Three-part TV documentary The Great Warming: what to expect

High in the Canadian Arctic, permafrost is melting at an alarming speed.

What is The Great Warming all about?

The Great Warming will introduce viewers to the issue of climate change – focusing on the very solid science that underpins the subject, as well as the projected consequences of a “business-as-usual” scenario around the world. The underlying premise is that:

human activities are increasing the greenhouse gases concentration in the atmosphere
which impacts our planet's average temperature: it is rising and most likely will continue to do so
and, as a result, the earth's climate will change.

Leading scientists describe the effects of three centuries of industrial emissions of CO₂ and other greenhouse gases. Dynamic computer animations explain the carbon cycle that has been accelerated by human activities, and illustrate the potential impact of global warming on climate drivers like El Nino and the huge oceanic “conveyor belt” that transports heat around the planet.

The consequences of a changing climate will be brought home through the words and personal stories of people who are already experiencing the effects: from Louisiana marsh guides to inner-city urbanites. The series shows that weather and climate are not the same, and we will see how just a minor temperature increase of one degree can produce major effects such as disappearing barrier islands, a growing number asthma and allergy sufferers, drought in the American West and desertification of the Midwest, drowning cities, melting Alpine glaciers, uninsurable industries and much more.

International advisory committee

The Great Warming is loosely based on the book "Storm Warning: Gambling with the Climate of our Planet" by Lydia Dotto. Although the series’ overall aim is to present an objective overview of what is the most serious environmental issue we may ever face, the producers – Canadian-based Stonehaven in association with Discovery Channel Canada – feel strongly that it’s time to move beyond the debate about the science and consequences of climate change, and really focus on realisable solutions. Hopefully, The Great Warming will leave its audience with the message to change attitudes towards more climate conscious behaviour and business practices.

To give a broad picture, many experts – including one from Swiss Re – participated in the series itself or on the series’ advisory board. These include:

Wallace S. Broecker, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University, NYC
Lydia Dotto, author of Storm Warning: Gambling with the Climate of our Planet (the book upon which The Great Warming is based)
Paul Epstein, Associate Director, Center for Health/Global Environment, Harvard University (whose study of the health impacts of climate change is being supported by Swiss Re)
Patricia Glick, Coordinator, Global Warming Program, National Wildlife Federation, Washington, DC
Henry Hengeveld, Senior Science Advisor on Global Warming, Environment Canada
Tom Karl, Director, National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), Ashville, NC
John Kermond, Outreach Director, UCAR Joint Office for Science Support of the NOAA, Boulder, CO
Gerry Lemcke, Deputy Head of Catastrophe Perils, Swiss Re
Jerry Mahlman, Former Director, Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Lab, Princeton, NJ
Robert Massie, CERES Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies
Tim Parsons, Honorary Research Scientist Emeritus, Institute of Ocean Sciences, Sidney, BC, as well as honorary member, World Innovation Foundation 2002 and winner, Japan Prize 2001
Dorothy Peteet, paleoclimatologist and Senior Research Scientist, NASA/Goddard Institute for Space Studies, NYC
Stan E Rachelson, Director of the Midlands Improving Math and Science Hub, Columbia, SC
Cynthia Rosenzweig, Leader Climate Impacts Group, NASA/Goddard Institute for Space Studies, NYC
Trenberth Kevin, Head Climate Analysis Section, NCAR (National Center for Atmospheric Research), Boulder, CO