An Inconvenient Truth September 18, 2006
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Environment , trackbackAl Gore’s movie has made it to the UK, and it is essential viewing. If you’re already a committed environmentalist, you may not learn many new facts, but his clear, wryly humourous way of describing the situation is an important lesson in how to communicate the problems we face. If you’re not sure, or perhaps even a climate sceptic then please, go and see it. At the least, it will give you food for thought, and Al Gore is an entertaining speaker.
I remember as a child seeing the film ‘Atomic Cafe’ in a cold church hall, sponsors by the NZ precursor to the Greens, the Values Party, and being terrified. These days, I’m perhaps a little less sensitive and a lot more familiar with the arguements, but in some ways this film is just as terrifying and will hopefully cause people to rethink what they, and the institutions that dominate our society, are doing.
If you’re still a sceptic, or find yourself talking to one, I’ve added a site to the blogroll which will be of interest. A Few Thinks Illconsidered looks at the many and various arguements against global warming and demolishes them. One of the most important statistics Gore trots out is that from the review in Science of 928 papers in the literature not a single one disagreed with the statement from the Interdisciplinary Panel on Climate Change that
“Human activities … are modifying the concentration of atmospheric
constituents … that absorb or scatter radiant energy. … [M]ost of
the observed warming over the last 50 years is likely to have been due
to the increase in greenhouse gas concentrations”. He had a contrasting statistic, which I’d not seen before, of a similar survey in the popular press which showed 53% of articles sceptical.
Another good site, which is always happy to take reasonable comments
and questions, is RealClimate, a conglomeration of climate change
scientists trying to explain the problem. Its not always easy, and rarely comes in a simple soundbite, but does host very good debate.
We’ve have to start understanding the science. Question it, of course. Check the motives of those who present it, definitely, but make sure you understand it and, if you remain a sceptic, are doing so with a valid, reasoned arguement. This is too important to leave to those who will listen to soundbites.
Technorati Tags: an inconvenient truth, climate science
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This article from the Scientific American website (sciam.com) explains, in detail, how a small amount of carbon dioxide makes a big difference.
http://www.sciam.com/askexpert_question.cfm?articleID=000F22D3-EBEF-14C0-AB7083414B7F4945&catID=3&chanID=sa005
[...] War on warming Camden Kiwi reports that Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth is worth seeing, even if you are already a hardened environmentalist. [...]
And you can now wear the campaigning message on a T-shirt!; ‘TOP 10 Ways to save the World’. Over at The Coffee House or go to; http://www.cafepress.com/Coffee_House. Have fun!
nov 4th
10.00am Cycle protest assembles at Lincoln’s Inn Fields, South side (Holborn/Temple tube). Goes via ExxonMobil offices, Australian Embassy and Downing Street to arrive at US embassy at 11.30 am.
11.00am Rally opens : Messages from around the world, performance poetry & musical protest with “Seize the Day” and others.
12 noon Main Rally at US Embassy, Grosvenor Square. Speakers include George Monbiot, Colin Challen MP, Caroline Lucas MEP, Norman Baker MP, Zac Goldsmith.
1.00 pm March for Global Climate Justice from US embassy to Trafalgar Square
1.45 - 2.00 pm March joins i-Count’s.. Mass Gathering in Trafalgar Square
1.00 - 3.00pm i-Count Mass Gathering in Trafalgar Square
Stop climate chaos are limiting their activities to the UK but the march organisers, CCC, are keen on international solidarity, more on: http://www.campaigncc.org/.
Join us for the biggest event of the year to stop climate chaos!
In our (NZ) paper today news that there are calls from Britain for a global-warming premium on goods imported from N.Z. Lincoln University did a study last month which showed that solid dairy products used only half the energy of those produced in Britain, and lamb used one quarter as much energy, even after they’ve been transported half way round the world. So, don’t stop eating NZ lamb and butter.