About

Adaptation Now is a documentary film that will tell the stories of the communities dealing with the leading edge of climate change. We will give a voice to farmers facing harsher droughts; to mountaineers who grapple with shorter winters; to coastal cities inundated by rising seas; and to the everyday climate heroes working to give us hope.

We are already feeling the impacts of climate change. Across the board, the largely stable, predictable climate in which we have thrived is changing. While political deliberations linger, the altered environment begins to make its mark, disrupting the lives of ordinary people.

For too many, however, climate change remains an abstract, distant concept. Many of its first victims are still ill-informed about its existence, or believe it to be a conspiracy in conflict with deeply held personal and communal beliefs. Reconciling their understanding of the world with the volatile, unfamiliar weather can be a tumultuous process.

Adaptation Now, currently in pre-production, will share stories of deep personal and collective introspection, from communities on the edge. Many of these stories have the potential to end in acceptance and action. After all, we are the story we tell about ourselves, and it is time for a new narrative on climate change.

The documentary field is full of excellent work proving the science behind the issue, and showing us the dramatic forces already changing our world. Adaptation Now will take the important next step of focusing on the here and now within our communities.

Humanizing climate change:

Revealing climate change’s role in the everyday complexity of human lives has a grounding effect. It is one thing to understand that we are both bystanders and perpetrators of climate change; it is another to see the story of a cattle rancher whose land is struck by drought, and whose family then has no choice but to work in a nearby coal mine. Put another way, climate change is not just a phenomena of numbers, but also of people.

A tangible way forward:

The nebulous concept of a warming world represents a unique communication obstacle. The scale of the problem is massive, its solutions complex. For each of us dealing with a finite pool of worry, how do we move climate change to the front of a long queue?

It is difficult for any one person to know what to do about a world-sized problem. Revealing that same anxiety in neighborhoods and communities much like their own, however, has an empowering effect – particularly if they see others already taking action. We will fill the void of action with stories of people of all political affiliations working to mitigate the effects of climate change.

Timing, Momentum:

The “debate” is over. A recent study of 25,000 scientific peer-reviewed publications revealed that only 0.1% of articles deny that global warming is man made. We can now be confident: right now, we live in a continuously changing climate. And with extreme weather exceeding the normal variability to which we are accustomed by orders of magnitude, the evidence only continues to mount.

Momentum in the international community towards a consensus on a climate change solution has been increasing rapidly, and next year will be an important milestone on that road. December 2015 marks the 21st summit on climate change. World leaders will attend the UN Climate Conference in Paris to try to agree on a solution. We aim to release in the preceding fall, and contribute to their efforts by raising awareness and support for these important discussions.

An Independent View, Supported by You:

Our team consists of family and friends who care deeply about confronting climate change, and its impact on our loved ones. Our shared love of filmmaking and our commitment to changing the way we think about climate change drives us to tell these stories.

This project will begin with your help. In keeping with our commitment to the identity of the project – stories about everyday people, told by everyday people – we want to get you involved from the ground up.