5 of the Most Impactful Movies About Climate Change

by Kevin Gardner

Everyone knows that there is nothing that can get you quite as emotional, excited, or invested like a good movie, and there are plenty of good movies out there. Watching movies about health and wellness might have the power to get you to cut down on your sugar intake, and watching movies about rescue pets might push you to adopt an animal. Therefore, watching a movie about climate change might just get you invested in environmental justice.

If you've been thinking about going vegan, purchasing a hybrid car, or looking to buy solar panels for your home to be kinder to the environment, then watching a movie about climate change is what could give you that push you need to seal the deal. Here are a couple of must-watch movies about climate change.

1. Chasing Coral

One of the world's wonders that is most affected by climate change is the coral reef, and this documentary underscores this in a vivid and powerful way. The movie discusses how coral reefs are disappearing at an alarmingly quick rate, and the ways in which climate change has catalyzed this heartbreaking reality. The movie, which took more than three years to shoot, is beautifully produced, riddled with real and marvelous video footage of the sea to show viewers why they should care about the coral reefs' vanishing.

2. An Inconvenient Truth

An Inconvenient Truth is a climate change movie you've probably already heard of, and highlights former Vice President Al Gore's campaign attempts to get the world to care about climate change. It follows him working hard on and giving climate change presentations as he discusses why he became so invested in the issue. Gore does not suggest things are hopeless; in fact, he argues that the sooner humans act appropriately, the more likely it is that the effects of global warming can be reversed. This film's climate change argument is based on pure science, and if you're unsure about the merits of global warming, you won't be after watching this movie.

3. The Hottest August

The Hottest August is a movie that screams, "Climate change is happening, and not enough people care about it!" The movie starts by flashing startling and horrifying climate change statistics on the screen. But the rest of the film focuses on New York and its inhabitants in August 2017; it interviews citizens and asks them about their worries for the future. Shockingly, very people mention climate change, despite living through a strikingly hot month of August. The Hottest August highlights the reality of climate change while pointing out how many put it on the back-burner of their minds, making the movie a true eye opener.

4. Crawl

Crawl is a thriller, making it difficult to peel your eyes from the screen while watching it. This climate film focuses on natural disasters, specifically on a Category 5 hurricane that hits a town in Florida. The movie is fictional, featuring a woman trying to save her father from the hurricane while simultaneously trying to fight off alligators. However, it demonstrates a very real and tangible threat of climate change, manifested in a devastating hurricane.

5. Ice on Fire

This documentary offers real-life climate change solutions, suggesting that climate change is reversible and that perhaps it's not too late. The film Ice on Fire explores the approach of reducing carbon emissions and implementing measures such as direct air capture to help save the planet from doom. In the meantime, the movie captures stunning images from some of the world's most beautiful places, such as Costa Rica, Norway, and Iceland, giving the viewer a reminder that the world is worth saving.

Conclusion

Climate change is very real and very scary, which is why it's important that everyone knows the gravity of the situation and how to work toward remedying it. While these movies are a mix between fact and fiction, all hammer home the same critical point: if no one acts now, humans will suffer immensely and the planet will inevitably die.