than being complacent.
The film follows DiCaprio as he spent two years traveling to key locations affected by the climate crisis: the melting ice sheets in Kangerlussuaq in Greenland and Baffin Island in the Canadian Arctic; flooding Florida with its electric flood pumps and raised roads; and the Sumatran rainforest, where deforestation is causing wildlife habitat destruction and increased industrial carbon emissions. Through this, the documentary addresses the devastating effects of climate change on our planet.
DiCaprio interviews a host of world leaders and experts including economists, scholars, ecologists, and climatologists. The famous leaders that are interviewed include Barack Obama, John Kerry, and Pope Francis.
The film comes to a climax with DiCaprio giving a rallying speech at the UN on Earth Day 2016, telling world leaders: “You are the last best hope of Earth. We ask you to protect it. Or we — and all living things we cherish — are history.”
The documentary makes a good platform to raise awareness among people that do not know the subject very well.
Australian filmmaker, Damon Gameau traveled around the world. The purpose to do so is to discover ways that can be implemented to tackle the issue of ‘climate change.’ Through this journey, he met with change-makers who are developing new ways to address climate issues. He worked with experts in five different areas- electrical power, transportation, agriculture, aquaculture, and education.
He sets out a positive vision of the future in 2040, imagining what the world could look like in 20 years’ time if we adopted the technology and thinking already available to lower the levels of carbon and emissions present in our atmosphere.
These positive developments included having nearly 100 percent renewable energy, electrifying our transportation systems, moving to regenerative farming, and carbon sequestering.
The filmmakers showcase the movie in a way that tells us practical propositions to lead a better and healthier planet. The documentary presents progressive and easy-to-implement approaches, rather than presenting drastic changes.
Chasing Coral discusses coral bleaching and highlights how it is an undeniable indicator of climate change.
Coral bleaching is when corals, stressed by temperatures changes, expel algae that live within their tissues, causing them to turn white. Ocean acidification, global warming, and rising sea temperatures are significant threats to reefs.
In Chasing Coral, various teams of divers and photographers set out to capture how a rapid temperature rise led to the disappearance of the coral reefs. The documentary attempts to give a visual depiction of the before and after of coral bleaching which is caused to the increase in temperature leading the corals to turn white.
The film not only shows how these ecosystems are inherently connected to ours but also how devastating it is for the team who sees the reef close up, diving every day to manually track its ecological collapse.
Our Planet is a documentary on Netflix that has eight parts. Through the course of these eight episodes, Sir David Attenborough narrates this documentary, giving us insights into the diversity of habitats on our planet while we get to see the human impact on wildlife populations.
Our Planet focuses on how the global temperature rises are affecting the biodiversity across the oceans, forests, jungles, and deserts.
