An Inconvenient Truth

The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It

By Al Gore

You look at that river gently flowing by. You notice the leaves rustling with the wind.
You hear the birds; you hear the tree frogs. In the distance you hear a cow. You feel
the grass. The mud gives a little bit on the river bank. It's quiet; it's peaceful. And all
of a sudden, it's a gear shift inside you. And it's like taking a deep breath and going,
"Oh yeah, I forgot about this."

This is the first carbon-neutral documentary. A Sundance Film Festival documentary

hit presented by Al Gore, a former United States Vice President and directed by Davis
Guggenheim. Mr. Gore's passionate warnings about climate change seem
increasingly prescient. He has revived the slide presentation about global warming
that he first began giving in 1990 and taken that slide show on the road, and he has
now turned that presentation into a book and a documentary film, both called "An
Inconvenient Truth."

THE FILM RUNDOWN

The film offers a passionate and inspirational look at one man's keen 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 an irrevocable change. It
demonstrates Al Gore’s ‘traveling global warming show’ that presents his exploration
of data and predictions regarding climate change and its potential for disaster.

Al Gore’s personal history changed his world view, including his college education
with climate expert Roger Revelle at Harvard University, (Roger Revelle was one of
the first scientists to study global warming and the movement of Earth’s tectonic
plates.) his sister’s death from lung cancer, his young son’s near-fatal car accident,
and his loss to George W. Bush in the 2000 US Presidential election.

Gore’s slide show reviews the scientific opinion on climate change and discusses the
politics and economics of global warming, and describes the consequences he
believes global climate change will produce if the amount of human-generated
greenhouse gases is not significantly reduced in the very near future. A centerpoint
of the film is his examination of the annual temperature and CO2 levels for the past
650,000 years in Antarctic ice core samples.

The film includes segments intended to refute critics who say that global warming is
unproven or that warming will be insignificant. For example, Gore discusses the
possibility of the collapse of a major ice sheet in Greenland or in West Antarctica,
either of which could raise global sea levels by approximately 20 feet (6 m), flooding
coastal areas and producing 100 million refugees. Melt water from Greenland,
because of its lower salinity (saltiness or dissolved salt content of a body of water),
could then halt the currents that keep northern Europe warm and quickly trigger
dramatic local cooling there. The documentary ends with Gore arguing that if
appropriate actions are taken soon, the effects of global warming can be successfully
reversed by releasing less CO2 and planting more vegetation to consume existing
CO2. Gore calls upon his viewers to learn how they can help him in these efforts.

Gore's book of the same title was published concurrently with the theatrical release
of the documentary. The book contains additional information, scientific analysis, and
Gore's commentary on the issues presented in the documentary. A 2007
documentary entitled An Update with Former Vice President Al Gore features Gore
discussing additional information that came to light after the film was completed,
such as Hurricane Katrina, coral reef depletion, glacial earthquake activity on the
Greenland ice sheet, wildfires, and trapped methane gas release associated with
permafrost melting.

THE SCIENTIFIC DATA

The film elaborates scientific opinions on climate change and its effects on global
warming. Here are the data that supports Gore’s thesis:

• The Keeling Curve, a graph that shows the variation in concentration of

atmospheric carbon dioxide since 1958. It is based on continuous
measurements taken at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii under the
supervision of Charles David Keeling. Keeling's measurements showed the
first significant evidence of rapidly increasing carbon dioxide levels in the
atmosphere. Many scientists credit Keeling's graph with first bringing the
world's attention to the effects that human activity were having on the Earth's
atmosphere and climate.

• The Retreat of Glaciers since 1850, worldwide and rapid, affects the
availability of fresh water for irrigation and domestic use, mountain
recreation, animals and plants that depend on glacier-melt, and in the longer
term, the level of the oceans. Studied by glaciologists, the temporal
coincidence of glacier retreat with the measured increase of atmospheric
greenhouse gases is often cited as an evidentiary underpinning of
anthropogenic (human-caused) global warming. Mid-latitude mountain ranges
such as the Himalayas, Alps, Rocky Mountains, Cascade Range, and the
southern Andes, as well as isolated tropical summits such as Mount
Kilimanjaro in Africa, are showing some of the largest proportionate glacial
loss.

