saveeumundi.org

(Broadcast on 25 November 2008)

From the documentary shown on SBS (video has now been removed from SBS site):

“We don’t have a lot of time to reverse course. The Arctic is going to be ice-free by 2030. At the same time we are heating up the ocean, cramming carbon dioxide in them and there are great fears that we will render some parts of the ocean lifeless.” (Joseph Romm, US Department of Energy (1995-1998).

Heat investigates how the world’s largest corporations and governments are responding to the challenge of global warming.

Correspondent Martin Smith travels to 12 countries and four continents to explore how politicians and businesses have resisted change to environmental policy and stifled the debate over climate change in America and around the world.

The documentary begins in the Himalayas, where glaciers have lost up to 40% of ice since 1921. According to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 80% of ice glaciers in the Himalayas and Tibet will be gone by 2035.

A rise in the world’s population and increased use of coal and fossil fuels mean that the world will continue to heat up. The majority of climate scientists warn that the only way to avoid larger disasters is for the world to dramatically reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases, cutting them by 60-80%.

“The Western model is inherently toxic. It’s highly capital and resource intensive and generates a lot of waste. If every Indian lives like an American, then the planet is doomed forever.” (Sunita Narain, Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi.)

America’s cars and trucks omit more CO2 emissions than Europe, Japan, China and India combined. Oil companies claim to be environmentally responsible, yet spend little profit on renewable energy. Heat is a compelling documentary that explores the politics, economics, and the possible solutions of climate change.