Review of "Inconvenient Truth" - Al Gore Finds His Message (6/26/06)
The chickens are coming home to roost. On June 25, 2006, the front page of the Los Angeles Times reported that Greenland's ice glaciers are deteriorating twice as fast as they were five years ago [1]. On the same page, the newspaper noted an abnormally large number of fires in the Western and Southwestern states [2].
Having watched Al Gore's new movie, "An Inconvenient Truth" recently, I can't help but note the similarities between what he said and what is taking place in the environment. The truth about global warming is no longer inconvenient; it may well be here.
The movie captures the former Vice-President giving speeches about the impact of human policies on the environment to college students. He says he has given the speech hundreds of times. After all, he has been at the forefront of the investigation of global warming since he joined Congress in 1976.
He recounts that in hindsight, he was naive to believe that others in Congress would join him in combating the effects, of CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons), freon, etc. It simply wasn't an exciting issue and almost no one believed that global warming would affect the earth in their lifetime.
At times, "An Inconvenient Truth" comes off as a bit autobiographical. There are scenes in which Gore describes the near-loss of his son, Albert III, working with his father, Albert, Sr. and the loss of his sister, Nancy, to lung cancer due to cigarette smoking.
But here is where Gore is at his most poignant. He discusses his regret that he and his father (a tobacco grower) did not know the truth about smoking until it was too late for her.
Perhaps this sad story compels him to be at the center of this issue. The subtext of "Inconvenient Truth" suggests that we as a planet are running out of time to address the problems caused by global warming. Any day now, the poles to the North and South will melt and cause tidal waves throughout the world. Ecosystems will be thrown off, causing some animals to miss their mating seasons. Big fires brought on by unusually hot weather will spread throughout the land.
To Republicans like Senator Inofe (R-OK), who called global warming "the biggest hoax" in U.S. history, the movie's message will not sink in. After all, it is inconvenient to change our habits. But with the truth of global warming's effects setting in, the rest of us can get a preview of what will happen if we don't.
Footnotes:
[1] "Greenland's Ice Sheet Is Slip-Sliding Away" http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/la-sci-greenland25jun25,1,1483560.story?ctrack=1&cset=true
[2] "Dry Southwest in the Line of Fire" (membership required) http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/la-na-wildfires25jun25,1,4621234.story