• The presentation of Antartica ice cores showing carbon dioxide concentrations

higher than at any time during the past 650,000 years was based from the
European Project for Ice Coring in Antartica (EPICA), a multinational European
project for deep ice core drilling in Antarctica. Its main objective is to obtain
full documentation of the climatic and atmospheric record archived in
Antarctic ice by drilling and analyzing two ice cores and comparing these with
their Greenland counterparts (GRIP and GISP). Evaluation of these records will
provide information about the natural climate variability and mechanisms of
rapid climatic changes during the last glacial epoch.

• The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration contains detailed data

of the annual land and ocean temperature since 1880 and this record shows
that the ten hottest years ever measured in this atmospheric record have all
occurred in the last fourteen years.

• A 2004 survey by Naomi Oreskes, a professor of History and Science Studies

at the University of California San Diego, of 928 peer-reviewed scientific
articles on global climate change published between 1993 and 2003. The
survey, published as an editorial in the journal Science, found that every
 article either supported the human-caused global warming consensus or did
not comment on it.

GLOBAL IMPLICATIONS OF CLIMATE CHANGE

Skin cancer is on the rise. Skin cancer is one of the main cancer concerns of the
world when Global Warming hits. The skin cancer people get most is melanoma.
Though melanoma is the most common, it is also the most curable and and can even
be prevented. Early discovery is very important. If you have moles that are bothering
you or are doing weird things such as changing size, shape, color, or if they bleed
constantly, you should consult a doctor.

Global warming is caused by a depletion of the ozone layer. This depletion causes
more UVA and UVB rays to reach the earth's surface. The UVA and UVB rays are what
cause skin cancer (“Global”). Therefore, as global warming increases so will the
amount of skin cancer. This is already evident today.

The most fatal type of skin cancer is melanoma. Since 1981, melanoma has
increased three percent per year. You can protect yourself from UVB rays by wearing
sunscreen, but nothing will protect you from UVA rays that cause long-term skin
damage and melanoma skin cancer. Therefore, this dangerous increase will continue
as long as global warming continues.

• The number of Category 4 and 5 hurricanes has almost doubled in the last 35
years. Even though the total number of hurricanes has dropped since the
1990s, according to a study by researchers at the Georgia Institute of
Technology and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). The
shift occurred as global sea surface temperatures have increased over the
same period.
• Malaria has spread to higher altitudes in places like the Colombian Andes,
7,000 feet above sea level because retreating snow cover allows mosquitoes
to fly higher. Malaria is a disease that will increase during global warming. It is
one of the earliest recorded human diseases, and is spread by the bite of a
female mosquito. Mosquitoes breed in warm, wet places. With the increase of
rain and warmth during global warming, the population of mosquitoes will
increase, making the risk of getting this disease also increase. Malaria means
"bad air" in Italian referring to the time when people thought that it was
caused by gases around areas where mosquitoes thrive.
• The flow of ice from glaciers in Greenland has more than doubled over the
past decade. The loss of ice from Greenland doubled between 1996 and 2005,
as its glaciers flowed faster into the ocean in response to a generally warmer
climate, according to a NASA/University of Kansas study. The study concludes
the changes to Greenland's glaciers in the past decade are widespread, large
and sustained over time. They are progressively affecting the entire ice sheet
and increasing its contribution to global sea level rise.
• At least 279 species of plants and animals are already responding to global
warming, moving closer to the poles to escape the increasing heat.

CONSEQUENCES, WITHOUT ACTION

 • Deaths from global warming will double in 25 years, to 300,000
people a year.
• Global sea levels could rise by more than 20 feet with the loss of the
heat reflective shelf ice in Greenland and Antarctica.
• The Arctic Ocean, that's the North Pole, could be ice free by 2050. No
more Santa Claus.
• Heat waves will be more frequent and more intense.
• Droughts and wildfires will become more and more common.
• More than a million species worldwide could be driven to extinction
by 2050.

