_This is Climate Change

This is Climate Change is a four-part series of short 360° VR films titled Fire, Famine, Feast, and Melting Ice. Each of these short films covers a different aspect of climate change, and gives viewers a direct look at how humans are affecting the planet. Produced by Participant Media and Condition One, and featured on Within, these films aim to bring an immersive look into climate change to a broader audience.

Fire is about the scorching California wildfires of 2017. In Fire, viewers follow firefighters in their helicopters and on the ground in their battles against these catastrophic blazes. Fire brings attention to the fact that changes in the climate have doubled the amount of land burned by wildfires in the western United States. Famine takes viewers to a once fertile village in Somalia where its inhabitants are enduring a severe drought. Today, the land is an arid desert causing displacement and putting people’s survival at risk. Feast takes viewers on a bird’s-eye view of the Amazonian rainforest in Brazil facing threats of deforestation. Despite its immense ecological value, massive trees are cleared to make way for cattle ranchers. Finally, Melting Ice concludes the series with images of icebergs in Greenland melting into the ocean. Narrated by former vice president Al Gore, this piece shows the monumental effects of global warming taking form in collapsing glaciers.