Danielle Solzman
It would not be unfair to state that the Leonardo DiCaprio-produced Ice on Fire documentary is a horror film because the global climate is at a crossroads.
This is yet another climate change film. However, there’s something that is strikingly different about this film. I’ll get to more on this later. There’s some beautiful imagery–don’t get me wrong–but it’s unfortunate the reason. While Leonardo DiCaprio is a brilliant actor, he’s found a way to blend his film work with being an environmental activist. What better way than to get one’s message across than by way of documentary films?!? It is really only a matter of figuring out which global leaders will actually bother to take action.
There have been a number of films that remind us of how drastic the world is changing. But what makes this one in particular stand apart is that there are an actual number of solutions being offered. This is not to take away from the documentaries that came before. Each of them has a message in hopes of getting across. Perhaps what strikes me in viewing Ice on Fire is that while the doomsday is coming, we have the opportunity to slow it down. What must be stressed the most is that those in charge need to be willing to listen. I do not want to hear any of this crap about refusing to believe in climate change. Anything other than looking into reasonable solutions isn’t a solution.
We only have one Earth. Until we figure out how to colonize the Moon, Mars, or go boldly where no human has gone before, this is our only home. All we can do right now is delay the inevitable. One of the ways to do this is look into preventing excess carbon from reaching the atmosphere. Look no further than the Biochar project being done by way of the Redwood Forest Foundation. At this point, I am all ears if somebody has good ideas. This one in particular did pique my interest in viewing the documentary. It’s enough of an interest that I want to look into what they’re doing to help fight excess carbon.
In talking about the chaos that will ensue from rising sea levels, Penn State Earth System Science Center director Michael Mann refers to it as “a recipe for a natural security disaster.” Rising sea levels will bring about less land, less food, and more water. On top of this, the coastal regions will flood and thus the number of climate refugees will rise.
I may joke a lot about the Florida Marlins and Tampa Bay Rays not having fans in the crowd. The fact of the matter is that I do not want these baseball teams to be climate refugees. If we do not take action, we can forget all about attending spring training baseball in Florida. Or Disney World. Or any other city along the coast. Our favorite coastal cities will be under water if we don’t take any action. I don’t think anybody would like to see this happen.
Ice on Fire offers solutions to the climate crisis at hand when some of us have given up hope.
DIRECTOR: Leila Conners
NARRATOR: Leonardo DiCaprio
FEATURING: Jennifer Frances Morse, Patricia Lang, Pieter Tans, Jim White, Michael Mann, Guðmundur Ingi Guðbrandsson, Catherine Lund, Myhre, Peter Wadhams, Elizabeth Brown, Tony Gossner, Mark Basque, Daniel Rothmann, Janine Benyus, Ottmar Edenhofer, Brigitte Knopf, Paul Hawken, Linwood Gill, Raymond Baltar, Kate Scow, Ietef Vita, Bren Smith, Staša Puškarić, Martin Hermann, Gabrielle Petron, Anna Robertson, Don Schreiber, Jürgen Mienert, Pavel Serov, Katey Walter Anthony, Christoph Gebald, Jan Wurtzbacher, Daniel Nocera, James Murray, Chris Milne, Neil Kermode
