For the visual learners among us, this page offers a selection of videos explaining the science behind climate change and strategies that we can take to reduce carbon emissions and leave the planet a better place for our children and grandchildren.
About What To Do
Wind as a renewable energy solution
From the Climate Denial Crock of the Week http://climatecrocks.com/
300 Years of Fossil Fuel in 300 seconds
A crash course on how we got where we are today.
Green home renovation
Architect Eric Corey Freed wants every building to be a ‘green’ building. Inspired by his childhood idol Frank Lloyd Wright, Freed’s goal is to renovate existing homes and structures to be more sustainable through architectural design, advancements in renewable energy, and the use of recycled metals and glass, and unique woods such as bamboo.
The Story of Stuff
From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world.
Is Nuclear Power the Answer to Global Warming?
Amory Lovins, Chairman and Chief Scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute is one of the world’s leading experts on alternative energy and energy efficiency. In this six-minute video clip, he testifies before the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming about the danger of relying on nuclear energy as a solution to global warming.
Why We Need a Green Revolution
Thomas Friedman, author of Hot, Flat and Crowded, discusses the meaning of climate change for the country.
Did you know that properly using a programmable thermostat in your home is one of the easiest ways you can save energy, money, and help fight global warming? Did you know that the average homeowner can save about $180 a year by properly setting their programmable thermostats and maintaining those settings? Did you know that here are three types of programmable thermostats to chose from, depending on your daily schedule?
The following five-minute video from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR Program answers these questions.
Ten Green Tips
Ten easy ways to go green.
Tip #1: Shop local and buy organic.
View the rest:
About the Science
Global Tipping Points
Wake Up, Freak Out – then Get a Grip is a short, animated film about climate change by Leo Murray.
As Murray observes, it’s much, much later than we think.
His point is that this really isn’t about polar bears any more. At this very moment, the fate of civilization itself hangs in the balance.
It turns out that the way we have been calculating the future impacts of climate change up to now has been missing a really important piece of the picture. It seems we are now dangerously close to the tipping point in the world’s climate system; this is the point of no return, after which truly catastrophic changes become inevitable.
To read the full text of this video go to WakeUpFreakOut.org.
These are extraordinary times. Preventing runaway global warming is the single most important task in all of human history – and it has fallen to us to do it. If we don’t, then everything else we work to achieve in our lives will be destroyed, or become meaningless. Those who came before us didn’t know about this problem, and those who come after will be powerless to do anything about it. But for us, there’s still time! We’d better get a move on though.
Drilling Back to the Future: Climate Clues from Ancient Ice on Greenland
The ice cores provide the NEEM scientists with priceless information about past climate history. The data from the cores show a strong correlation between carbon dioxide levels and temperature, reinforcing an important theme from climate science: that carbon dioxide causes warming.
Learning about these ancient climates can also tell us more about future sea level rise. The Greenland ice sheet contains enough ice to raise global sea level by 23 feet. By using Satellite data from the NASA Grace Mission, scientists have been able to measure Greenland’s current ice loss. In 2007, Greenland shed 340 billion tons of ice—a loss roughly the same as draining an extra San Francisco Bay’s worth of water into the ocean every week for a year.
By the end of the 2010 season, when the scientists drill down to the Eemian period, they will get a much better sense of just how much Greenland’s ice melted during the last major warm period, when global sea level rose 13 to 20 feet higher than it is today.
Originally broadcast October 19, 2009 on PBS’s The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.
How It All Ends
A clear explanation of the risks of both taking action and not taking action to reduce climate change.
Medieval Warming Period?
An entertaining but well-researched debunking of the so-called Medieval Warming Period, often cited by those who would deny the scientific consensus on global warming.
CO2 Rising (series), Professor Tyler Volk: 1. Where in the world is the CO2 increasing?
This is the first of a series of videos to bring the global carbon cycle to everyone. It accompanies Professor Volk’s book, “CO2 Rising.” In this one, he looks at data for carbon dioxide at different sites around the world, to explore the relationship between the places that emit the CO2 and the increasing concentrations of the greenhouse gas.
Global Warming – A way forward: Facing Climate Change
From National Geographic and the UN Foundation, this 7:43 video explores the global impact of climate change and its devastating effects-and outlines what scientists suggest in response.
Disappearing Antarctica Ice
See how melting glaciers on the Antarctic Peninsula can affect our beaches. (2:32 video)