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On Environment - AL Gore - Movie
On Environment - AL Gore - Movie
On Environment - AL Gore - Movie
the atmosphere
Many people today assume mistakenly that the Earth is so big that we
humans cannot possibly have any major impact on the way our planets
ecological system operates. That may have been true at one time, but it
is not the case any more. We have grown so numerous and our
technologies have become so powerful that we are now capable of
having a significant influence on many parts of the Earths environment.
The must vulnerable part of the Earths ecological system is the
atmosphere. It is vulnerable because it is so thin. Indeed, the Earths
atmosphere is so think that we have the capacity to dramatically alter
the concentration of some o fit basic molecular components. In
particular, we have vastly increased the amount of carbon dioxide--the
most important of the so-called greenhouse gases.
Source: An Inconvenient Truth, by Al Gore, p. 22-25 May 26, 2006
On Energy & Oil: Skeptics point to historical warming--but today
is hotter
The correlation between temperate and CO2 concentrations over the last
1,000 years--as measured in the ice core record by Thompsons team--is
striking.
Nevertheless, the so-called global warming skeptics often say that global
warming is really an illusion reflecting natures cyclical fluctuations. To
support their view, they frequently refer to the Medieval Warm Period.
But as [the historical] thermometer shows, the vaunted Medieval Warm
Period was tiny compared to the enormous increases in temperature of
the last half-century.
In any given year, it might seem as if the average global temperature is
going down, but the overall trend is very clear. And in recent years, the
rate of increase has been accelerating. In fact, if you look at the 21
hottest years measured, 20 of the last 21 occurred within the last 25
years. The hottest year on record during this entire period was 2005.
Source: An Inconvenient Truth, by Al Gore, p. 64&72-73 May 26, 2006
On Environment: To let earth continue warming would be deeply
immoral
In Antarctica, measurements of CO2 concentrations and temperatures
go back 650,000 years. At no point in the last 650,000 years before the
pre-industrial era did the CO2 concentration go above 300 parts per
million (ppm). Where CO2 is now--350 ppm--is way above anything
measured in the prior 650,000-year record.
intensifying human use, it has shrunk to 1/20th of its original size. The
lakes dissipation has led to collapsing fisheries and crops.
While Lake Chad withered, intense drought set the stage for the violence
that erupted in neighboring Darfur, a war-torn region of Sudan.
The more we understand about climate change, the more it looks as if
we may be the real culprit--the US emits 1/4 of the worlds greenhouse
gases. We helped manufacture the suffering in Africa, and we have a
moral obligation to try to fix it.
Source: An Inconvenient Truth, by Al Gore, p.116-7 May 26, 2006
On Energy & Oil: Supported ethanol in 1970s & cellulosic ethanol
now
When I was in Congress we used to wrangle about the value of making
ethanol from corn. Despite the moonshine jokes, I supported ethanol.
Even though some of its environmental consequences made me
uncomfortable, I thought it was important for us to work on alternatives
to fossil fuels to begin to break our dependence on foreign oil. Since
then, newer innovations have [come along]: one company has figured
out a way to make a new kind of ethanol out of plant fiber--cheaper &
cleaner than regular ethanol.
Source: An Inconvenient Truth, by Al Gore, p.137 May 26, 2006
On Energy & Oil: Arctic ice is melting & may disrupt global
weather patterns
Since the 1970s, the extent & thickness of the Artic ice cap has
diminished precipitously. There are now studies showing that if we
continue with business as usual, the Artic ice cap will completely
disappear each year during summertime. At present, it plays a crucial
role in cooling the Earth. Preventing its disappearance must be one of
our priorities.
The melting of the ice cap represents bad news for creatures like polar
bears. A new study shows that for the first time, polar bears have been
drowning in significant numbers.
What does it mean to look at a vast expanse of water that used to be
ice? We ought to care about this because it has serious planetary effects.
An increase of 5 degrees actually means an increase of only 1 or 2
degrees at the Equator, but more than 12 degrees at the North Pole. And
so all those wind and ocean patterns that formed during the last ice age,
are now up in the air.
Our civilization has never experienced any environmental shift remotely
similar to this.
Source: An Inconvenient Truth, by Al Gore, p.143-149 May 26, 2006