Having had minimal exposure to the main arguments of climate skeptics I was excited to understand the other side of the story. The oft quoted idea that the "science is settled" when it comes to climate change is a contradiction of terms. By the very nature of the scientific process, nothing is settled or incontrovertible or otherwise beyond question. So it had always worried me how people spoke about climate change with the zealotry of the religious when the climate is, perhaps only second to the human brain, the most complex system known to science.
The film dipped into important points such as the history of the Earth's climate, the questions that still surround the role that CO2 does or doesn't play in the greenhouse effect and the distortion and misrepresentation of data by politicians and the media. All these things were brushed upon but relevant data and case studies to back up the claims were missing or fleetingly referenced. Sweeping claims such as "we are in a CO2 deficit" and "the Earth in greener than ever" were made without qualification. Is crop production better than ever? Are forests thriving more than ever? What other factors could contribute to this?
The graph depicting the concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere for the last billion years or so was deliberately misleading. Not least because the atmosphere of 500 million years ago could not support human life. Such graphics and claims, rapidly flashed on the screen then gone before relevant questions can be asked or answered, characterized the film from start to finish.
The conspiratorial theme of the card hustle throughout was also tiresome and does climate skeptics no service. It comes with the implication that those who passionately advocate for climate change are being willfully dishonest or at least there are some great masterminds behind the hoax who are pulling the strings. This is where skepticism turns conspiratorial and an otherwise receptive audience is lost.
I am sympathetic to the subject matter of the film. I've heard enough inconsistencies and issues in the mainstream climate change rhetoric to question its wisdom. This film introduced some interesting points but was not the well presented case I hoped it might be.