Leonardo DiCaprio Reveals the Truth About Climate Change in ‘Before The Flood’

“Planet Earth is just a small boat. If it sinks, we will all sink together,” These were the words of Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary General of the United Nations, in Leonardo DiCaprio’s new documentary “Before the Flood”. Academy Award-winning actor and environmental activist, Leonardo DiCaprio, teamed up with Academy award winning filmmaker Fisher Stevens to create this riveting account of the dramatic changes occurring around the world due to climate change.

It begins with one of DiCaprio’s earliest childhood memories of a 500 year old painting “The Garden of Earthly Delights” by Hieronymus Bosch, which sat above his bed. He would constantly stare at it growing up. The painting is made up of 3 panels. On the first panel it has God presenting Eve to Adam, birds fly off into the distance and wild animals roaming the Earth. The second panel highlights over population and the deadly sins. And the third panel is an image of what looks like a nightmare on Earth – our paradise destroyed – what is most likely to happen to our world, if we don’t take action soon.

This documentary follows DiCaprio, the U.N Messenger of Peace, as he travels around the world over 3 years, interviewing and documenting the devastating impacts of climate change and highlighting the actions individuals and society can take to prevent the catastrophic disruption of life on our planet.

This is not just a documentary that reminds us of the effects climate change is having on our planet but showcasing just how many issues our planet is facing. If we do not take action now, our children and grandchildren will be the one to suffer the most. We all need to wake up and start to make changes in our lives in order to leave a livable planet for the future generations

DiCaprio speaks to scientists, world leaders, activists and local residents to get a deeper understanding of the biggest issues facing mankind today in a bid to find concrete solutions to these problems. Some key influencers supporting the cause include, US President Barack Obama, US Secretary of State John Kerry, Pope Francis and Tesla founder Elon Musk. One might be fooled to think that this is a blockbuster movie but this is not just a movie but also a beautiful and evoking feature that highlights the challenges that affects every living thing on our planet.

It’s in depth coverage of climate change, from the extraction of fuel, the melting ice in the Artic, to the industrial pollution in China and even into rural India is thought provoking. DiCaprio even takes a dive into the ocean to witness the effect that climate change is having on the coral reef and the ocean wildlife. The documentary debuted on the 30th of October on the National Geographic Channel and was made publicly available on various platforms as part of the National Geographic’s commitment to covering climate change.

At the United Nations gathering earlier this year DiCaprio delivered a powerful speech, he said “We went to every corner of the globe to document the devastating impacts of climate change and questioned humanity's ability to reverse what may be the most catastrophic problem mankind has ever faced.” He continued to say, “We wanted to create a film that gave people a sense of urgency and that made them understand what particular things are going to solve this problem.”

There are no big revelations in the documentary, no new ground broken, or even a visit to Africa. But featuring Leonardo DiCaprio as narrator of the movie has most certainly captured the attention of the masses and made the world sit up and really think about the problem at hand. Our question to the public and the other high profiled celebrities, what are you doing with the platform you have been given to create awareness about the global problem that we face as humanity? What difference can you make or contribute to changing the world for the better?