The permafrost is slumping. The seal pups have become bony. Fish are turning up deformed. The skies, once quietly wrapped in all-day twilight, now crash with thunder and flash with lightning. Sachs Harbour used to be a peaceful, remote fishing village of 130 on the shores of Banks Island in Canada's Western Arctic.
Scientists feel as if they are watching negotiations over the fate of Earth.
Many consider global warming to be among the most serious threats to human health and the world financial system. The Sachs Harbour video, made by the Winnipeg-based International Institute for Sustainable Development, is drawing passionate interest at the talks, where it is viewed as a grim prod to action by the world's leaders. To many of these leaders, climate change is a problem of the distant future. Some still consider it a theoretical nuisance. The Sachs Harbour video is poised to change that.