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How the World Reacted as Global Warming Warnings Grew | Heat (full documentary) | FRONTLINE (PBS)

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How the World Reacted as Global Warming Warnings Grew | Heat (full documentary) | FRONTLINE (PBS)

Uploaded: 2026-10-06

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When the threat of climate change emerged as a major global issue, how did some of the world's largest governments and corporations respond? (Aired 2008) This journalism is made possible by viewers like you. Donate to FRONTLINE now: https://bit.ly/47DFzCb And support your local PBS station here: https://www.pbs.org/donate Melting glaciers, rising sea levels, fires, floods and droughts: In 2008, with public concern about global warming on the upswing, award-winning producer and correspondent Martin Smith traveled the planet to investigate the scale of the problem, and the scale of any solution. For years, the film reported, big businesses in the U.S. and around the globe — from oil and coal companies to electric utilities to car manufacturers — had resisted change to environmental policy and stifled the debate over climate change. But as this 2008 documentary was being made, industries and governments were facing rising pressure to reshape their approach to the environment. To make “Heat,” Smith traveled to 12 countries on four continents, sitting down with policymakers, scientists, and leading executives from many of the largest carbon emitters from around the world, including American oil giants, Chinese coal companies, and Indian SUV makers. The two-hour film documented where the political and economic conversation around climate change and global warming stood in 2008, and found that some businesses were trying to fend off new regulations, while others were repositioning themselves to prosper in a world reshaped by climate change. The investigation also found that despite increasing talk about “going green,” environmental concerns were often still taking a back seat to shorter-term economic interests. And there were serious questions about the ability of industry-proposed solutions like “clean coal,” ethanol fuel subsidies, and carbon capture technology to roll back global warming. Editor’s note: A line of narration in this documentary cited a since-retracted assertion from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that "80 percent of all glacier ice in Tibet and the Himalayas will be gone by 2035." The panel attributed the statement to a media interview with a scientist who later said he had been misquoted, though the IPCC stood by its overall conclusion that “widespread mass loss from glaciers … are projected to accelerate throughout the 21st Century.” See the film transcript here: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/heat/etc/script.html “Heat” was a FRONTLINE co-production with RAINmedia, Inc. It was written, produced and reported by Martin Smith. It was co-produced by Chris Durrance. The executive editor of FRONTLINE was Louis Wiley Jr. The executive producer of FRONTLINE was David Fanning. Explore additional reporting related to “Heat”: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/heat/ #Documentary #ClimateChange #GlobalWarming #Environment Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/PBSfrontline Sign up for our newsletter: https://frontline.org/newsletter Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frontlinepbs Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/frontline Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/frontlinepbs.bsky.social FRONTLINE is produced at GBH in Boston and airs nationwide on PBS. The editor-in-chief and executive producer of FRONTLINE is Raney Aronson-Rath. Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, with major support from Ford Foundation, and Fialkow Family Foundation. Additional support for FRONTLINE is provided by the Abrams Foundation, Park Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Heising-Simons Foundation, and the FRONTLINE Trust, with major support from Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation, and Corey David Sauer, and additional support from Koo and Patricia Yuen, and Laura DeBonis and Scott Nathan. Corporate support for FRONTLINE is provided by The Economist.

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Source: PBS Frontline

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description: When the threat of climate change emerged as a major global issue, how did some of the world's largest governments and corporations respond? (Aired 2008) This journalism is made possible by viewers like you. Donate to FRONTLINE now: https://bit.ly/47DFzCb And support your local PBS station here: https://www.pbs.org/donate Melting glaciers, rising sea levels, fires, floods and droughts: In 2008, with public concern about global warming on the upswing, award-winning producer and correspondent Martin Smith traveled the planet to investigate the scale of the problem, and the scale of any solution. For years, the film reported, big businesses in the U.S. and around the globe — from oil and coal companies to electric utilities to car manufacturers — had resisted change to environmental policy and stifled the debate over climate change. But as this 2008 documentary was being made, industries and governments were facing rising pressure to reshape their approach to the environment. To make “Heat,” Smith traveled to 12 countries on four continents, sitting down with policymakers, scientists, and leading executives from many of the largest carbon emitters from around the world, including American oil giants, Chinese coal companies, and Indian SUV makers. The two-hour film documented where the political and economic conversation around climate change and global warming stood in 2008, and found that some businesses were trying to fend off new regulations, while others were repositioning themselves to prosper in a world reshaped by climate change. The investigation also found that despite increasing talk about “going green,” environmental concerns were often still taking a back seat to shorter-term economic interests. And there were serious questions about the ability of industry-proposed solutions like “clean coal,” ethanol fuel subsidies, and carbon capture technology to roll back global warming. Editor’s note: A line of narration in this documentary cited a since-retracted assertion from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that "80 percent of all glacier ice in Tibet and the Himalayas will be gone by 2035." The panel attributed the statement to a media interview with a scientist who later said he had been misquoted, though the IPCC stood by its overall conclusion that “widespread mass loss from glaciers … are projected to accelerate throughout the 21st Century.” See the film transcript here: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/heat/etc/script.html “Heat” was a FRONTLINE co-production with RAINmedia, Inc. It was written, produced and reported by Martin Smith. It was co-produced by Chris Durrance. The executive editor of FRONTLINE was Louis Wiley Jr. The executive producer of FRONTLINE was David Fanning. Explore additional reporting related to “Heat”: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/heat/ #Documentary #ClimateChange #GlobalWarming #Environment Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/PBSfrontline Sign up for our newsletter: https://frontline.org/newsletter Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frontlinepbs Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/frontline Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/frontlinepbs.bsky.social FRONTLINE is produced at GBH in Boston and airs nationwide on PBS. The editor-in-chief and executive producer of FRONTLINE is Raney Aronson-Rath. Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, with major support from Ford Foundation, and Fialkow Family Foundation. Additional support for FRONTLINE is provided by the Abrams Foundation, Park Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Heising-Simons Foundation, and the FRONTLINE Trust, with major support from Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation, and Corey David Sauer, and additional support from Koo and Patricia Yuen, and Laura DeBonis and Scott Nathan. Corporate support for FRONTLINE is provided by The Economist.
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How the World Reacted as Global Warming Warnings Grew | Heat (full documentary) | FRONTLINE (PBS)

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