Bucolic Apocalypse
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By David Wojick
Discovery Channel’s upcoming July 16 special -- “Tom Brokaw’s Global Warming: What You Need To Know,” is a masterful version of the theory of human caused global warming. And well it should be since it features two of the Grand Master Warmers -- James Hansen and Michael Oppenheimer -- who have been telling the story for 20 years or more.
The story line is well known, yet difficult to execute properly. One must present the scientific evidence for human caused warming, followed by catastrophic computer projections of future climate, without mentioning any of the equally compelling science to the contrary. This tour de force is executed effortlessly by the veteran players. The few minor slipups and factual errors will not be noticed by a novice audience.
The optional ending, to the effect that deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions are cheap and easy, is included. But it is mercifully brief, confined mostly to light bulbs, hybrid vehicles and recycled skyscrapers. (Viewers with children should be prepared to buy something to save the earth. Environmental Defense is having a big promo on light bulbs.)
There is one energy versus climate item that is new and interesting: China and coal. We hear that China is building one coal fired power plant a week to keep up with its galloping prosperity, with carbon dioxide emissions going up fast. Not to worry, says Oppenheimer, China will fix this along with its pollution problems. But conventional pollution control measures actually increase CO2 emissions. In reality China and the climate crusade are on a collision course. The Kyoto negotiations are already deadlocked over it.
The set design, however, is problematic. This consists mostly of lengthy footage of wild places, especially ice and water, lots of it, together with the Amazon rainforest and the occasional desert. The overall effect is one of soothing beauty, which is only reinforced by the calm style of the apocalyptians. The polar bears are lovable and there is a recurring, mysterious image of a whale’s diving tail.
There is a saying that if you work with animals they will steal the show and one wonders how many viewers will stop listening to the two hour litany of understated horror in order to enjoy the cinematography. Even the urban sprawl is lovely. Viewers who want to entertain their children rather than scaring them (and buying a penitential hybrid) might consider turning the sound off.
The contrast with Al Gore’s movie version of the same story -- “An Inconvenient Truth” -- is stark and no doubt carefully crafted. The Brokaw version avoids moralizing and overt scare-mongering, not to mention deadly graphs. It does not use the infamous hockey stick graph, nor the associated claim that the present is warmer than 1000 years ago. At least my advance version did not. There was some fine print about graphs not being final so buyer beware.
There is, however, a truly amusing allusion to the climate catastrophe movie “The Day After Tomorrow.” A city, perhaps New York, is shown underwater from the vantage point of a submerged bicycle rack, complete with bicycle. This is a touch of farce that Gore would never consider.
Brokaw himself is characteristically deadpan, as are his protagonists Hansen and Oppenheimer. The effect is terrific, three old men quietly considering the destruction of civilization. Unfortunately it is not a mood that can sustain itself for two hours and one longs for a spark of emotion. This is provided on occasion, along with some comic relief, by the cast’s lesser lights and rising stars.
Chief among these is Dan Nepstad, who spends most of show hanging from a tall tree. The contrast between his precarious position and his preposterous message -- the Amazon rainforest is about to dry up and blow away -- is hilarious. But this is more than matched by Greg Holland, headmaster of the “We-caused-Katrina” school of hurricane science. He is pictured standing in a small boat, in the open ocean, with an approaching storm bearing down, talking about science.
Perhaps these lighter moments are a metaphor for the overall message of the show. We humans are quietly grazing while the End of the World stalks over the horizon, at our own bidding. Fortunately few believe this.
But the overall effect is really quite pleasant if one ignores the story line, which is easy to do if you have heard it all before. Sort of like watching the horsemen of the apocalypse sitting under a shady tree, swapping vague tales of destruction while their horses graze nearby. The apocalypse has never been more bucolic.
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