Liam “Ice” Neeson sounds just a little sick of certain warnings going unnoticed. And that is not a voice you want to hear upset.
GIF from “The Grey.”
A new video from Conservation International’s extremely popular conservation campaign has just launched with Neeson’s chilling voice representing “Ice.” It’s a theme among an impressive list of other actors, including Harrison “The Ocean” Ford and Kevin “Rainforest” Spacey. (Side note: I have never heard a more mellifluous tree than ol’ Frank Underwood there.)
Why is he representing ice? It, like Neeson, has a particular set of skills.
Ice is mighty. Like many of the characters Neeson has been, glaciers might not move fast, but they can grind mountains into dust. They are implacable.
Sea ice also keeps the ocean cool — perhaps even as cool as Neeson’s characters under pressure.
And mountain glaciers create lasting freshwater reservoirs for people to use, just like … well, maybe there’s not a connection there, but it sure is important.
“People living in arid climates near mountains often rely on glacial melt for their water for part of the year,” says the National Snow and Ice Data Center.
In the Andes mountains, for example, glaciers provide drinking water, crop irrigation, and hydroelectric power during the region’s dry season.
Ice even reflects sunlight and heat back out into space, helping to keep the entire planet cool.
It’s known as the albedo effect. GIF via Norsk Polarinstitutt/YouTube.
But as the climate warms, ice is melting.
There have been signs — disintegrating glaciers, rising sea levels. Sea ice in the arctic has been disappearing at a rate of more than 11% per decade since 1979, according to the NSIDC, and the arctic could have ice-free summers by the middle of this century.
And Neeson is just not going to take it anymore.
Another organization, the League of Conservation Voters, is showing their support for the recently released Clean Power Plan, which will help limit carbon emissions and, hopefully, appease any and all anthropomorphic personifications of nature. Join in on celebrating the plan here.
