Heat records are breaking all over the world, and Earth is getting hotter by the year. Even though countries all over the world have committed to keeping the average global temperature rise below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, extreme weather events are getting worse, and the Arctic is not looking good.

It is critical for all people to understand climate change and its very real effects. Although accepting the truth can be difficult and there is legitimate cause for concern regarding climate change, keeping the public informed is essential for both our survival and the survival of the planet. Perhaps you don't have the time or desire to read the studies yourself, as Mashable science editor Mark Kaufman does for you in his Climate 101 series. No issue. You can watch an informative documentary to learn more about what's happening to the one and only Earth we have.

 

Here are the best climate change documentaries and where to watch them.

 

1. 2040

 

What would the world be like in 20 years if we actually put the technological solutions we currently have in place to combat climate change? In order to create a visual letter for his daughter Velvet, who is 4 years old, Australian filmmaker Damon Gameau wanted to learn in 2019. Gameau travelled the world to speak with people working on renewable energy, regenerative agriculture, marine permaculture, and electric, shared transportation systems who are creating ways to reduce emissions, sequester excess carbon from the system, and disrupt the current economic system.

 

2. Our Planet

 

Adam Chapman's film Our Planet, which explores the interconnectedness of everything from food chains to weather patterns and how climate change is affecting everything, is reminiscent of classic Attenborough. Attenborough narrates, "Crucial connections are being disrupted all over our planet." "The stability on which we and all life depends is eroding. The course of all life on Earth will be determined by what we do over the next 20 years.

 

3. An Inconvenient Truth + An Inconvenient Sequel

 

An Inconvenient Truth gives an idea of how long we've been having this conversation, the insignificant steps policymakers have taken or haven't taken, and the anger over our leaders' lack of concern. The film explains the fundamental science behind global warming, demonstrates the link between rising CO2 levels and the earth's temperature, and drives home the point that current levels of CO2 and those predicted by scientists are far above what the planet naturally produces. Additionally, the movie draws a connection between warming ocean temperatures and extreme weather events like Hurricane Katrina, which unfortunately receives a brutal update in the sequel.

 

4. Fire in Paradise

 

Interviews with unfathomably brave Cal Fire and volunteer firefighters, 911 fire dispatchers, and residents who were trapped by walls of flame on all sides are used in the 40-minute documentary to recreate this catastrophe. Fire in Paradise uses this information, along with news reports and terrifying phone footage, to show how quickly these fires spread, engulfing homes, businesses, and roads. Additionally, it places them in the context of California's increasingly frequent and severe wildfires brought on by climate change.

 

5. Lowland Kids

 

Isle de Jean Charles, a sinking island off the coast of Louisiana, will eventually vanish entirely as a result of sea level rise. The 20-minute short film Lowland Kids, which had its world premiere at SXSW in 2019, introduces you to Howard and Juliette, two teenage siblings who were born and raised on the island and will soon become the country's first climate refugees. The film, which explores the idea of home and displacement as a result of climate change, presents an intimate portrait of a family on the verge of involuntary upheaval with the help of moving direction from Sandra Winther, stunning cinematography, and frank, incredibly sad interviews.

 

6. Chasing Coral

 

The greatest threat to coral reefs is caused by human-induced climate change, even more so than pollution and unsustainable fishing. Reefs in the Florida Keys, American Samoa, the Bahamas, Bermuda, Hawaii, New Caledonia, and Australia's Great Barrier Reef have all been severely damaged by global warming, rising sea temperatures, and ocean acidification. The movie not only demonstrates how intrinsically linked these ecosystems are to our own, but also how devastating it is for the team that dives every day to manually monitor the reef's ecological collapse. There are many historical comparisons used to show how the reefs are dying throughout the movie, but nothing can prepare you for the time lapse that is revealed at the very end.

 

7. The Condor and the Eagle

 

Directed by Sophie and Clément Guerra, The Condor and the Eagle examines a key contributor to climate change — the fossil fuel industry — and its disproportionate impact on Indigenous communities. In interviews with Indigenous leaders, activists, and organisers, the film makes plain the serious impact the coal and oil industry is having on First Nations communities, while heralding the need for inclusive solutions to the global crisis.

 

8. I Am Greta

 

The movie I Am Greta is quieter than you might expect. The documentary, which will be released in 2020 and was directed by Nathan Grossman, follows the 15-year-old activist and her father, Svante, from her "Skolstrejk för klimatet" protests to her 2018 speech at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Poland and her meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in 2019. Most importantly, the movie follows Thunberg aboard the Malizia II, the sailboat she used to travel from Britain to New York City and shame apathetic adults at the 2019 U.N. Climate Action Summit.

 

9. The Great Green Wall

 

This breathtaking documentary centres on Africa's ambitious Great Green Wall, an 8,000-kilometer wall of trees planted by local communities all over the continent to rebuild land that has been devastated by the effects of climate change. This one was executive produced by Fernando Meirelles, the director of City of God, and was hosted by activist and singer Inna Modja from Mali. The U.N. reported that temperatures are rising in the Sahel region, which includes Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, and The Gambia, 1.5 times faster than the global average.

 

10. Kiss the Ground

 

This 2020 documentary, which examines a climate change solution that is "right under our feet, and it's as old as dirt," is narrated by Woody Harrelson. Soil is the only thing that "could just be the one thing that can balance our climate, replenish our fresh water supplies, and feed the world" because of its size and capacity to store enormous amounts of greenhouse gases. With a brief cameo from Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen, why not?, the documentary initially appeals to our more self-motivated tendencies by praising the health advantages of eating nutrient-rich food grown in healthy soil. However, for the most part, it emphasises soil's crucial capacity to absorb carbon from the atmosphere.

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