James Cameron to Release Documentary on Climate Change

[Raiden]

Originally Posted by Sarah Noel

With a James Cameron big budget, and recognizable actors to "lure" people in, I'm hoping it'll get more traction than it would have otherwise.

Yeah, I thought about this after I made the post, and there's really no argument I can provide against it. I just wish that all the researchers who sacrificed pretty much their entire life to live in a coffee mug in front of a lab computer would get some recognition for once.

Also, mongabay posted the story too:

Featured video: trailer for James Cameron's new global warming series

It gives a bit more information about how the documentary will be/was produced; I guess most of the people talking will be ordinary people.

The only thing about it that concerns me is that it seems to be tilting towards a very self-centered view; the documentary seems to be focusing on how humans are impacted, when many thousands of other organisms on this planet are in far greater peril than we are.

[CyanRachel]

Originally Posted by Raiden

The only thing about it that concerns me is that it seems to be tilting towards a very self-centered view; the documentary seems to be focusing on how humans are impacted, when many thousands of other organisms on this planet are in far greater peril than we are.

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing.

[Sarah Noel]

Originally Posted by Raiden

The only thing about it that concerns me is that it seems to be tilting towards a very self-centered view; the documentary seems to be focusing on how humans are impacted, when many thousands of other organisms on this planet are in far greater peril than we are.

I agree that it's morally wrong to cause widespread and possibly irrevocable changes to the planet just because we can, we're not the only ones that live here, we're supposed to share. There are people that believe this is not the case, and because human's are the most "intelligent," the fittest, we have the right to dictate everything that happens here, that we "won" as a species and this is our prize. I know people who acknowledge man made climate change as real, but believe it is our right to do so. It's actually incredibly difficult to debate with these people, unlike people who are just uninformed, for them after presenting enough information it's possible to change their minds. With this debate, it becomes about what constitutes "right" and "wrong," essentially boiling down to opinion, and becomes an unwinnable stalemate. The only way to combat this is to strike in the one place they care about: mankind. Although knowing climate change is real, they still don't know the specifics, or understand the large scale impact it will have on people. This series' main purpose seems to be addressing this point. I hope so.

[Raiden]

Originally Posted by Sarah Noel

With this debate, it becomes about what constitutes "right" and "wrong," essentially boiling down to opinion, and becomes an unwinnable stalemate.

Yeah, but what about empathy?

If someone can't understand that they cause serious pain and fear if they do something like step on a mouse or cut off a snake's head with a shovel, they need to go to an asylum and stay there, because they're a danger to much more than just snakes and mice.

Killing plants (i.e. cutting down a forest or damaging trees "for fun") feeds back into the same example, because even if the plants can't feel anything, and even if the person argues that we have the right to control ecosystems, destroying plant communities will probably cause animals to undergo the same hardships.

I guess they could still just be stubborn anyway, but it seems to me that this argument would hold up. If you can't understand the consequences of your actions and how they affect other organisms, you've got a problem.