Don't Look Up and the Climate Crisis

Google summarizes the new Adam McKay film, Don’t Look Up, saying, “Two low-level astronomers must go on a giant media tour to warn mankind of an approaching comet that will destroy planet Earth.” The film was released on December 24, 2021, just as 2021 climate reports were emerging. Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Ariana Grande, Meryl Streep, Timothée Chalamet, and many other A-list actors, create what has been described by movie critics as any genre of movie from fantasy to disaster, but seems most fittingly described as a political satire. The estimated $110 million dollar film is an allegory for the climate crisis, specifically satirizing the denial and continuous ignoring of proven scientific evidence.

The film begins with astronomy PhD student Kate Dibiasky, played by Jennifer Lawrence, discovering a new comet. She shares this information with her professor, Dr. Randall, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, and the pair soon discover that the comet is headed directly for Earth, where its strike will be catastrophic. Their findings are subsequently confirmed by numerous leading astronomers. However, when the pair try to share this information with the US government, specifically with the president, played by Meryl Streep, they are initially not taken seriously. Kate and Dr. Randall, along with all of humanity, see a glimpse of hope when it seems that the US government is going to take action to destroy the comet. Unfortunately, this moment of hope is short-lived, and the president, influenced by a major tech CEO, chooses to end the mission to destroy the comet. The president explains that they have discovered that the comet is made of valuable materials and thus is worth billions of dollars. Instead of taking action to save all of mankind, the president chooses to attempt to capture the comet to mine it for materials. Opinions on this issue soon become political with both sides campaigning, and fighting for their cause. When the comet finally arrives, the government’s efforts fail. All of Earth is destroyed, and almost all of humankind is killed. Just as it became clear that the government drones were failing to capture the comet, the president and other wealthy individuals saved themselves by escaping to space using the technology they had created. In the end, the president and other leaders, after prioritizing wealth over safety, selfishly save themselves while the rest of the world is destroyed.

Unfortunately, by changing just a few words, this summary could sound more like a news report of how leaders today are handling the climate change crisis. According to the World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Climate 2021 Report, carbon emissions reached record highs in 2020 and continued to increase in 2021. The sea level has continued to rise about 4.4 mm each year, and much of the ocean experienced at least one heat wave this past year. In addition, the last seven years have been the hottest on record. Still, world leaders do not prioritize reversing the damage done to Earth. At this year's global climate change conference in Glasgow, Scotland, 195 countries agreed to set the target of keeping the average temperature change below 2 degrees Celsius. Although this may seem like productive action, this goal is actually a revised goal, as the previous target temperature is no longer reasonable. The inability of world leaders to follow through on their last target makes it easy to imagine that this target will be ignored as well.

This inaction by politicians directly reflects the actions of the leaders in the film. When discovered, the comet was only 6 months away from hitting Earth. Although the comet disaster had a much shorter timeline, the climate disaster is becoming equally pressing, as there are only around 10 years left until the damage done to Earth becomes irreversible. Yet, global leaders continue to prioritize other, less disastrous, issues or values, the same way that the US government in the film prioritized wealth.

In the movie, only the very richest individuals escape Earth. It was the less wealthy, or rather the general public, that were forced to face the consequences. In a similar way, climate change is hitting poorer communities the hardest. Massive tropical storms destroy everything a family has, leaving them with nothing to rebuild from. Water contaminated from waste reaches only poorer communities. Overpopulated cities see large waste problems. Communities on the coast lose more land every year. Meanwhile, the wealthy leaders sit back and enjoy their luxuries, in the same way that the leaders in the film watch safely from space as Earth is destroyed.

Don’t Look Up ends in disaster with the entire planet being destroyed just as Kate, Dr. Randall, and hundreds of other scientists predicted. If we do not act now, our Earth could be destroyed in the same way. If we do not act now, in a decade our planet will be doomed. Watching Don’t Look Up will make you laugh and smile, but it also serves as a grim reminder that we must hold our leaders accountable and take action now to combat the climate crisis.