United Nations Radio

From New York State to the shores of the Pacific Northwest in the United States, to a Norwegian island north of the Arctic Circle, a new film documents the journey of retired history teacher Sven Huseby as he discovers the dangers of ocean acidification.

Sven Huseby

And some solutions.

Through underwater images and interviews with scientists, the film warns audiences about carbon absorbed by the ocean. When carbon dissolves in seawater, the ocean becomes more acidic. This acidity (or "That in turn") threatens the existence of tiny butterfly-like creatures called pteropods (teropods), and makes it difficult for many marine organisms to build their shells and skeletal structures, altering the entire food chain.

But the film, A Sea Change, is not only about the perils of ocean acidification. The film is also a moving story about a loving grandfather concerned about his grandson and future generations.

UN Radio's Lindsay Lazarski asked Sven Huseby, why we're not more concerned about what carbon dioxide is doing to our oceans.

HUSEBY: I think it is simply that we haven't been aware of it. I think we have been working on the assumption that the ocean is so vast, covering 70% of the globes surface, and so deep, that there is no way that we could begin to saturate it with anything that we put into it. Whether it's garbage, whether its air born gases, and in this case whether it's CO2.

LAZARSKI: What do you hope and expect to create with this film?

HUSEBY: When we started the process of making the film, we talked about how can we generate some noise around this subject. What we really meant was: how can we build public awareness, how can we get the term ocean acidification into the larger public discourse around environmental issues, and then our dream and fantasy was how can we turn that discussion into some kind of change in policy around CO2.

LAZARSKI: In the film you spoke a lot about the hidden cost of ocean acidification.

HUSEBY: What I meant by that phrase was that when we made a decision as people, to fuel modern life at the time of the industrial revolution, with the combustion of fossil fuels. In that decision, which was a relatively unconscious one, there was this hidden cost of growing CO2concentrations in the atmosphere and over time absorption in the oceans. Now we have to keep in mind that 30 percent of the protein consumed by mankind comes from the sea. Higher orders of fish are at risk. We know that salmon are dependent on pteropods. We don't know how many other fish species are dependent on coccolithophores which are also calcifying organisms, foraminifera; I mean there are a whole series of these tiny organisms we know nothing about. I had never heard of pteropods before I got involved in this inquiry. Now I am unabashedly in love with them, and my dream is to write a children's book about pteropods.

LAZARSKI: One of the themes of the film was definitely about the presence of young people, how can the next generation do better?

HUSEBY: I have been delightfully shocked to hear the students assume that we are going to get beyond fossil fuels. They believe that in their lifetime we are going to figure out how to get to some kind of sustainable energy source. Many of them are already fascinated with how their career path is going to be part of that solution. And I must say that gives me tremendous hope for Elias. It was very conscious on our part to include him, one, because it raised the whole question what are we leaving to future generations. Two, to bring the teenagers into the picture, and to keep that piece, because for them it was a no brainer, we have to reduce CO2. And if you noticed the venture capitalists the solar entrepreneur - these people were all in their 30's. I am so hopeful when I see the way they envision their own future.

LAZARSKI: What lasting message do you want to give your grandson?

HUSEBY: In this film, I wrote a series of post cards to Elias. And of course, the last post card to Elias is the film itself. And what I want Elias to take with him from the film is that he can make a difference. I hope and pray he will be an active player in trying to find solutions to this issues and I have a suspicion that he will go down that road. (laughs)

Narrator: Sven Huseby is the star and co producer of A Sea Change, which will be screened at the UN Climate Change Convention in Copenhagen this December.

(duration: 4'53")