The Last Glaciers (2022)

The Last Glaciers tells the story of climate change through the visual impact of one of the planet's most important and yet critically threatened resources - glaciers. A trip to the Alps in 2017 shocked award-winning filmmaker Craig Leeson who witnessed the tragic deaths of mountaineers due to avalanche on Europe's deadliest mountain, Mont Blanc. Craig's investigation finds that climate change is drastically altering these special environments, making the mountains warmer and more dangerous. Around the world the story is frighteningly similar, but scientists point out that climate change is causing a much more widespread threat to humanity, not just the natural world. Extreme sports athletes, Dave Turner and Malcolm Wood, team up with Craig on this global filming project, teaching him the skills to overcome his fear of heights so he can access glacial ranges with scientists to witness first-hand the dramatic changes taking place. The team climbs a 5800m mountain in Peru twice in two days to attempt to be the first to tandem paraglide off the summit and survive the endeavour. Craig also joins NASA on an airborne research mission over the largest ice sheet in the world. He visits the burnt homes of people most affected by climate change wildfires and engages the world's youth, so overcome by angst at the lack of political will to tackle this issue that many have taken to the streets to protest. Craig seeks out climate change scientists globally to hear and understand the shocking results of their global research. Through the eyes of scientists from NASA to France's Ice Memory Project, to the studies being done by INAIGEM in Peru, the documentary investigates how ice, particularly glaciers, tells us the story of past climate change, and how humans are knowingly impacting the Earth's climate. This film is a code red wake-up call that distills the dense science on climate change in to an easy to understand and visual journey of the facts. A heart-wrenching story of discovery that takes the audience on a thrilling ride of extreme sports whilst sharing the camaraderie of the team as they confront personal challenges amongst the immense beauty of natural mountain environments. Shot on cinematic cameras, its message is simple: we must protect and restore our life support systems before they completely collapse.