Review: Rising Tides (2016)

[Mark R. Leeper]

RISING TIDES
(a film review by Mark R. Leeper)

CAPSULE: This is a generally well-made documentary
examining the rising of sea level, the land erosion
it causes, and how the problem is manifesting itself
globally. It reports on the crisis and contains
several interviews with government officials, experts,
and victims commenting on the size of the problem and
what is being done to counter it. The film first shows
the size of the problem facing us and then reports on
engineering solutions that are being tried to limit
erosion. Jason Auerbach co-directed the film with
Scott Duthie and co-wrote the film with Michele
Loschiavo. Auerbach says that his goal was to start
conversation and not to scare people, but his facts
are--and should be--a little scary. Rating:
low +2 (-4 to +4) or 7/10

A new documentary looks at the coming fate of the world as the
planet heats up and human engineering is working to limit the
disastrous consequences.

The world's temperatures are increasing, icecaps are melting, and
as a result sea levels are rising. There are a many aspects to
climate change and the rising of the oceans is one of the changes
whose effects are most devastating. There are already island
nations built on very low-lying islands.

As the climate has changed there have been disastrous hurricanes
and typhoons showing the strength of the rising oceans. Hurricane
Katrina did $135 billion of damages and caused 986 deaths.
Hurricane Sandy did $20 billion in property damage and caused 149
deaths. Typhoon Yolanda, the most powerful storm ever to make
landfall, had 6300 casualties in 2013. Storms are getting more
powerful as the oceans reach higher levels. And sea level is not
just rising; its level is accelerating upward. The most commonly
considered cause of the increase in ocean volume is melting
icecaps, but as seawater warms it expands and becomes less dense.
Thirdly, tectonic movement can squeeze out water. Seas can rise
but land usually will not so water reaches further and further into
what used to be inland.

It is not just foreign countries that are threatened. Miami, being
a low-lying coastal city, is in particular peril. Currently sea
level rises about 1/7th of an inch per year. That means that in
one year the edge of the water would advance about 120 feet. Even
an inch or two of sea level rise would much increase the chances of
disastrous floods. Right now Miami floods at high tide. Salt
water is seeping inland, killing animal and plant life that require
fresh water and filling the aquifers that are needed for fresh
water supply.

This film is a call to action. In current United States politics
there is almost no mention of the coming menace of rising water.
Little is being done and certainly not what is needed. The longer
the problem waits for attention the worse it will be when passed on
to later generations. We need to plan what we will do when the
oceans inevitably rise.

Auerbach summarizes engineering approaches to limiting damage and
to "nourish" the coastline, the most successful of which seems to
be to create artificial reefs to slow erosion. Auerbach considers
the question of whether the best approach is to conflict with
nature or to let it just take its course.

Structurally the film does have a problem. It begins with the
frightening realities of rising sea levels and then somewhat calms
the viewer with engineering solutions (partial ones) to the
problems and reports of approaches that have and have not helped.
What we see are limited solutions to what we know are worldwide
problems, and the solutions clearly do not scale up well. A
solution that costs just a few million dollars to protect two miles
of coastline is not going to be a feasible solution for island
nations. And if the viewer is not frightened by the size of the
problem and the difficulties in overcoming them, then the film has
not done its job. I rate RISING TIDES a low +2 on the -4 to +4
scale or 7/10. RISING TIDES was released on DVD and VOD on June
21.

Film Credits:
<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5069996/combined>

What others are saying:
<https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rising_tides/>

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Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 2016 Mark R. Leeper