There are a few basic facts about climate change that we can be near-certain about: the global temperature is rising, this change is being driven by humans, and it represents a serious threat to a great many living things on the planet – humans included. But due to countless complexities and uncertainties, the trajectory of the global temperature in our deep past and, more pressingly, our near future is riddled with known unknowns. In Degrees of Uncertainty, the US video essayist Neil Halloran takes a data-centric deep dive into the climate crisis, emphasising the vital importance of rejecting fatalism when it comes to solving the problem. In doing so, he also charts the evolution of science itself since the age of enlightenment, and makes a case for science demanding scrutiny from an informed public, especially journalists. You can explore an interactive version of this video at Halloran’s website.
Via Kottke
Video by Neil Halloran
videoEthics
What’s an idea worth? How prominent thinkers have understood intellectual property
6 minutes
videoKnowledge
Why David Deutsch believes good explanations are the antidote to bad philosophy
10 minutes
videoOceans and water
A stunning visualisation explores the intricate circulatory system of our oceans
5 minutes
videoEarth science and climate
Images carved into film form a haunting elegy for a disappearing slice of Earth
3 minutes
videoEngineering
Can monumental ‘ice stupas’ help remote Himalayan villages survive?
15 minutes
videoBiology
‘Save the parasites’ may not be a popular rallying cry – but it could be a vital one
11 minutes
videoEarth science and climate
There’s a ‘climate bomb’ ticking beneath the Arctic ice. How can we prepare?
8 minutes
videoKnowledge
An Indigenous myth and a geological survey elicit two ways of knowing one place
4 minutes
videoWar and peace
A war meteorologist’s riveting account of how the Allies averted a D-Day disaster
6 minutes