The Last Glaciers

Craig Leeson was motivated to make this documentary after a 2017 expedition to the Alps where he witnessed mountaineers die in an avalanche. This tragic event made him acutely aware of how climate change is making mountains warmer and more dangerous. His transformation from a skeptic to an advocate, driven by the alarming science of ice cores, fueled his three-year journey to document the impacts of climate change worldwide.

The fatal avalanche in the Alps serves as the catalyst for Craig's entire journey and his transformation throughout the film.

Operation IceBridge is a NASA research mission that flies over Antarctica to collect data on polar ice. The Last Glaciers became the first feature documentary crew to join this mission, allowing filmmakers to capture unprecedented aerial footage of Antarctica while collecting vital climate change data. This partnership with NASA and other scientific institutions gave the documentary access to research that had never been filmed before.

The partnership with NASA represents the documentary's achievement in accessing cutting-edge climate research.

Craig Leeson was joined by extreme sports enthusiasts Dave Turner and Malcolm Wood, both experienced in para-alpinism and alpine climbing. They helped Craig overcome his vertigo and provided the necessary skills to traverse challenging glacial terrain. Their expertise in high-altitude climbing made it possible for the crew to access remote glacier locations that would otherwise be too dangerous to reach.

The team's diverse backgrounds in extreme sports become essential for navigating the perilous glacial ranges.

Ice cores are cylindrical samples drilled from glaciers that contain layers of ancient ice. These layers preserve records of atmospheric conditions, temperature, and atmospheric composition dating back hundreds of thousands of years. Scientists use ice cores to reconstruct historical climate patterns and understand how current climate change compares to natural climate variations, providing crucial evidence for understanding the speed and severity of current global warming.

The analysis of ice cores throughout the documentary provides the scientific foundation for the film's alarming conclusions.

The Ice Memory Project is a French initiative that works to preserve glacier ice samples from around the world before they melt away due to climate change. These archived samples are stored in special frozen facilities to ensure that future scientists will have access to historical ice data even after the glaciers have disappeared. The documentary highlights this project as part of the global effort to document and understand climate change before it's too late.

The urgency of the Ice Memory Project reflects the broader theme of racing against time to preserve climate data.

INAIGEM (Instituto Nacional de Investigación en Glaciares y Ecosistemas de Montaña) is Peru's national institute for glacier and mountain ecosystem research. The documentary features INAIGEM as one of the key scientific institutions studying the impact of climate change on glaciers in the Andes. Peru is home to a significant portion of the world's tropical glaciers, and INAIGEM's research is critical for understanding how climate change affects water resources for millions of people in the Himalayan watershed and surrounding regions.

INAIGEM's research highlights the global nature of glacier retreat beyond just the Alps or Antarctica.

Climate change makes mountains more dangerous because warming temperatures destabilize glacial ice, increasing the frequency and unpredictability of avalanches, ice falls, and rockfalls. As glaciers melt, they create new hazards like unstable crevasses and hanging glaciers that can break loose without warning. The documentary illustrates this through the tragic avalanche in the Alps that claimed climbers' lives, demonstrating how climate change transforms once-predictable routes into deadly terrain.

The Alps avalanche serves as a direct example of how climate change transforms familiar mountain routes into lethal hazards.

The documentary features various communities worldwide that are already experiencing the devastating effects of climate change. These include communities in the Alps who have lost homes to climate-related disasters, populations in the Himalayan watershed facing uncertain water futures, and regions dealing with unpredictable weather patterns affecting agriculture and infrastructure. The film emphasizes how climate change threatens ecosystems, water systems, and human health across the globe.

The documentary's global journey shows that no region is immune to the effects of a warming planet.

The documentary highlights the growing youth climate movement, featuring young people frustrated by political inaction on climate issues. These activists have organized street protests worldwide, demanding immediate government action to address the climate crisis. Craig connects with these young protesters throughout his journey, illustrating how climate change has become a defining issue for a new generation and how youth advocacy is driving increased awareness and pressure for policy change.

The youth protests represent the human element of urgency that complements the scientific findings presented throughout the film.

The Last Glaciers is notable for being the first feature documentary crew to accompany NASA on their Operation IceBridge mission over Antarctica, giving viewers unprecedented access to polar ice research. The film combines the thrill of extreme sports and glacial exploration with rigorous scientific research from institutions like NASA, INAIGEM, ICIMOD, and the Ice Memory Project. This blend of adventure storytelling and scientific depth, coupled with its global scope covering everything from Alpine tragedies to Antarctic ice shelves, sets it apart from typical environmental documentaries.

The historic NASA partnership establishes the documentary's unique position in climate filmmaking.