Students for Environmental Action and the Environmental Studies department held a special screening from Monday to Wednesday last week of actor Leonardo Dicaprio's currently unreleased documentary The 11th Hour, which focuses on issues facing the future of the Earth's biosphere. The club received special permission from the film's distributor, Swank Picture, to screen it. On the first night's showing, the Gerstenzang auditorium was filled to capacity, and a burst of applause could be heard resonating throughout the lecture hall at its conclusion.

The major focus of the film revolves around the greenhouse effect, fossil fuel consumption, soil erosion, oceanic pollution, loss of biodiversity and global deforestation. Alternating between futuristic and contemporary viewpoints, the film strives to address the predicaments of our planet resulting from human consumerism.

Renowned world leaders and environmental activists such as Stephen Hawking, famous for his studies on black holes, former President of Russia Mikhail Gorbachev, famous for his Economic policies, and David Suzuki, a popular Canadian broadcaster on Environmental activism, added ongoing dialogue, testimony and firsthand evidence of the global environmental crisis.

Named after the Evolutionary Calendar, The 11th Hour represents the presence of man in relation to the creation of the universe. Its model marks Jan. 1 as the Big Bang and follows 365 days until the presence of man on Dec. 31 at 11 p.m.

The film instigates that the 11th hour is the final hour in which humanity can improve environmental changes. Hence, the documentary explores how humans impact the earth, chartering the devastation placed before our descendants, as well as possible solutions to avert the crisis.

"The film ultimately ends with a vision of what a sustainable society could look like, and how this is an opportunity to rethink and redesign our relations with the planet and each other," according to the SEA Web site.

The 11th Hour describes the struggle of man within nature and the collapse of environmental resources in pursuit of economic wealth and personal promotion. Since the utilization of fossil fuels, the human population has grown exponentially, subsidizing oil companies while ignoring the influence of induced climate changes and accelerated disconnection from environmental damage.

Using this non-renewable energy source, humans accumulate greenhouse gases such as methane and carbon dioxide within the atmosphere. These molecules trap in solar radiation, so an increase of greenhouse gas emission will elevate global temperatures.

By modifying the atmosphere's temperature by a single degree, humans risk overwhelming consequences to both weather patterns and biological ecosystems. A single degree change can have huge consequences to the global environment, including melting 20 percent of the polar icecaps.

The 11th Hour speculates that too much money is being invested in the political system regarding environmental change and that the bridge to public policy fails due to a lack of governmental involvement. It is human responsibility to integrate environmental standards into our lifestyles and deter the occurrence of economic greed.

"The 11th Hour puts climate change issues into a framework of human rights issues, and the solutions based on our reactive perceptions," said club member Mia Goldwasser '10, who brought the film to campus and fell in love with its inspirational message after viewing it at PowerShift, an environmental conference held last November at the University of Maryland.

Goldwasser said her primary motive for showing the film was to showcase that climate change is an upcoming challenge that we need to confront with educated decision-making. She also proposed that solutions to this problem are approached by promoting public awareness on the issue.

"The planet will be here regardless, so the issue becomes human beings being able to sustain themselves on the planet," she said. "Consumption and economy leads to detachment and alienation, so changing the way we think involves becoming informed."

Goldwasser said SEA plans to promote climate change awareness on Earth Day April 19 through an interdisciplinary teach-in with professors, supporting a national campaign called Focus The Nation. Other upcoming projects for SEA include working with Hillel on Eco-Shabbat to replace disposable utensils with silverware; working with faculty members and residence life to get storage bins for each dormitory as a more efficient use of space to reduce trash and promote recycling, as well as store books and personal accessories, energy-saving for computers in the libraries; and a field trip to a wind turbine in Hull, Mass., she said.