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Videos and Films
Saline Lakes and
Global Climate Change
by Sandra Zicus |
Title: A Desert Sea (Great Salt Lake)
Abstract:
By Terry Tempest Williams, Produced by John Howe, KUED TV. 1993. Docu- drama featuring
a stunning performance by our own Great Salt Lake,
with Terry Tempest Williams in her best supporting role. VHS videocassette.
Source: Barten Company - products about
the Great Salt Lake
Title: PBS - Cadillac Desert:
Mulholland's Dream (Mono Lake)
Abstract:
Copies of the first Cadillac Desert episode, titled Mulholland's Dream, are
available individually for $23.95. This episode chronicles the development of Los
Angeles' water supply and includes an interview with Mono Lake Committee cofounder
Sally Gaines. Focus on Owen's Valley and Mono Lake area.
Source: Sold by the Mono
Lake Committee bookstore.
Title: Plant Earth Series: Climate Puzzle:
Is a New Ice Age Inevitable or Will Life be Swept Away by Flood?
Abstract:
Witness the power of the savage forces that created our world. Voyage from the
ocean's depths to the distant boundaries of the solar system. This Emmy winning chronicle
of discovery documents astonishing developments in the new geo-science as it guides
us to a better understanding of our planet's past, present and future. (58 minutes)
Source: Total
Marketing Services, Inc.
Title: Modifying the Weather:
The Case of the Man-Made Desert
Abstract:
By building roads, watering crops, and grazing cattle, we are constantly changing
the climate. We may also modify the weather by cloud seeding, though there is no
scientifically accepted proof that rain or snow would not have occurred naturally
in cases where seeding appears to have been successful. This program shows how migration
in the Sahel has altered regional climate; examines the torrow-be-damned policy of
water usage in Arizona; and investigates the drastic miscarriage of good intentions
in Central Asia, where efforts to irrigate the desert turned into the worst climatic
disaster in the history of the Soviet Union: the drying up of the Aral Sea, once
the world’s fourth-largest lake. The program details how this catastrophe happened
and reveals its consequences for the population, the physical geography, and the
climate of the area. (26 minutes, color) Item #BVL2404 VHS Format
Purchase: $89.95
Source:
Films for the Humanities & Sciences,
P.O. Box 2053, Princeton, NJ 08543-2053
Tel. 1-800-257-5126
URL: http://www.films.com/
Title: The Holy Land: Sweet Water,
Bitter Sea (Dead Sea)
Abstract:
From the ruins of Masada to the stalactites of the Dead Sea, take a journey
through a land of violent contrasts. Rare footage uncovers the resourceful creatures
that thrive on the sea's barren shores and the land's sweet oasis. (60 minutes)
Source: moviesearch.spree.com
Title: Life in Arid and
Semi-Arid Lands
Abstract:
This program explains what a desert is, why it occurs, what kinds of plant and
animal life it sustains, and how that life is adapted to–or adapts to–the lack of
water. The primary focus is on the effects of growing populations in arid or semi-arid
regions: lack of vegetation leads to overgrazing, humus mineralizes, rare rainfall
creates runoff and washes away the remaining topsoil, the soil becomes hard and impermeable
to water, dries out, and becomes infertile. Thus the desert grows.
The desert of Thar in northwest India is a case study of the problem, with a population
of over 10 million plus 20 million cattle. How can the people of this region survive?
How do they feed themselves and their animals? What do they use for shelter and fuel?
This example, and that of the Bichnoïs–who have created green oases in the desert–are
used to show what can be done. (28 minutes, color)
Item #BVL2334 VHS Format Purchase: $89.95
Source:
Films for the Humanities & Sciences,
P.O. Box 2053, Princeton, NJ 08543-2053
Tel. 1-800-257-5126
URL: http://www.films.com/
Title: Climate and Man
Abstract:
This series offers a thorough introduction to and analysis of the relationship
between climate and humanity: our linked prehistory, history, and likely future.
Climate is the determining factor in where and whether life exists–why there is life
on Earth and not on Mars and Venus; in specialized organisms where it is hot or cold,
wet or dry, light or dark. Climatic change killed off the dinosaurs and
brought prehistoric humans out of the trees and upright on their feet to search for
food. And climatic change is threatening now to wipe out life on Earth–by drowning,
boiling, suffocating, starving, or genetic destruction. These programs examine the
nature of climate, what people have done to alter it, whether we are prepared to
foot the costs of saving our planet, or to try to reverse the processes we have set
in motion by attempting with scientific means to counter the deadly prospects which
confront us. 6-part series, 26 minutes each.
The series includes: The Greenhouse Effect, Sun, Sunlight, and Weather Patterns,
Civilization and Climate, Modifying the Weather: The Case of the Man-Made Desert,
Global Warming, Danger Ahead: Is There No Way Out? Item #BVL2400
Source:
Films for the Humanities & Sciences,
P.O. Box 2053, Princeton, NJ 08543-2053
Tel. 1-800-257-5126
URL: http://www.films.com/
Title: The Heat Is On: The Effects
of Global Warming
Abstract:
The question is no longer whether the earth is heating up, but how much and how
quickly. Scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research and at various
university research centers explain the life-modifying effects of the global heat
trap–a rise in extreme weather systems, droughts, floods, and forest fires; the extinction
of animal species whose delicate feeding, breeding, and migration timetables are
upset by melting ice, rising water and temperature levels, and shifting or disappearing
habitats; the movement of forests northward at immense speed, eliminating many plant
and animal species; and an increase in disease epidemics. The program shows how future
changes are predicted and makes it clear that major irreversible effects may be no
more than 20 years away. Global warming cannot be stopped, but it can be slowed
by reducing CO2 emissions, halting deforestation, and stabilizing world population.
(26 minutes, color) Item #BVL2412 VHS Format Purchase:
$149.00 Rental: $75.00
Source:
Films for the Humanities & Sciences,
P.O. Box 2053, Princeton, NJ 08543-2053
Tel. 1-800-257-5126
URL: http://www.films.com/
Title: Sahara: Before the Desert
Abstract:
Rock engravings and cave paintings depicting hippopotamuses, rhinoceroses, buffalo–even
boats–provide evidence that the vast and forbidding Sahara Desert was once a “lush
paradise.” The program begins by examining the archaeological evidence for a Sahara
of rivers, lakes, thriving vegetation, and abundant animal life, then moves on to
introduce viewers to some current inhabitants of the region. Particularly intriguing
are the nomads who hold male beauty pageants in which men adorn themselves and dance,
in hopes of securing the affections of women in the audience. (43 minutes, color)
Item #BVL2387 VHS Format Purchase: $149.00 Rental: $75.00
Source:
Films for the Humanities & Sciences,
P.O. Box 2053, Princeton, NJ 08543-2053
Tel. 1-800-257-5126
URL: http://www.films.com/
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