Glacial Balance

Filmmaker Ethan Steinman's beautifully-filmed and sobering documentary paints a bleak picture of the future for an already struggling people. Tropical glaciers have historically topped the Andes Mountains, running all the way down the western spine of South America. But as Earth's atmosphere warms, those glistening white expanses are shrinking, with immense consequences for farmers who rely on glacial melt for their water; many, if not most, will have no choice but to relocate, most likely to an urban setting. Steinman follows scientists as they collect core samples from the remaining glaciers (to be stored and studied when the ice masses themselves are gone). Interviewees include educators and environmentalists (including Al Gore), as well as men and women working the soil in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina, who understand what is happening to the climate, even as residents of the Northern Hemisphere debate whether anything significant is occurring at all. A second disc includes deleted scenes and extended interviews. As much an anthropological study and geography lesson as a climate-change documentary, this is highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Gardner)