Last Hours: A Short Documentary by Thom Hartmann and others

Published on Sep 28, 2013

"Last Hours" is the first in a series of short films that explore the perils of climate change and the solutions to avert climate disaster. Each subsequent film will highlight fact-based challenges facing the human race, and offer solutions to ameliorate these crises. The initial short film series will culminate in a feature film to be presented prior to COP21, the 2015 UN Conference on Climate Change in Paris.

An asset for the climate change movement, "Last Hours" will be disseminated globally to awaken modern culture worldwide about the various dangers associated with climate change.

"Last Hours" describes a science-based climate scenario where a tipping point to runaway climate change is triggered by massive releases of frozen methane. Methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, has already started to percolate into the open seas and atmosphere from methane hydrate deposits beneath melting arctic ice, from the warming northern-hemisphere tundra, and from worldwide continental-shelf undersea methane clathrate pools.

Burning fossil fuels release carbon that, principally through greenhouse effect, heat the atmosphere and the seas. This is happening most rapidly at the polar extremes, and this heating has already begun the process of releasing methane. If we do not begin to significantly curtail the use of carbon-based fossil fuels, this freed methane threatens to radically accelerate the speed of global warming, potentially producing a disaster beyond the ability of the human species to adapt.

This first video is designed to awaken people to the fact that the earth has experienced five major extinctions in the deep geologic past -- times when more than half of all life on earth vanished -- and that we are now entering a sixth extinction. Industrial civilization with its production of greenhouse gases has the ability to trigger a mass extinction; in the extreme, it could threaten not just human civilization, but the very existence of human life on this planet.

The world community and global citizens urgently need to chart a path forward that greatly reduces green house gas emissions. To take action and follow the pathway to solutions to the climate crisis, you can explore this website and you can also sign-up for future updates. Thank you.

"Last Hours" is presented and narrated by Thom Hartmann and directed by Leila Conners. Executive Producers are George DiCaprio and Earl Katz. Last Hours is produced by Mathew Schmid of Tree Media Foundation, and was written by Thom Hartmann, Sam Sacks, and Leila Conners. Music is composed and performed by Francesco Lupica.

News from the UN Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa: Rajendra Pachauri

One of the world’s most prominent experts on climate science, Rajendra Pachauri, is criticizing negotiators at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Durban for not paying enough attention to science. Pachauri is chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize along with Al Gore.

"What we have done is we have increased the concentration of these greenhouse gases in the atmosphere far beyond what has taken place over the last 650,000 years," Pachauri says.

"As a result, during the 20th century, we had average warming of about 0.74 degrees Celsius, sea-level rise of about 17 centimeters, and a whole range of impacts, as I mentioned, on human health, on agriculture, on ecosystems... The IPCC Fourth Assessment Report had clearly brought out that if we want to limit temperature increase to two degrees or thereabouts, two to 2.4 degrees Celsius, and if we want to do it at least cost, then emissions will have to peak no later than 2015. And we are now talking about 2020. That means the world will incur a much larger expense in reducing emissions. And in the meantime, we’ll also suffer far more serious impacts of climate change." When asked about the position of the United States in the negotiation, Pachauri says,

"I would also ask President Obama to listen to the voice of science. And he has an absolutely outstanding science adviser in John Holdren. Maybe he should get John to organize a meeting of the scientists soon after he’s re-elected—if he’s re-elected—and then determine U.S. policy, as should be the case with every country in the world, based on the scientific evidence that’s available."

Pachauri continued,

"Actually, to be honest, nobody over here [at COP 17] is paying any attention to science."

Professor Ingraffea Lecture: Development of Natural Gas from Shales

Well Head on Well Pad

A presentation by Cornell Professor Dr. Anthony Ingraffea. Dr. Ingraffea's presentation evaluates myth and facts concerning some of the more notable issues involved in development of unconventional natural gas wells in shale formations. The presentation was sponsored by Penn State Eco-Action and the Sierra Club Moshannon Group.

May 10, 2011

Professor Ingraffea addresses myths and realities of slick water, high volume fracturing from long laterals.  The four myths he included were:

1.   Fracking is a 60-year-old well-proven technology.
2.   Gas migration from faulty wells is a rare phenomenon.
3.   Use of multi-well pads reduces surface impact.      
4.   Natural gas is a clean fossil fuel.

All of these statements contain a kernel of truth, according to Ingraffea.  However, he explains why each of these myths is flawed in major ways.  After hearing his talk, one has a better understanding of the real truth.  The problems with these mythic statements are highlighted in detail.  Ingraffea uses data from the gas industry whenever possible to prove his points.  He insists that all statements be backed up by peer-reviewed scientific research.

This video presentation is two hours long.  It took me 4 sittings to get it all.  I took notes!  It is well worth the time if you have the motivation.  I hope you will watch it.

View Dr. Ingraffea's lecture here.

My Water's On Fire (The Fracking Song)

This music video is great!  David Holmes, Andrew Bean, and Niel Bekker and others collaborated on this effort. Congratulations to all involved!

Natural Gas From Fracking Could Be Dirtier Than Coal

I'm hearing a lot of talk lately about natural gas being a great bridge fuel while we figure out what to do next, facing peak oil and what not.  Well, according to a Cornell University study released and published in the May issue of Climatic Change Letters, getting natural gas out of the ground could do more to aggravate global warming than mining coal.  While natural gas has been described as clean-burning and producing less carbon dioxide than coal,  hydrofracking produces dangerous methane which is a much more potent greenhouse gas.  Horizontal gas drilling can account for up to twice the methane emissions than conventional gas drilling.

Robert Howarth, Tony Ingraffea, and Renee Santoro analyzed data from published sources, industry reports, and Powerpoint presentations from the EPA.  The study is the first peer-reviewed paper on methane emissions from shale gas, and one of the few exploring the greenhouse gas footprints of unconventional gas drilling.

Read more here:  LINK

Hidden Pollution: Watch Video From EPA

Methane, a potent, invisible greenhouse gas and the main ingredient in natural gas, is escaping in vast volumes from oil and gas fields in the United States, Russia and other countries. Some companies have found that investments in capturing the emissions quickly pay off in sales of the fuel. Vast volumes are still escaping every day in the United States, Russia, and many other countries. More at:

http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com
http://www.epa.gov/gasstar
http://www.methanetomarkets.org

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!