Leonardo DiCaprio tackles climate change in ‘Ice on Fire’ doccie

Earth is dying and, now more than ever, movie and documentary-makers are focusing on the damage.

As some global powers turn a blind eye, big-name Hollywood celebrities are not taking the issue lightly.

Robert Redford is undoubtedly one of the first celebrity environmentalists, but membership of Tinseltown’s green club is growing with screen and music icons such as Akon, Rachel McAdams, Mark Ruffalo and Ted Danson coming on board.

Ice on Fire. Picture: HBO

And now Leonardo DiCaprio, who is a long-standing supporter of environment protection and change, is hitting the message home with Ice on Fire, which he produced and narrated.

The new HBO documentary focusing on solutions to the escalating environmental crisis is now on Showmax in South Africa, just months after its world premiere at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival.

With a 90% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the documentary was lauded by Screen International as “essential viewing for anyone who plans to carry on living on the planet”.

“My partners and I made Ice on Fire to give a voice to the scientists and researchers who work tirelessly every day on the frontlines of climate change,” said DiCaprio.

Ice on Fire. Picture: HBO

The Oscar-winning actor said they wanted to make a film that depicted the beauty of the planet while highlighting renewable energy solutions and carbon sequestration.

“This film does more than show what is at stake if we continue on a course of inaction and complacency. It shows how, with the help of dedicated scientists, we can all fight back. I hope audiences will be inspired to take action to protect our beautiful planet.”

Boasting jaw-dropping cinematography, Ice on Fire was filmed in nine countries across the globe, including Iceland, Norway, Alaska, Switzerland, America and Costa Rica.

The documentary pushes home the message that since the advent of the industrial revolution we have burned over 1.4 trillion tons of carbon into the atmosphere. This has changed life on earth as we know it, especially in the Arctic.

Ice on Fire. Picture: HBO

“The melting of the world’s snow and ice has now triggered multiple climate tipping points threatening the very existence of life on earth. Science tells us that our current climate crisis is a problem we’ve created. But it is also a problem we can fix.

“Not only do we need to stop emitting carbon at the current levels by switching to renewable energy, it’s also critical to pull carbon out of the atmosphere. Climate change can be reversed if we act now.”

Recently, researchers have figured out solutions that can draw carbon down back to pre-industrial levels.

To see the level of the damage humankind has created and to find out how we can still reverse it, and ultimately save our only home, watch Ice on Fire on Showmax.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.