Chasing Ice (2012)

For me the film got dubious at:"I had this idea the most powerful issue of our time was the interaction of humans and nature." "Needed to show these things in a more seductive fashion" -- James BalogHmm, really? I've always considered humans part of nature, but hey, that's just me. But the question remains, the issue is powerful how exactly? Al Gore kinda powerful maybe? Seems like most climate change proponents, heck environmental protectionists in general, what they really advocate is control, political/social control (Hence my summary). Greatest good for the greatest number anyone? According to James Balog, "we humans are causing it" (climate change). The unstated assumption is that since humans have the power/ability to change the environment, the geology, even the climate of the planet, why not simply change it for the "better." Aye, there's the rub. On the one hand humans are the disease and if they can only be taught to see the error of their ways they can be magically transformed into the cure too. A very seductive idea to the aspiring do-gooder indeed.When the film ended I thought, gee, had some pretty pictures but otherwise not particularly focused or interesting. For those who'd love to change/control the world I'd heartily recommend it. For those like myself who confess we don't know what to do, might flip a coin to decide. Score - 4/10

As one who has been concerned about man's negative impact on the environment, this movie still manages to draw me to the edge of my seat by the way it captures the polar warming impact in an absolutely stunning portrayal of the massive glacial melt happening within a short time. I think every young person must watch this. It is an excellent product of a very resourceful and fiercely focused individual and is definitely more worthy of one's time than even the most profitable Hollywood blockbuster.@Dave - what is the probability of that computer in front of you coming together purely by evolution with zero intelligent input? If you can calculate that, even though it is just hypothetical, then you are a scientist. Then you can comment on evolution. Otherwise, pipe down on that topic.

Looks like 'al gore' the fat little democrat who lied to us all about global warming a few years ago has had his finger in this little propaganda piece. What a load of pseudo science and obvious misrepresentation of photo evidence of you can call it that. In a law case these photo displays would have been shredded by any decent lawyer. I will not go into it in depth here because it would take an hour to fully disembowel the garbage that this show offers. I draw your attention to some simple facts. The way some of the photos were shown was so obviously staged. There was one where he showed a receding glacier by comparing two images that were supposedly shot from the same spot - NOT. If you look carefully you will see that the elevation of the shot is drastically different with a different lens factor and then placed conveniently and cropped to make it appear that a glacier retreated much further than it actually did. Besides that the montages were done without any time reference and if I were to display this sort of stuff in a science journal my career would be OVER. The fact that Nat Geo got involved in this states clearly that the mind washed liberal morons out there are winning the battle of propaganda over reason and a true scientific method. The over used trick of juxtaposing images of floods from somewhere in the world with receding glacier images to make a pseudo connection is just disgusting and shows the contempt that these fools have for the viewing public. Whether or not the human race is predominantly responsible for any of the alleged global warming is a debate that is far from conclusive and any assertion to the contrary is a political act of one upmanism and it is high time that people removed their rose coloured glasses and woke up to this fact. These types of shows always use so called experts to bolster the authenticity of their one eyed opinion. Where are the counter arguments? I rest my case but go watch it and see for your self what tripe this really is unless of course you are stilling wearing those aforementioned visers.

Ever wonder how the Titanic iceberg got there? It's believed it broke off of a specific glacier in Iceland. "Calving" continues, only it's happening at a faster pace than ever before. These days ships aren't the main object of concern -- but rather the survival of everything that needs air to breathe.That's the message of this visually dazzling documentary from National Geographic photographer James Balog. He argues that rising levels of carbon create atmospheric warming that is destroying the world's great ice sheets.Softening, receding glaciers are raising sea levels so rapidly it's believed that 150 million people -- roughly equal to half the population of the United States -- will become displaced this century.Balog presents awe-inspiring pictorial documentation for the shrinkage of ice shelves in Greenland, Iceland, Alaska, and Montana. At one point, we witness a vast and craggy terrain collapsing into a roiling cauldron of ice soup. Balog and his team put their lives at considerable risk to capture such amazing sequences. Part of the interest in this film is the somewhat obsessive personality of Balog, who battles extreme weather conditions to complete this self-imposed task as well as a bum knee that doesn't take well to clambering up ice mountains and rappelling back down.Balog wants the world to know that radical environmental changes are happening as you read this. The time is past, he argues, to debate whether global warming is real.His message is urgent, and everyone should take heed.