Age of the stupid

My column title this week is also the title of a recent cinematic creation of the British film maker, Franny Armstrong, who earlier directed the film McLibel and producer John Battsek of One Day in September fame. In the film, Pete Postlethwaite stars as a man living alone in the devastated future world of 2055, looking at old footage from 2008, and asks; why didn’t we stop climate change when we had the chance? The implication is that those who live now should and could have a profound impact on avoiding a climate catastrophe of the future and our inaction in changing our lifestyles can lead to devastating circumstances for our future generations.

Social action

The film’s debut in UK cinemas was on March 20, 2009. It was globally released on September 21 on the eve of the UN sessions held in New York. On the same day, global warming mitigation activists from 130 countries all over the world created a movement through the Internet with hundreds of thousands of concerned people calling their elected representatives to demand assertive action on taking on the issue at international forums, especially at the next round of climate talks in Copenhagen.

The blame game

The British Prime Minister featured in the media responding to the calls, admitted that action needed to be taken, but went on to say that it should be by all nations especially the developing countries. The reference was obviously to the fast growing economies of India and China.

According to a report submitted by the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center to the UN, the net annual contribution of these two nations in 2007 was around 26 percent while USA, EU, UK, Russia and Japan were together responsible for 44.1 percent of the emissions. China and India, claim their impact to be recent, and pledged to taking on measures to mitigate future emission levels. They call on the already ‘developed’ countries that have for several decades contributed to high levels of CO2 emissions, to take on bold measures to change their lifestyles to curb future damage.

Devastating impact

While countries such as Sri Lanka and The Maldives have emissions levels each of less than 0.1 percent of the global total, the impact of the effects of global warming will be felt on these nations in a devastating way.

Maldives President, Mohamed Nasheed a former journalist, is extremely concerned that his country needs to be saved from a certain catastrophe and announced immediately after his election to office last year, that he was beginning to look for alternative land to settle his citizens towards the latter part of the century, when global warming begins to inundate his island-nation.

In a recent video statement, he said, “The climate is near a tipping point - when the Arctic suddenly melts and the glaciers disappear, that’s a very bad sign.

We need our political system to cross a tipping point, too, to move from feel-good statements to actual solutions, cutting emissions quickly enough to meet the demands of science. But politicians are reluctant to act unless the people act first.

The events in New York and on October 24 provide ordinary people with the opportunity to make their voices heard and, in doing so; remind politicians who is ultimately in charge”. He was referring to an event to be held in the Maldives on this day when the largest underwater political demonstration in history will be staged, with divers and snorkelers down on the reef with banners and signs, reminding people what’s at stake, to create more and more global awareness.

In Sri Lanka, the former Vice Chairman of the Inter Governmental Panel on Climate Change Prof. Mohan Munasinghe has documented the devastating effects we in Sri Lanka will have through drying up of our irrigation tanks resulting in reduced dry zone crops, the inundation of low laying coastal areas and the spread of health hazards.

No laughing matter

The UK Standard commenting on the film ‘The age of Stupid’ on its issue of September 21 said, “Humanity is on course to wipe itself out in the very near future. Some people think of this as a bad thing. If you can’t make up your mind, help is at hand. The world’s first pedal-powered movie is to be screened in cities across Asia this week.

The Age of Stupid, a sci-fi style documentary about killer weather, received rave reviews and inspired the entire British Cabinet to sign a pledge to change its evil ways. (Abolition might be a good start).

Film director Franny Armstrong is hoping Asia will avoid the catastrophic development mistakes the West has made. (Don’t count on it).”

Satire aside, it is time we took note on what scientific evidence tells us. Since the unfolding of the movie “Inconvenient Truth”, when it noted that the hottest five years in a 350,000 years of human history was seen within the past 16 years, that indeed was adequate evidence that this was not the dawning of another ‘age’ like that of the post-ice ages, but a real phenomenon created by man’s greedy ways in seeking excess and unlimited choices in the recent past in living on this planet Earth.

Action plus guilt

Several reviews of the film point to that thinking and action is being stirred. William Nicholson, Oscar-nominated writer of Shadowlands and Gladiator said “I hate this film.

I felt as if I was watching all my own excuses for not doing anything about climate change being stripped away from me. And it’s tender and funny and wise as well. Can I just pretend I never saw it?” demonstrating the escapist ways of most of us. Ken Livingstone, former Mayor of London, demonstrating the politician’s way said that “Every single person in the country (UK) should be forcibly made to watch this film”.

We are glad that he and others like him watched it and hope it was his voluntary effort. What we need now from all political leaders the world over is strong, solid and assertive action.