Our Rising Oceans
For preview only. Get it on Amazon.com  #ad.

Our Rising Oceans

2015, Environment  -   82 Comments
9.00
12345678910
Ratings: 9.00/10 from 193 users.

In the opening moments of Our Rising Oceans we learn that global catastrophe lies beneath the awe-inspiring pale blue skies and ghostly white icescapes of West Antarctica. The scientific data regarding the effects of climate change on the ongoing process of glacial melting is overwhelming. Yet according to the many subjects featured in the film, a staggering percentage of the public remains doubtful, and our politicians and other policy influencers remain hesitant to act due to ill-informed skepticism and corporate interests.

In response to those naysayers, VICE founder and host Shane Smith ventures to the epicenter of the crisis to discover firsthand the science by which these changes are being observed, and the dire consequences of inaction.

"Antarctica is starting to melt," warns expert glaciologist Dr. Eric Rignot. Over the past twenty years, Dr. Rignot has analyzed reams of carefully procured data, and his discoveries indicate a rapidly deteriorating environment which could forever alter the fate of mankind. Here, in the midst of the Antarctic plains, wind is circulating at an unprecedented rate and pushing warm waters underneath the massive sheets of ice. This dynamic effectively melts these sheets from the bottom up, and has a profoundly distressing impact on rising sea levels.

Over the course of the film, Dr. Rignot is joined by a host of additional scientists who dedicate their lives to bearing witness to these calamitous changes, and pursuing solutions against the opposition of politicized stagnation. But even in the absence of this opposition, the disastrous effects of climate change may be too far gone to rectify. Dr. Rignot contends that even the strictest emission regulations cannot reverse the tides of a redefining global landscape. Others testify that additional environmental protection policies may slow the process, but will by no means guarantee the sustainability of future generations.

But even the slivers of hope which do exist seem impossible to realize given the gridlock of governmental leadership within the United States, as its representatives remain sharply divided on the mere existence of climate change. "I think it's almost like denying gravity now," says Vice President Joe Biden in an interview which closes the film. Our Rising Oceans paints a powerful portrait of a planet on the brink of ruin, and the political dysfunction which continues to push it over the edge.

More great documentaries

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

82 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
W Hoami
W Hoami
4 years ago

Please watch NASA The "Mystery" of Antarctic cooling for more knowledge and scientific facts regarding climate warming.

Barry Bozeman
Barry Bozeman
7 years ago

Knowing what we've known and know a pathetic futility looms lurching unstoppable toward rage and inevitable eventual revenge. Our earth and nature - mother nature of the natural world and human nature -collide with catastrophic consequence. Share holders, corporate captains, bankers with investors who purchase lawmakers blind to the destruction of short term gain. Wealthy mercenary assassins and world destroyers these lost souls forever damned. Deniers of science their ill-gotten gains piled high in vaults and empty mansions mute testimony to their poverty of spirit and Godless greed.
The indigenous peoples might have taught us how to live forever in harmony with creation but for the Christians of Dominion and their deregulated capitalist creed.
Once the last animal is slain and the last tree felled the fire that never dies will rage across the earth for centuries to come as a carbon filled sky surrounds the dead seas covering a ruined world we wrought and brought upon ourselves and our children. A Hell on Earth our legacy of ashes.

God
God
8 years ago

So i let you'all run loose on my favorite planet, and you've totally broken it !!! and for what? So a tiny number of you can own everything and everyone. You shame me.
And before you start shooting off your mouths about free will - no one made you have sex with neanderthals and sheep. Its your own fault so many of your are dumb.
The next flood will be your own doing. Oh the irony...

Pladi K
Pladi K
9 years ago

People dont even care about their own health never mind the earth. Food is LIFE and in US all people eat is GARBAGE. That in itself says alot about humans.. especially the ones blinded after industrial age, greed and power.

go2green
go2green
9 years ago

The film seemed to make sense to me. Actually I read and watch a lot of stuff on global warming. I always read the comments too and the disturbing thing is that I have seen the exact same word for word comments denying the data in several other places.

Tri Minh Huynh
Tri Minh Huynh
9 years ago

I do not want to argue with your stated facts (probably from felon scientists?), just like to ask you the basic question: If what you said was true, what would the governments or people who were behind this "scare campaign", like myself - benefit from their actions? Very little if anything, except trying to make the Earth greener and a much better place to live. Only the greedy and powerful people who are against this "scare" would continue to benefit hugely from their hiding or twisting the truth of global warming. We have got to stop them, my friend, for the good or ourselves and our future generations.

