Ice on Fire: A Review
- Rachel Thompson
- May 1
- 2 min read
TV-PG | 1h 38m | 2019*I’ll warn you: the first forty-five(ish) minutes of this documentary are heavy. Ice on Fire paints with real-time data and visual imagery the information I like to think about only in ambiguity:
We have too much carbon in the atmosphere. Yes, I know.
We need to do something about it. Yes, I know.
And then, not knowing exactly what the problem is or what I can do, I move on with my life.
So watching something like this and learning the actual numbers and seeing the actual damage felt a little debilitating. I’m overwhelmed by how big the problem of climate change is and how small I feel in ability to overcome it.
That said, I was not expecting the middle portion of this documentary to bring me so much hope. From California to Iceland, from Connecticut to Scotland, real people are doing real things to help combat climate change. Here’s a few the documentary highlights:
Usal Redwood Forest Company—sequestering carbon and protecting redwoods.
Thimble Island Ocean Farm—practicing regenerative ocean farming.
San Pedro Solar Rooftop—transforming sunlight into electricity.
Direct Air Capture Machine (Zurich)—capturing CO2 from the atmosphere.
Hellisheiði Geothermal Power Station (Iceland)—utilizing geothermal energy and converting carbon into stone.
Orbital Marine Power (Scotland)—delivering sustainable electricity using the tides.
This isn’t to mention grassroots efforts like that of Ron Finey, who converts urban areas into carbon-capturing, food-producing farms.
Overall, I found Ice on Fire eye-opening because it helped me realize (to an extent, anyway) the scope of the problems we’re facing; but also, I found this documentary inspiring. Look what others are doing! I want to do what I can too.
Some problems are too big for me to tackle. Some need to be handled at the governmental and even global scale. But not all. And I think American scientist and writer Janine Benyus said it well in this film:
“Climate change gives us an opportunity to really behave differently on this planet. We see what we can do at our worst . . . [but] if we were to consciously be a part of the healing, it’ll unleash, I think, our creativity.”
What can we do at our best? is the question I think we need to hang on to. 💛
Watch Options
Currently, Ice on Fire can be streamed on Max, Amazon Prime, Apple TV, and Google Play. Or you can watch it for free on YouTube:
* I didn’t realize until I sat down to write this review that this documentary is six years old. With that in mind, I’m sure some of its information needs updating; however, given that the main issues facing our environment have been with us for fifty-plus years, I’m not sure the documentary is far off from what we’re facing today.
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