Before The Flood

Before the Flood Documentary Summary Syed Hassan Ali (Section L)

Before the Flood is a documentary film released in 2016 about Climate change. The film was directed by Fisher Stevens and is narrated by Leonardo Dicaprio. The documentary opens with the hard fact of life being narrated that people nowadays tune out whenever conversations regarding climate change start. When people started to see a Hollywood A list actor like Dicaprio standing up for environmental protection, they believed that the actor bought into what came to be known as the “global warming hoax”. The Documentary then talks about the fact that from a very young age, Dicaprio’s escape was the natural history museum and he was obsessed with animals that were endangered and were nearing extinction. The documentary then discusses its main point which it reiterates throughout its run time- that we have to acknowledge that our industry is run mostly by fossil fuels-Coal, Oil, and Gas. We remove mountains for coal and drill shores for oil so in turn this has a negative impact on the native community and wildlife. We have to understand that there is no such thing as a clean fossil fuel and that this issue is very deep. Dicaprio was only 20 years old when he heard about global warming which is considered as the most important issue of our time. Everything we do releases Co2- Carbon dioxide and in turn causes climate change. Over the course of this documentary Dicaprio explores different areas of the world which are severely affected by climate change and meets experts who provide information regarding why this is happening and who predict the future of these areas if things remain the same. Dicaprio visits the Greenland ice sheet where he met professor Jason Box who works at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS). Box informed him that due to forest fires and burning of fossil fuels in recent years, the projections for the future are very

conservative and if the climate stays at the temperature that it’s been in the last decade, Greenland will melt away. By 2040, you will be able to sail over the north pole because fossil fuels are burning ice and this in turn will cause floods. At age 25, Dicaprio participated in an event on earth day and at that time people suggested simple solutions to climate change like changing your light bulb but we are way beyond that point now. Hundreds of cubic milometers of ice have been melted in the last 5 years. As a result, sea levels in California have been rising. In California, in order to prevent floods; pumps were installed and roads were raised. This was a $400,000,000 project paid from the tax revenue generated by the U.S government. However, the ironic thing is that the United States government itself does not believe climate change to be a big issue. Take United States senior senator from Florida Marco Rubio as an example, who does not believe climate change to be an alarming issue. Due to the growth of industry, politics, and capitalism we are fighting the words climate change and global warming. Many people who advocate fixing the issue of climate change and treat it as a big issue are criticized by capitalist industries and have faced political pressure and persecution. No scientist has been more in the crosshairs than Michael E Mann, the director of the Penn State Earth system science center who is best known for his famous hockey stick graph showing a recent spike in global temperatures. Unfortunately, after Michael discovered this abrupt warming trend in temperature, he was attacked by congressmen and faced death threats against himself as well as his family. Many people around the world have been defending fossil fuels since leading industries use them. KOCH Industry is the largest fossil fuel industry in the world and is responsible for creating the problem of climate change to a huge extent along with many other companies who are polluting our environment. There are a total of 131 deniers of the climate change problem in congress alone. They want us to become ignorant for short term fossil

fuel projects. We have known about this issue for half a century and since then our population has increased by 5 billion people. China surpassed the US as the world’s largest polluter and the Chinese people are now worried that they can get cancer by just breathing the toxic polluted air so their everyday life is affected. Mass demonstrations took place because of environmental issues. There are a total of 9000 factories in China and majority of them are not in compliance with environmental issues. The Chinese government however changed plans for renewable energy and now decided to transition to solar energy. China started to prioritize wind and solar rather than coal. They still rely on fossil fuels but are transitioning slowly. India, which has the second largest population in the world; has a similar problem. There are millions of Indians without electricity or any source of power. In order to provide electricity to everyone- they have to make it affordable. People in India use coal since it is relatively cheap. However, if we look at consumption, the amount of electricity consumed by 34 Indians equals to that consumed by just one American citizen. Therefore, lifestyle and consumption should be at the center of climate change. India and China are investing more in Solar than the US. Therefore, the US should take a bigger stand. Poor developing countries are also influenced by symptoms of climate change in the form of famines. These countries believe that climate change is real and urgent. US are the largest emitter of greenhouse gases and they have to set an example to help other countries transition. As a result of climate change, many habitats and places have been destroyed. In Palau, in 12 years an island was destroyed because of climate change and global warming. US is causing damage to the rest of the world- one billion people depend on fisheries from coral reefs but healthy coral reefs are being destroyed. As a result- the supply of fish is diminishing causing thousands and millions of people to starve. In the last 30 years, 50% of coral reefs are gone

because of absurd rate of Co2 emissions. Rainforests also absorb Co2 and when we burn them, it acts like a carbon bomb releasing masses of pollutants in the air. This happened in Indonesia as their rainforests were burned for palm oil exploration and were used for making processed foods making companies massive profits. Forest fires in Indonesia produce more carbon in the air than the US economy as a whole. As a result of climate change, biological diversity is lost. Animals are losing their natural habitat. This documentary talked about how you can make a change through changing your diet. 47% of US land is used for food and 70% of that is used for cattle feed. Methane is used in fertilizers which is even more lethal than Co2. 10 to 12% of US emissions are due to beef. Chicken in comparison requires only 20% of land. The documentary then takes us on the set of Leonardo Dicprio’s 2016 movie The Revenant in Alberta Canada. The entire set’s ice melted and the movie crew had to import ice from halfway across the world- another example of damage caused by climate change. Only a few people will be able to see snow in the future. However, there are many companies in the world who have started to transition to sustainable energy like Tesla for example who have started to do this. Many environmentalists have suggested the imposition of a carbon tax to combat the issue of climate change and cut other taxes in response. The documentary then gives further examples of the ongoing struggles around the world as a result of climate change like wars over water in countries like Mexico. It then talks about fossil fuel free countries like Sweden who became the world’s first fossil fuel free country. A conference was held in Paris which was attended by the representatives of 195 countries as well as Leonardo Dicaprio and these countries said that they will do everything they can to solve the issue of climate change but as Dicaprio said in the documentary- only time will tell if they live up to their promise. Finally, the documentary

concludes with Dicaprio meeting at the time President of the US Barack Obama who told him that climate change is a national security issue and should be treated as such.