Guest
Guest
9 years ago

I do not want to argue with unproved or falsified facts, but just like to ask you the basic question: If what you say was true, what would governments or people who were behind this "scare campaign", like myself - benefit from their actions? Practically nothing, except trying to make the Earth greener and a much better place to live. Only people who are denying this "scare" would continue to benefit from hiding or twisting the truth. They will go on damaging our Earth environments, just to fatten their wallets. That is a sad reality of capitalist societies. We have got to stop them, my friend, for our future generations.

S de Vere
S de Vere
9 years ago

errrrr….this "science" has long ago been shown to be fabricated and false. The Antarctic ice has increased to record levels and there is no "ocean rise" measured anywhere. The Seychelles are still tourist traps as are the Islands of the South Pacific. Polar bears abound in the Arctic; fewer tornados/hurricanes in the USA and here in Australia the dams are full (we were told by our 'climate experts' that drought would be the norm and our dams would soon be dry. Well, the desalination plants built for billions have never been used and water still falls from the sky and the rivers continue to run).

Whilst governments continue to give "climate scientists" hundreds of millions of dollars to produce yet more discredited studies, the big scare will continue. Leftist politicians will push along the scare and the mainstream media will boost it further. Unfortunately, for the climate frauds, nature refuses to cooperate with the scare campaign. No matter how often the "science" has been proven to be fraudulent, exaggerated or just plain wrong, the expensive climate change farce will continue because of the politics now behind it and because of the hatred of the warmists for those who have so often and easily exposed them as charlatans and criminals.

Tri Minh Huynh
Tri Minh Huynh
9 years ago

I think just by looking at the facts, without any bias or prejudice, anyone with a fair mind would agree that global warming is a harsh reality caused by human greed (industries, cars, extensive animal farming, tropical forests destruction, etc.). The future of our Earth looks very bleak if governments fail in time to initiate and sustain drastic changes in our detrimental ways of life. Of course the greedy big heads (industrialists, corrupt governmental agencies, felon scientists, etc.) will try by any means to deny global warming for their own benefits. For those greedy people who are blindfolding themselves, it is no use to keep arguing with them. We need ourselves to contribute something meaningful and useful, even small, to help fix this huge problem - before it is too late for all of us. For example, walking or using our bicycle more often, instead of our car.

FERENC CSICSERI
FERENC CSICSERI
9 years ago

the beauty of the Human ignorance,human beings are the only species who destroying every other species on this earth.also destroying nature as well why would they care about sea level rising? their nature is alter everything and change everything to their needs all these issues we hear about Mother nature telling us something is wrong but we are like kids don't listen to our mother

Steeve Girard
Steeve Girard
9 years ago

I am going to be nasty! Be warned!
First of all... you bunch of prophet weiner's worshippers.... You are all wrong and right at the same time! You cannot predict the future properly and precisely, because of the chaotic nature of reality. The factors that are in the equations that determines the reality of Global Warming are squandered by the special interests of wealthy, influent, powerful individuals and groups in both camps. Which I am glad to not be totally part of, but not estranged to. I say this, because we are ants. We are part of the dynamic of this world, we do not dictate it, and will never be able to. The skeptics are right to say that some scientists will lie to keep their grants comming in. And the scientists are right to say that the skeptics are either incompetent and/or too worried about their own well being to have a clear sense of what is happening. So the choice we are faced is do something on a guess and kick the can further along the road, or do nothing and adapt or die... but both of these approaches are economically and sociologically insane, because of the sheer scale of the problems. So what we need is some judge who will either flip the coin, or have the sufficient clarity to tell what is truely happening. But that would have to be either divine in Nature, or a civilization that had previous experience with this. Both of which are not present on Earth. My hint is Nature will solve the problems itself, and if we are the problem, it will find a way to diminish our influence, or it will find a way to erase us. We are utterly powerless to address the issue. That is my conclusion.

Attilashrugs
Attilashrugs
9 years ago

It isn't warming. Manbearpig is not wearing any clothes. Who are you going to believe, those who have been trying to destroy Liberty, Capitalism and the Middle Class since its inception, or your lyin' eyes? Suckah!

