climatologist, he recognizes himself in “Don’t look up”

“We are heading towards the collapse of our civilization, and they talk about it as one problem among others (…) Watching this film, I had the impression of seeing myself” Peter Kalmus is a climatologist. According to him, the film “Don’t Look Up” is a successful metaphor for how society and governments ignore the terrible threat of the climate emergency, despite clear warnings from the scientific community. “I constantly feel like I’m gonna have to climb on my roof and yell at everyone to wake up“, he confides.

The satirical film features two scientists desperate to alert the world to the arrival of a planet-killing comet. “The film’s comet is the perfect metaphor for this satire, as it’s a celestial object that doesn’t give a damn and is heading inexorably towards Earth.“, believes Peter Kalmus. He adds: “We can’t negotiate with her. We can’t persuade her not to crash on us.”

Climatologists have been sounding the alarm for years, but for Peter Kalmus the mainstream media does not sufficiently expose the urgency of the situation. He even considers that the climatologists and climate activists who are given the floor are those who minimize the seriousness of the problem.

For Peter Kalmus, a solution is needed: get out of fossil fuels within a maximum of 10 years. He accuses political leaders and fossil fuel companies of protecting the sectors that are causing the problem. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement encourage signatory countries to drastically reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, but for Peter Kalmus, time is running out.