Witch & Popcorn
Bright Blessings, film lovers!
With massive amounts of rain this month in my home State, floods have been on my mind, and I was going to re-watch An Inconvenient Truth, but discovered Before The Flood was available on Netflix, and I just could not resist.
Lauded as a ground-breaking, engaging film addressing serious issues of our time, this film did not disappoint, and I want all of you to watch it if you haven’t already.
Here is the entire film on You Tube you can watch:
A National Geographic film directed by Fisher Stevens, it was narrated by Leo DiCaprio. It follows DiCaprio’s three-year journey that took him across the world, and had him interviewing countless scientists, experts on climate change, social activists, and even Presidents. The film earned Best Documentary from ‘The Evening Standard British Film Awards’, and also, ‘Hollywood Documentary Award’ through, The Hollywood Film Awards.
DiCaprio was named International Messenger of Peace on Climate Change by the United Nations, and he took it very seriously. He basically used the film to document things he learned about climate change.
These are some things he learned:
- He said people tune it out. It is difficult to accept that our way of life creates these devastating issues.
- We create extinction of animals with our pollution.
- Coal and natural gas power electricity, and create strip mining, deforestation, and pollute with spills of oil. All our current modes of transportation release carbon dioxide, which warms the planet. This in turn melts polar ice, which will flow into the sea, and elsewhere, and create floods, and damaging weather patterns. For example, hundreds of cubic kilometers of ice have melted and gone into the sea in Greenland. Greenland will disappear if this continues and parts of coastal cities like Miami will be under water as well.
- 20 years ago, the focus was on becoming more energy efficient, like using better light bulbs. Now, it is gone farther, and we need to do more.
- Miami started putting in electric pumps and building the streets higher, which is a project costing roughly $400 million- and it is projected to only buy them 40-50 years.
- The oil companies pay “experts” to insist climate change is not real because they would lose money if people stop using fossil fuels. They also donate a lot to politicians, making sure laws do not support laws to combat climate change.
- Electricity consumed by ONE single American at home is equal to usage of: 1.5 citizen of France, 2.2 of Japan, 2.6 of Germany, 5 of South Africa, 10 of China.
- Climate Change does not just change on land, but under the sea also. Like trees and forests, coral reefs help remove carbon dioxide from the environment, but they cannot cope with the massive amount of it we create with carbon emissions, so they are dying. We are killing our forests and coral reefs that create a stable environment to keep us breathing and alive.
- Certain products are worse for the environment than others. Palm oil, for example is a cheap oil and is in nearly everything. This particular industry devastates forests, and contributes to climate change.
- The Paris Climate Agreement is highlighted. After 25 years of talks, 195 Nations signed an agreement, pledging to keep emissions below a certain level, to reduce the risks and effects of climate change.
- The climate change will make sea levels rise and mean less food, as there will be less places to grow crops, and fights over land scarcity. Scarcity of clean water will be bad as well. Climate change does not just mean the temperature rises a bit. It will fall some places, which would devastate the ecosystems completely. It will create excessive amounts of rain and floods some places, but less than necessary rain elsewhere, and drought, and famine.
- We have to change our lifestyles or we are headed to disaster.
DiCaprio addressed the UN, and said “after 21 years of debates and conferences, it is time to declare no more talk, no more excuses, no more ten year studies, no more allowing the fossil fuel companies to manipulate and dictate the science and politics that affect our future. The World is now watching. You’ll either be lauded by the future perception, or vilified by them. You are the last best hope on Earth. We ask you to protect it, or we, and all living things we cherish are history.
The film listed solutions:
- Consume Differently.
- Vote for leaders who will fight climate change.
Discover your climate impact at:
Learn more about how to take action at:
Enjoy this eye-opening film.
Blessed Be!
***
About the Author:
Saoirse is a recovered Catholic. I was called to the Old Ways at age 11, but I thought I was just fascinated with folklore. At age 19, I was called again, but I thought I was just a history buff, and could not explain the soul yearnings I got when I saw images of the Standing Stones in the Motherland. At age 29, I crossed over into New Age studies, and finally Wicca a couple years later. My name is Saoirse, pronounced like (Sare) and (Shah) Gaelic for freedom. The gods I serve are Odin and Nerthus. I speak with Freyja , Norder, and Thunor as well. The Bawon has been with me since I was a small child, and Rangda has been with me since the days I was still Catholic. I received my 0 and 1 Degree in an Eclectic Wiccan tradition, and my Elder is Lord Shadow. We practice in Columbus, Ohio. I am currently focusing more on my personal growth, and working towards a Second and Third Degree with Shadow. I received a writing degree from Otterbein University back in 2000. I have written arts columns for the s Council in Westerville. I give private tarot readings and can be reached through my Facebook page Tarot with Saoirse. You can, also, join me on my Youtube Channel.