‘WE MUST ACT’

What can we do to help stop global warming? Here are 10 simple things we can do
and how much carbon dioxide you’ll save doing them.

1. Change a light. Replacing one regular light bulb with a compact fluorescent
light bulb will save 150 pounds of carbon dioxide a year.
2. Drive less. Walk, bike, carpool or take mass transit more often. You’ll save one
pound of carbon dioxide for every mile you don’t drive.
3. Recycle more. You can save 2,400 pounds of carbon dioxide per year by
recycing just half of your household waste.
4. Check your tires. Keeping your tires inflated properly can improve gas mileage
by more than 3%. Every gallon of gasoline saved keeps 20 pounds of carbon
dioxide out of the atmosphere.
5. Use less hot water. It takes a lot of energy to heat water. Use less hot water
by installing a low flow showerhead (350 pounds of CO2 saved per year) and
washing your clothes in cold or warm water (500 pounds saved per year).
6. Avoid products with a lot of packaging. You can save 1,200 pounds of carbon
dioxide if you cut down your garbage by 10%.
7. Adjust your thermostat. Moving your thermostat just 2 degrees in winter and
up 2 degrees in summer. You could save about 2,000 pounds of carbon
dioxide a year with this simple adjustment.
8. Plant a tree. A single tree will absorb one ton of carbon dioxide over its
lifetime.
9. Use an alternative energy source. Switch to solar power. Simply decide to
utilize a residential solar energy system for your home. A new service offers
homeowners a system to provide 100% of their electricity needs with no risk,
upfront investment or maintenance--rethink solar.
GLOBAL WARMING

Beginning about 18,000 years ago the Earth started warming up, halting at least
temporarily a 100,000-year-long Ice Age, during which the upper latitudes of almost
all the continents lay buried under thick sheets of glacial ice.

The Earth was a much colder and drier place then. Deserts were more extensive,
summers were short, and winters brutal. Approximately 1/5 of the forests on the
planet were obliterated by the great ice sheets. Over 1/2 of the continent of North
America was a desolate wasteland of ice.

At the peak of glaciation, oceans were 300 feet lower than they are today, allowing
animals and men to walk from Siberia to Alaska across the Aleutian Land Bridge,
causing changes to the ecosystem of North America. It wasn't until about 15,000
years ago that global warming caused the great glaciers to retreat, allowing
establishment of our accustomed environment. Average global temperatures have
risen about 5° C since the last Ice Age.

From a historical perspective, global warming has saved us, at least temporarily,
from an Icehouse Climate.

Science is clear on what controls cycles of climate change. Global warming (and
cooling) cycles are controlled primarily by:

1) Cyclical variations in the sun's energy output

2) Eccentricities in Earth's orbit

3) The influence of plate tectonics on the distribution of continents and oceans

4) The so-called "greenhouse effect," caused by atmospheric gases such as

gaseous water vapor (not droplets), carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxides,
which help to trap radiant heat which might otherwise escape into space.

The "greenhouse effect" actually is a bit player in global climate (although without
it's benefits the average temperature of the Earth would be minus 18° C). Human's
did not cause the greenhouse effect, but critics maintain human additions to
atmospheric greenhouse gases may cause global temperatures to rise too much.

Generally understood, but rarely publicized is the fact that 95% of the greenhouse
effect is due solely to natural water vapor. Of the remaining 5%, only 0.2% to 0.3% of
the greenhouse effect (depending on whose numbers you use) is due to emissions of
carbon dioxide and other gases from human sources. If we are in fact in a global
warming crisis, even the most aggressive and costly proposals for limiting industrial
carbon dioxide emissions would have an undetectable effect on global climate.
However, significant efforts to limit the emission of greenhouse gases in the United
States are currently underway.

THE FACTS
Everyone agrees that our planet is getting warmer. It has been shown that Earth's
average surface temperature has increased 0.6C (33.8F) over the last 100 years.
Greenhouse gases help keep the planet within habitable temperatures. Because the
moon does not have greenhouse gases, it's temperature can range from 171C to
111C (275.8F to 231.8F). Earth's greenhouse gas is made up of several
components. Water vapor, carbon dioxide, and ozone are the dominant stabilizing
greenhouse gases. Levels of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide have
increased substantially over the last century. Carbon dioxide is the most important
of these three, and it is higher than it has ever been over the last 650,000 years.
More carbon dioxide in the atmosphere leads to an increase in temperature.
Everybody agrees with this.

