VIDEO Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth
Important Documentary on the dangers of climate change and global warming
Runtime 1:36:26, click play
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Humanity is sitting on a ticking time bomb. If the vast majority of the world's scientists are right, we have just
ten years to avert a major catastrophe that could send our entire planet into a tail-spin of epic destruction involving extreme
weather, floods, droughts, epidemics and killer heat waves beyond anything we have ever experienced.
If that sounds
like a recipe for serious gloom and doom -- think again. From director Davis Guggenheim comes the Sundance Film Festival hit,
AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH, which offers a passionate and inspirational look at one man's fervent crusade
to halt global warming's deadly progress in its tracks by exposing the myths and misconceptions that surround it. That man
is former Vice President Al Gore, who, in the wake of defeat in the 2000 election, re-set the course of his life to focus
on a last-ditch, all-out effort to help save the planet from irrevocable change. In this eye-opening and poignant portrait
of Gore and his "traveling global warming show," Gore also proves himself to be one of the most misunderstood characters in
modern American public life. Here he is seen as never before in the media - funny, engaging, open and downright on fire about
getting the surprisingly stirring truth about what he calls our "planetary emergency" out to ordinary citizens before it's
too late.
With 2005, the worst storm season ever experienced in America just behind us, it seems we may be reaching
a tipping point - and Gore pulls no punches in explaining the dire situation. Interspersed with the bracing facts and future
predictions is the story of Gore's personal journey: from an idealistic college student who first saw a massive environmental
crisis looming; to a young Senator facing a harrowing family tragedy that altered his perspective, to the man who almost became
President but instead returned to the most important cause of his life - convinced that there is still time to make a difference.
With
wit, smarts and hope, AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH ultimately brings home Gore's persuasive argument that
we can no longer afford to view global warming as a political issue - rather, it is the biggest moral challenges facing our
global civilization.
WHAT IS GLOBAL WARMING?
Carbon dioxide and other gases warm the surface of the planet naturally by trapping solar heat in the atmosphere. This
is a good thing because it keeps our planet habitable. However, by burning fossil fuels such as coal, gas and oil and clearing
forests we have dramatically increased the amount of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere and temperatures are rising.
The vast majority of scientists agree that global warming is real, it’s already happening and that it is the result
of our activities and not a natural occurrence.1 The evidence is overwhelming and undeniable.
We’re already seeing changes. Glaciers are melting, plants and animals are being forced from their habitat, and the
number of severe storms and droughts is increasing.
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The number of Category 4 and 5 hurricanes has almost doubled in the last 30 years.2 |
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Malaria has spread to higher altitudes in places like the Colombian Andes, 7,000 feet above
sea level.3 |
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The flow of ice from glaciers in Greenland has more than doubled over the past decade.4 |
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At least 279 species of plants and animals are already responding to global warming, moving
closer to the poles.5 |
If the warming continues, we can expect catastrophic consequences.
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Deaths from global warming will double in just 25 years -- to 300,000 people a year.6 |
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Global sea levels could rise by more than 20 feet with the loss of shelf ice in Greenland
and Antarctica, devastating coastal areas worldwide.7 |
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Heat waves will be more frequent and more intense. |
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Droughts and wildfires will occur more often. |
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The Arctic Ocean could be ice free in summer by 2050.8 |
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More than a million species worldwide could be driven to extinction by 2050.9 |
There is no doubt we can solve this problem. In fact, we have a moral obligation to do so. Small changes to your daily
routine can add up to big differences in helping to stop global warming. The time to come together to solve this problem is
now – TAKE ACTION
1 According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC), this era of global warming "is unlikely to be entirely natural in origin" and "the balance of evidence suggests
a discernible human influence of the global climate." 2 Emanuel, K. 2005. Increasing destructiveness of tropical
cyclones over the past 30 years. Nature 436: 686-688. 3 World Health Organization 4 Krabill, W.,
E. Hanna, P. Huybrechts, W. Abdalati, J. Cappelen, B. Csatho, E. Frefick, S. Manizade, C. Martin, J, Sonntag, R. Swift, R.
Thomas and J. Yungel. 2004. Greenland Ice Sheet: Increased coastal thinning. Geophysical Research Letters 31. 5
Nature. 6 World Health Organization 7 Washington Post, "Debate on Climate Shifts to Issue of Irreparable
Change," Juliet Eilperin, January 29, 2006, Page A1. 8 Arctic Climate Impact Assessment. 2004. Impacts of a
Warming Arctic. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Also quoted in Time Magazine, Vicious Cycles, Missy Adams, March
26, 2006. 9 Time Magazine, Feeling the Heat, David Bjerklie, March 26, 2006.
For more information see www.climatecrisis.net
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