There's a problem inherent in the climate crisis: We don't live long enough to truly feel it. Academics call this "shifting baseline syndrome" -- the idea that environmental change happens too slowly to trip our alarm bells. Journalist and filmmaker John D. Sutter is directing a longitudinal film series -- BASELINE -- that aims to be an antidote by documenting four locations on the frontlines of change every five years, until 2050. John D. Sutter is an EMMY-nominated documentary filmmaker who is directing “Baseline,” a film series that tells the story of the climate crisis beyond a human lifetime. He is an Explorer with the National Geographic Society, where he is developing the “Baseline” project. Sutter spent 10 years as a reporter, columnist and producer at CNN, most recently as a senior investigative reporter. He continues to work for CNN as a climate analyst. Sutter’s work has twice been nominated for an EMMY — for science reporting and new approaches to documentary. He is the recipient of the Livingston Award for Young Journalists, the Peabody Award, the Batten Medal for Public Service, the Foreign Press Association Media Award and the Edward R. Murrow Award, among others. He’s a former fellow at Harvard’s Nieman Foundation for Journalism and at UnionDocs, a center for documentary art in Brooklyn. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at
There's a problem inherent in the climate crisis: We don't live long enough to truly feel it. Academics call this "shifting baseline syndrome" -- the idea that environmental change happens too slowly to trip our alarm bells. Journalist and filmmaker John D. Sutter is directing a longitudinal film series -- BASELINE -- that aims to be an antidote by documenting four locations on the frontlines of change every five years, until 2050. John D. Sutter is an EMMY-nominated documentary filmmaker who is directing “Baseline,” a film series that tells the story of the climate crisis beyond a human lifetime. He is an Explorer with the National Geographic Society, where he is developing the “Baseline” project. Sutter spent 10 years as a reporter, columnist and producer at CNN, most recently as a senior investigative reporter. He continues to work for CNN as a climate analyst. Sutter’s work has twice been nominated for an EMMY — for science reporting and new approaches to documentary. He is the recipient of the Livingston Award for Young Journalists, the Peabody Award, the Batten Medal for Public Service, the Foreign Press Association Media Award and the Edward R. Murrow Award, among others. He’s a former fellow at Harvard’s Nieman Foundation for Journalism and at UnionDocs, a center for documentary art in Brooklyn. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at
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