Educational Media Reviews Online

There has been a proliferation of cautionary documentaries on climate change in recent years, and they keep coming. Viewers may wonder if the basic information and message has already been covered in previous films. The Age of Consequences distinguishes itself by focusing on the effects of climate change on global stability and conflict. Smart, structurally compelling and engaging in its style, the film makes an elegant case for the connection between climate change and global strife. Progressing through 9 chapters entitled conflict, instability, unrest, capacity, poverty, migration, collapse, dependency, and adaptation, climate change is presented as an accelerant, stimulus and catalyst to international instability.

The conflict and war in Syria and Darfur is convincingly tied to years of drought leading to food shortages, population displacement, and migration. Domestic examples are given with the failed state and local response to the Hurricane Katrina flooding of New Orleans, years of drought in the Midwest leading to an increase in forest fires, and the threat of sea level rise to the continued existence of the US Naval Base in Norfolk Virginia, the largest in the world. The effects of globalization are considered with the drought in Russia and China of recent years leading to the panic buying of wheat from other producing countries, in turn leading to higher wheat prices in countries such as Egypt where the already poor cannot afford to feed themselves. Food shortage migration can lead to border disputes between nuclear power countries. Additionally, the rate of climate change is predicted to increase exponentially. Most surprising are the studies, conclusions and recommendations from our nation’s military and Department of Defense since 2003 that highlight the threat of climate change to international unrest and conflict. A 2014 DOD Climate Change Adaptation Roadmap report claimed that climate change poses “immediate risks to national security,” and a 2015 National Security Strategy report listed climate change as a “top strategic risk.”

The film feels relentless in portraying a world where multiple, simultaneous environmental and civil crises will intensify. It ends with the positive message that the worldwide adoption of renewable resources holds out hope. Energy diversification equals resilience and stability. Change is possible and within grasp, but failure may be final. This is the kind of documentary that you hope everyone will see, particularly in light of the current political climate in Washington.

The Age of Consequences is highly recommended for public and academic libraries and is valuable for courses on environmental studies, globalization, and international conflict.