Environmental issues are very much in the news at the moment with the UN Climate Change Conference taking place in Paris at the moment. Despite ludicrous objections from a small minority of self-interested parties the case for global warming is now widely accepted by scientists and the general public alike. The first person to prove the correlation between man-made CO2 and the increase in average worldwide temperature was Claude Lorius.
At the age of 23, Claude Lorius answered an ad for a young student to take part in a year-long scientific expedition to the Antarctic. It was a decision which would shape his life and begin a life long affair with the continent. Now, at the age of 82 and with over 20 polar expeditions behind him, Claude recounts his life and experiences in the documentary Ice and the Sky. Whilst it;s clearly an environmental film it feels more of an ode to the spirit of exploration and adventure.
Lorius narrates his own story with almost poetic grandeur, accompanied by a wealth of archive footage from several of his expeditions. His narrative is compelling and Luc Jacquet, who won an Oscar for March of the Penguins, beautifully captures the sheer breathtaking beauty of polar terrain. Ice and the Sky is a beautifully made documentary which shows how luck, hard work and determination can achieve great things.
Ice and the Sky is out in cinemas on Friday.
