Lemmings, Penguins, and Walruses Reviewed

My book group has been reading John Green’s The Anthropocene Reviewed. Today we discussed the chapter on the opening of the film Penguins of Madagascar. As we were talking, I realized that nature documentaries and the way they are edited for dramatic effect, often at the expense of scientific accuracy, may be the most quintessential illustration of how humankind has altered our planet for our own benefit.

Hear or read a version of his review of Penguins of Madagascar on his podcast. (Or get ahold of the book; it is very much worth reading).

Here’s the YouTube rabbit hole I followed after discussing Penguins:

Hank Green discusses lemmings, including the infamous White Wilderness scene.

This video is from the Global Warming Policy Foundation, which I found out is an organization that denies the realities of climate change. An article from the more reputable Live Science explains that this behavior has been observed before among walruses, but also that scientists still don’t fully understand this phenomenon and it may in fact be caused by climate change.

Advertisement