The film is right on its main point, which is that human-caused global climate change is real, happening now, and is life-threatening. While this film is sort of a CliffsNotes version of the issue, it at least gets that much right, making it worthy of its title.
However, it's very sloppy, even in that regard. It tends to use a lot of anecdotes, EXACTLY the kind of data that even they admit is not proof of climate change. What they need to focus on is aggregate data, and they simply didn't do that.
Worse is the credulous manner in which the proposed solutions are presented. Ethanol? In just the few years since this was broadcast, we've become aware that this is not a solution, and is even more expensive and harmful to produce than the problem it's supposed to solve. (At least they didn't mention hydrogen!) I won't go into the other solutions, but they are all presented as if all the problems are solved and it's just a matter of flipping a switch. Well, no. We're nowhere near ready, even five years later.
The obvious problem, conveniently brushed aside, is over-consumption per capita, and overpopulation. These are the root causes, and until we address them (and I doubt we have the character to do it) then global climate change will increase, and our children and grandchildren will suffer for it, and some will die because of it.
This will be an interesting historical oddity, like the duck-and-cover propaganda of the cold war era, illustrative of how to dodge an issue while convincing the public you're addressing it.
However, it's very sloppy, even in that regard. It tends to use a lot of anecdotes, EXACTLY the kind of data that even they admit is not proof of climate change. What they need to focus on is aggregate data, and they simply didn't do that.
Worse is the credulous manner in which the proposed solutions are presented. Ethanol? In just the few years since this was broadcast, we've become aware that this is not a solution, and is even more expensive and harmful to produce than the problem it's supposed to solve. (At least they didn't mention hydrogen!) I won't go into the other solutions, but they are all presented as if all the problems are solved and it's just a matter of flipping a switch. Well, no. We're nowhere near ready, even five years later.
The obvious problem, conveniently brushed aside, is over-consumption per capita, and overpopulation. These are the root causes, and until we address them (and I doubt we have the character to do it) then global climate change will increase, and our children and grandchildren will suffer for it, and some will die because of it.
This will be an interesting historical oddity, like the duck-and-cover propaganda of the cold war era, illustrative of how to dodge an issue while convincing the public you're addressing it.
