By Chuck Graham, TucsonStage.com
Thanks to the Theory of Evolution we are accustomed to believing the Earth, just like all living things upon the Earth, changes very slowly.
Although occasionally in recent years, down in the corner of a back page of the newspaper, will be a story about new geological theories that insist cataclysmic change occurs quickly after pressure builds up for thousands of years – like the way it does with earthquakes...and perhaps did with dinosaurs.
This concept becomes important while watching the titanically impressive documentary “Chasing Ice” now playing at the Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway Blvd.
Filmmaker Jeff Orlowski follows photographer and trained geomorphologist James Balog through several years of extreme glacier photography. Balog is determined to break open the gridlock over global warming by using time-lapse photography to dramatically demonstrate how quickly the world’s Arctic ice caps are turning into water.
But first he had to gather the evidence. Balog’s strategy was to set up four groups of cameras linked together facing four of the ice cap’s most distressed glaciers. Facing near-insurmountable terrain and weather conditions, the middle-aged Balog and three young staffers somehow managed to place all the cameras.
The photographic results -- after considerable trial-and-error to make delicate technology work where no life can survive the harsh conditions -- are harrowing. Time after time, Balog discovered the past 10 years has seen massive deteriorations of this ice cap we all thought would live forever.
Mentioning this “tipping point” theory just briefly, the film doesn’t push what we all know – the past two years in particular have seen 100-year storms, hurricanes, floods, earthquakes and wildfires. The world has been warming since the Industrial Revolution began; now we are at the tipping point.
Remember in the first days after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center, everyone said the attack looked “just like a movie.” Well, now they are starting to say it again, this time comparing the weather to those movies about the end of times.
Although occasionally in recent years, down in the corner of a back page of the newspaper, will be a story about new geological theories that insist cataclysmic change occurs quickly after pressure builds up for thousands of years – like the way it does with earthquakes...and perhaps did with dinosaurs.
This concept becomes important while watching the titanically impressive documentary “Chasing Ice” now playing at the Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway Blvd.
Filmmaker Jeff Orlowski follows photographer and trained geomorphologist James Balog through several years of extreme glacier photography. Balog is determined to break open the gridlock over global warming by using time-lapse photography to dramatically demonstrate how quickly the world’s Arctic ice caps are turning into water.
But first he had to gather the evidence. Balog’s strategy was to set up four groups of cameras linked together facing four of the ice cap’s most distressed glaciers. Facing near-insurmountable terrain and weather conditions, the middle-aged Balog and three young staffers somehow managed to place all the cameras.
The photographic results -- after considerable trial-and-error to make delicate technology work where no life can survive the harsh conditions -- are harrowing. Time after time, Balog discovered the past 10 years has seen massive deteriorations of this ice cap we all thought would live forever.
Mentioning this “tipping point” theory just briefly, the film doesn’t push what we all know – the past two years in particular have seen 100-year storms, hurricanes, floods, earthquakes and wildfires. The world has been warming since the Industrial Revolution began; now we are at the tipping point.
Remember in the first days after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center, everyone said the attack looked “just like a movie.” Well, now they are starting to say it again, this time comparing the weather to those movies about the end of times.
No comments:
Post a Comment