Documentary Reflection
May 3, 2022 By: Elizabeth Beattie
Last Autumn an extreme rainfall event known as an atmospheric river occurred in southwestern British Columbia. Researchers at the University of Victoria have published an article on their study to do with human influence on this extreme weather event that occurred (1). Though the paper is not peer-reviewed yet, I agree that this extreme streamflow and rainfall event occurred and can occur again (more often than not) predominantly because of human-induced climate change. I also believe this study could be a great stepping point towards actions to minimizing climate change and adjusting certain infrastructures in order to be better resistant against the ever-changing climate. Climate change is a real threat to humanity and has already begun minorly to severely affecting many regions of the world. I stand on the position that climate change needs to be addressed immediately so that incidences, like that of the extreme flooding, do not get worse.
Civil disobedience – refusing to comply with certain laws and regulations as a way of peacefully protesting – is commonly used in environmental movements throughout history as a way to start conversations about the environment and to try and prevent further damages to the environment. I believe and there is strong evidence indicating that civil disobedience can and has brought positive changes to environmentalism; this is because it calls out and puts pressure on governments and certain organizations to address their faults on the environment and climate change. As have been shown in some of the documentaries such as Rebellion, environmental civil disobedience is of great importance of maintaining balance and legalities in the relationships between environment and governments/corporations. So long as there continues to be support of those civil disobediences from members of society, it might be of great importance and possibly a solution to the major environmental damages from the climate crisis. The more we fight today, the more likely change will occur, and future generations will participate in the same social changes, just as the documentary Climate Change Babies discussed. The bigger the civil disobedience movements, the bigger and better the changes.
- University of Victoria, “Scientists link 2021 BC floods to human-induced climate change,” UVic News (Victoria, BC), February 15, 2022. https://www.uvic.ca/news/topics/2022+bc-floods-and-climate-change+news