Msdcs
Msdcs
9 years ago

To think it is man made is to give man far more power than they can really have, bit like saying an ant can pick up a battleship, but mans vanity knows no bounds, the climate is changing but for other reasons, the whole solar system is in a 25000 year orbit of a red star 4 light years away, do the maths, 600,000 speed at a radius of 4 light years = 25000 years, we can measure the speed(we have its 600,000) and the shift of the stars(we have which is 1 degree every 72 years), so that makes the thing we orbit 4 light years away, and wow guess what, at that exact point is a red star called proxima centauri our closest star. so clear to anyone with a basic understand of things going round each other, clearly NASA don't understand these things, so this means we pass through the galactic plane every 12,500 years, (you can see the plane as that dark line in the stars and we have just entered it), last time we entered it the ice age ended, in fact go back at 12500, 25000 year intervals to can see the whole planets climate changed every time and man didn't have cars.

But the worst events were 25000 years ago and 75000 years ago, so suggest there is a 50000 cycle, well that could be accounted for if this red star had another sun in its orbit, and wow guess what, there are 2 other yellow stars near the red star as well, alpha and beta, so these to must be in orbit of this red star to and suggest that when 3 line up that there is a bigger change, so from that we should be able to work out their orbits, I have, alpha centauri has an orbit of 3600 years and beta 9000 years and that suggest a 4th with an orbit of 50000 years (the culprit), this cant be seen so must be a brown dwarf and as we are at least 25000 years away from its affects suggest it is between 10 and 16 light years away and wont be our side and near us for another 25000 years.

Now I am just an electrician with a 5 inch telescope and cant see these stars as they are over the south pole, so the best place to see these is over the south pole, so a telescope is needed there, there is one there but the USA have made it super secret and no one is allowed to look at the pictures, shoemaker did use his telescope in NZ to look and got very excited but he died( a truck ran him over) as he bought photos to show and they are lost and at the same time his telescope caught fire so every thing was lost.

But that is not the most worrying thing, I have been looking at the affects on our solar system of us passing through the galactic plane as all these bad things seem to only happen then and why there are these 12500, 25000 and 50000 year cycles, it would appear that the atmosphere is compressed as we enter and decompressed as we leave, bit like sitting on a spinning office chair, put your legs out and you slow, pull them in and you speed up, and that is what is happening to the weather, so clearly the atmosphere is being compressed, this will heat it and speed up the winds including making the jet streams speed up and tilt, hence the polar vortex.

But that is not the worst, I have been looking at the orbit of the moon and that may while we pass through the plane move off centre, so making it come close at one point and further away at the opposite point, this will create higher tides and floods and if it gets to close could cause tides of over 100 feet and wipe out all coastal cities, but mans vanity is such that he would prefer to believe it is the power of man causing it and not the power of nature so will ignore all of the above. cant tax nature but can tax man.

RedMagnolia
RedMagnolia
9 years ago

To the climate change deniers, so you say you have proof that human greed hasn't caused the problems facing us.
Can you know explain to me how we are not running out of clean drinking water around the world and why it is OK to pump clean ground water into wells for fracking?
We might figure out how to live with climate change but we aren't going to be able to figure out how to supply the world with clean drinking water. Of course to Guest below I guess we can just let all those Bangladeshis (not Indian or is it that all brown skin people look alike to you?) people that don't survive rising sea levels can just drop dead for lack of clean water.

Guest
Guest
9 years ago

I gave up on this documentary when they had the Indians running off at the mouth.

Polar Jo
Polar Jo
9 years ago

To deniers I can only ask that they look more closely at 'who' they are following. What is the history of these people? Do they have special interests beyond human good? Have they (and they have) been paid in the past to LIE to the public and create doubt? For the rest of us, I know I need to demand more of myself, and of the so called leaders I help to elect or approve to local and regional office. I think it's true that if we have a care for who we elect locally, and do something about sustainability and divestment in our own communities, it will get easier to impact larger governments and industries.

Kansas Devil
Kansas Devil
9 years ago

We are past the point of reversal, so now it's time to figure out how to invest in the inevitable effects of climate change.
If you can't beat climate, join it.
I suspect that investing in beach front real estate would be the first to be sold off or heavily insured to take the money and run when the loss arrives.

FadedJoke
FadedJoke
9 years ago

I would like to know what is not talked about in this debate. Why are the bodies in our solar system also heating up.