Poignant UN Film Hits Home Despite Using Carl Sagan’s Climate Warnings From 1985

Back in the 1980s, most people weren’t as concerned with climate change and the environmental crisis we’re facing today. However, the visionary astronomer Carl Sagan, who penned over 20 books on science and sci-fi, was already sounding the alarm on the burgeoning issue.

In fact, in 1985, the Havard Professor warned of the forthcoming crisis—positing that even a one-degree temperature change on Earth would wreak havoc. Unfortunately, four decades later, his words ring truer than ever.

As such, UN Global Compact, an initiative aimed at encouraging businesses worldwide to adopt sustainable policies, has tapped on the wise words of Sagan in its new short film, created in collaboration with creative agency AlmapBBDO and Boiler Filmes.

The spot features the astronomer’s original recordings as viewers take in visuals of automatons of wild animals, created by Argentine artist Pablo Lavezzari, which are powered in the background by a retro reel-to-reel tape machine.

Those with a keen ear will find that the soundtrack behind Sagan’s words is When The Land Meets The Sea, a tune made from a single tape loop by the artist Amulets. The entire installation is currently residing at Bolsa de Arte in São Paulo and could travel worldwide later this year.

[via Boing Boing and The Stable, cover image via UN Global Compact]