Source: NYT (11/26/25)
Op-Docs: The Broken Circle
By Zhao Liang
Burning coal emits humanity’s greatest contribution to the planet since industrialization: atmospheric carbon dioxide.
In the northern grasslands of China, people mine for coal day and night. They contaminate groundwater and lay waste to fragile vegetation. The nomadic peoples who depend on these sources lose their pastures to desertification. In the nearby Gobi Desert area, worsening climate conditions and prolonged droughts force villagers to relocate from this already hostile region. To slow the creep of the desert, migrant laborers plant trees in this sea of sand. It’s an all too human attempt to atone for destruction with investment. Their toil and will to reclaim life from the desert brings forth a hint of green, but against the vast yellow dunes, it is but a drop in an ocean of dryness.
In this short film, I wanted to capture the absurdity of destruction and remedy on a massive scale.