Jan. 31 - We can make a difference if we act globally, is the message of “The 11th Hour,” 2007 documentary created, produced and narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio.  

DiCaprio is yet another celebrity engaging in environmental campaigns. “The 11th Hour” urges us to use resources wisely, caring about them and giving back. “Consume less - Live more” was running through my head as I was leaving the cafeteria in Skaptopara 2 after watching and discussing the movie.

Screening of the “The 11th Hour” was the first Thursday night meeting aiming “to raise awareness about environmental problems,” said one of the organizers AUBG Professor Penny Thompson. Thompson and her colleagues are planning to make the meetings weekly to discuss topics such as global warming, mass species extinction, acid rains, terrible draughts, floods, fire, tornado, deforestation, raise in human population, diseases, hunger.

Only few people care that 20 % of the Arctic ice melted, but everybody can see the effects already. Very soon we will be talking about an ice-free Arctic, the movie warns. Today 70 countries do not have forests at all, and still forests are destroyed at an industrial scale. Water is becoming more and more poisonous because of ocean pollution.

“The 11th Hour” accuses humanity of treating nature as its property. Such approach led to the society of consumers with ever-growing demands. An example is a vicious circle: increasing food supply, among other reasons, leads to population growth, and larger population needs even more food. 

“The 11th hour” puts the blame for the current environmental crisis on the wealth-driven economy where people are driven by unrestricted desires and resources are abused. The movie is about humans trying to posses the whole world, thus destroying the world and themselves.