THE CAUSES
There are currently three dominant beliefs about the cause of global warming.

• Increased Carbon Dioxide

Most scientists believe that the cause of global warming is due to an increase of
carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The levels of carbon dioxide has increased
from 280 parts per million to 379 parts per million over the last 100 years. This
increase in carbon dioxide strongly correlates with the increase of global surface
temperatures.

Increases in carbon dioxide are mostly due to the burning of fossil fuels such as
coal, oil, and natural gas. The problem with burning fossil fuels is that the
process releases carbon dioxide that was previously stored underground.
Deforrestation is also blamed. Fewer forrests mean less carbon dioxide is soaked
up from the atmosphere.

• Natural Fluctuations
Some believe that global warming is simply a short term trend caused by the
natural rhythms of the planet, or our sun. Many of these scientists do not believe
that greenhouse gasses can have such a large impact on the global surface
temperature.

• Ambivalence
Lastly, some scientists are also undecided. Some believe that there is not
currently enough evidence to conclude that carbon dioxide is the cause of global
warming. While there is a strong correlation between recorded temperature and
carbon dioxide levels, it is not necessarily correct that the relationship is
causative.

THE EFFECTS
The effects of global warming can be viewed from how it is affecting our planet right
now, and how it will further affect our planet in the future. Much emphasis is placed
on future problems as they are more dramatic. Unfortunately, future events are
much easier to dismiss because they may, or may not occur. There are currently
many problems caused by global warming, and there little doubt that these
problems exist, today.

• Current Effects
Glaciers are retreating as the surface temperatures increase. Glaciers are very
important to the survival of some communities. The run off from the glaciers in
the warmer summer months help to fill dams, and reservoirs which are used for
irrigation and drinking. With less cold water running in to rivers, fish that depend
on the colder water such as Salmon, will not be able to reproduce. Sea ice is
disintegrating. Polar bears use sea ice to breed, raise their young, hunt, and
travel. With less ice, some polar bears are turning to cannibalism. Studies have
suggested that if the trend continues, polar bears may become extinct within this
century. With extreme flooding and dought comes favorable conditions for
mosquitos. Diseases such as Maleria, Dengue Fever, and West Nile virus are on
the increase in Asia, East Africa, and Latin America. 90% of coral in the Maldives,
Sri Lanka, Kenya, Tanzania, in the Seychelles, and in Congo is now dead because
of global warming. The survival of coral depends on a symbiotic relationship with
an algae called zooxantheallea. When the temperatures rise, the corals stress and
release the colorful algae. Without the algae, the coral is unable to find enough
nutrients to survive. When large amounts of coral die in this way, it is known as
coral bleaching because the coral turns from a beautiful spectrum of color to a
plain bone white color.

• Future Effects
It is anticipated that sea levels could rise between 110 to 770 mm (0.36 to 2.5
feet) by 2100. Warm water expands, and oceans will expand as the planet
warms up. Also, warmer temperatures will melt the polar ice which will lead to
an increase in sea level. Rising sea levels will result in a large range of social,
and economic problems. These include more severe flooding, loss of property
and costal habitat, loss of culture, degradation of soil and water quality
impacting agriculture and aquaculture, and loss off tourism. Global warming is
likely to affect the global food supply by changing current climatic conditions.
Many farmers belive that minor seasonal variations are already affecting yields.
The award winning Henschke wine from Australia has found that over the last 5
years their grapes have been maturing earlier. Weather conditions are becoming
more extreme. The number of Category 45 hurricanes has almost doubled in the
last 20 years. The effect of hurricanes is clear, but with warm temperatures they
are likely to become even more powerful. Oceans continue to absorb more
carbon dioxide as the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increase. This
absorbtion is making the oceans more acidic, and will harm some species, and
will result in secondary effects that will be felt through out the food chain.