As of last week, Leonardo DiCaprio's documentary, Before The Flood, became available to stream for free... If you haven't already watched it, you absolutely should and if available on YouTube here.
Disclaimer: Even if you do not believe in human-caused climate change, Before The Flood is a MUST WATCH. As everyone says in the documentary, human-caused climate change is indisputable. In fact, according to the documentary, 97% of scientists believe that climate change is caused by humans and our fossil-fuel addiction. At the end of the day, human-caused climate change is an undeniable phenomenon that we need to address NOW.
Before The Flood is an hour and a half long documentary that DiCaprio created after three years of diligent research on climate change. Over the years, he traveled the world interviewing scientists, politicians, and world leaders in search of more information about climate change and how we, as humans, are pushing our planet to the brink of disaster.
The documentary highlights all of the important points that everybody, including those both well-versed in science and those who refuse to believe, should listen to and reevaluate. For one, DiCaprio speaks with many experts who cited incredibly eye-opening facts. Further, the documentary takes the viewer on a journey across the world, from the Canadian Arctic to Beijing, to New Delhi, to countless other places across the planet, where DiCaprio gets extremely valuable insight on the issue from many different viewpoints. Likewise, DiCaprio adds subjects that have historically been left out of climate change debates, like the effects of agriculture on the environment, making his documentary a game-changer.
I believe, like I have already said, that everyone should watch Before The Flood, and in case you're not already convinced, here are several amazing (and extremely troublesome) things that I learned while watching the documentary.
1. If the Earth's temperature continues to rise at the current rate, by 2040, humans will be able to sail over the North Pole.
It's as scary as it sounds: at the rate that we are going, all of the Arctic ice will have melted by 2040, and humans will be able to sail right over the North Pole. As you can imagine, this will in turn cause the sea level to rise significantly, affecting many countries across the world. For instance, if we continue on like this, Greenland, many island nations, and several part of the United States will completely disappear under water.
2. By 2060, combating climate change will cost taxpayers a whopping $44 trillion USD.
In other words, we need to change the things that we are doing NOW, or else we will be in a huge economic crisis.
3. Five years of ice melt in Greenland is equivalent to over 30 feet.
DiCaprio and climate scientists showed us a hose that was previously in the ground, but had melted out of the ice. The hose stretched 30 feet, representing just five years of melt. In other words, hundreds of cubic kilometers of ice in Greenland has melted and gone into the sea since 2011, which is a quite alarming rate.
4. One molecule of methane is equivalent to twenty-three molecules of carbon dioxide.
If you don't know what methane is, it is a gas released into the air by cattle when they burp and fart. According to scientists, one molecule of the stuff is equal to over twenty molecules of carbon dioxide... It's extremely dangerous, and by raising as much beef as we do in the United States, we are causing a mass amount of methane to be released into the air, severely damaging the environment.
5. The Pope even called upon the world to accept the science of climate change!
The Pope, the head of the Roman Catholic Church, has even taken a positive stance on climate change... If he has learned about the science and spoken out about it, why can't you?
6. 100 gigafactories could provide power to the entire planet.
Elon Musk took DiCaprio through his gigafactory, which has the capacity to supply enough renewable energy for 500,000 Tesla cars each year. There, he told DiCaprio that if we had 100 of these giant gigafactories, we could sustainably power the entire world... Here's hoping!
7. We've known about human-casued climate change since 1958.
The Bell Laboratory Climate Series outlined the issue of human-casued climate change over 50 years ago, and we still have deniers today. When will we learn?
8. 50% of coral has been lost in the last 30 years.
DiCaprio went underwater to see a dead coral reef with biologist Jeremy Jackson, who told him that in the last 30 years alone, half of our planet's coral has died. Quite obviously, this is an extreme issue, and it leads to more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and thousands of species without a home.
9. Sweden has pledged to become the first fossil fuel-free nation.
Sweden has pledged to become fossil-fuel free by 2030, leading the way for other countries to take the same intitiative. (Hint, hint, America.)
10. Due to record temperatures, Leonardo DiCaprio and the entire set of The Revenant had to relocate to find snow.
In order to actually shoot the film, which had to feature snow, the whole production of The Revenant had to move from the Canada to Argentina... They literally had to fly from one of the highest points of the Earth to one of the lowest, all to find snow that is supposed to be in Canada.
All in all, DiCaprio made an amazing documentary. He, as the U.N. Messenger of Peace on Climate Change, released amazing footage that should reinforce the science behind climate change and make people realize what we are really doing to the Earth. Likewise, he was an amazing spokesperson for this issue, and as DiCaprio told 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."
