Dr. Ari Santas’
Study Questions
for
Chasing Ice
(Jeff Orlowski, 2012; 75 min.)
in progress
Things to Look For:


Connection to The 11th Hour, Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth (see wiki article on the Scientific Basis of
Gore’s argument), and PBS Silent Spring
See wiki articles on James Balog and the Extreme Ice Survey
Discussion Questions:
1. What is the relationship between human-generated rising CO2 levels and climate change? How is the
ice core evidence (showing the relationship between atmospheric CO2 to worldwide temperature
change used to make this connection scientifically supported?
2. Explain the baseball/steroid analogy offered by one of the climatologists. How likely is it that,
contra our intuitions, a small change in greenhouse gases will change the global climate? Is the
recent increase in greenhouse gases like an athlete taking a small extra dose of naturally occurring
substance to dramatically affect performance, with small shift bringing about dramatic results?
3. What role does James Balog’s photojournalism play in providing further evidence in the debate over
human-generated climate change? Why does he think this is the sort of evidence needed in the
current public debate?
4. Throughout the film there are clips of news broadcasts portraying the climate scientists as doing
junk science, perpetrating hoaxes, unjustifiably alarming the public. Comment on the filmmaker’s
use of this footage and juxtaposing this footage with that of the extreme ice survey. What might
these news show pundits say about Balog’s journalistic efforts?
5. Climate Change Denial as comparable to the denialism that occurred around the health problems in
tobacco usage by the Tobacco Lobby. Is this an apt comparison? Explain.
6. Explain why James Balog had been a climate change skeptic earlier in his life. Comment on his
change of mind and his current “extreme” activism. What does his reversal say about our ability to
change our hearts and minds and the role of knowledge in personal development and eco-activism.