Brian Burt's Blog: Work in Progress - Posts Tagged "living-dangerously"

It's an exciting, momentous Earth Day, with the March for Science happening at many sites here in the U.S. and around the world. I feel a bit sidelined, unfortunately, recovering from surgery that only lets me march for short distances... and very, very slowly. My wife and youngest son are also feeling under the weather this weekend. So we decided to celebrate Earth Day by watching the first few episodes of the Emmy-winning series Years of Living Dangerously. It's been on our list for a while, but we don't get Showtime, so this "immobile" Earth Day finally provided the impetus to pull the trigger on buying Season 1. Best decision I've made in quite some time!

The first few episodes take viewers into many different places, with different perspectives on the effects of (and resistance to acknowledging) climate change. We see the impact of prolonged drought on small-town communities in Texas whose religious faith discourages acceptance of the science... until a devout Christian climate scientist from Texas Tech explains the implications in terms that don't insult their beliefs or alienate them. We see rampant corruption in Indonesia blindly ignoring an explosion of palm oil plantations that devastate the national forests that once served as a crucial carbon sink for the planet. We see Syrian refugees share their personal traumas and make clear that the fundamental catalyst for the human catastrophe in their home country was the most relentless drought in their region's recorded history; only when their government ignored their pleas for help did they resort to revolution.

And we see Western U.S. "hotshot" firefighters battling massive forest fires that have become steadily more deadly and numerous over the past several decades. These heroes don't question the science behind climate change because they're living (and dying) it every day.

It's arresting viewing. I love the written word and favor the novel over the film almost every time. But, in the case of issues like climate change and their impact in the real world, video evidence reaches may of us in a visceral way that books struggle to match.

So, on this Earth Day 2017, I highly recommend Years of Living Dangerously for anyone who hasn't had the pleasure of viewing it. As a passionate reader and writer of science fiction, I place great value on the contributions of science toward making our world better... and on warning us when we're on the brink of doing it irreparable harm. If you can't march today, maybe you can watch!

#SFWApro