Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth

An Inconvenient Truth, in my opinion, is undoubtedly a convincing source in the corner of those who believe that climate change is indeed

taking place and is negatively effecting features of earth as well as human beings. The film is filled with what seem to be valid and logical facts

that claim the climate change, caused by the actions of human beings, is responsible for many negative things related to nature. Al Gore’s main

point of the movie is that human beings are responsible for the climate change that will result in the destruction of the earth. Therefore we must

act now and take initiative towards reducing CO₂ levels and reducing the warming of earths atmosphere. Al Gore uses effective pathos to attract

the audience, however the content of the film, when further researched, proves to be ineffective due to inconsistent information.

Initially Al Gore’s argument is successful. If someone who’s never researched the issue of climate change and really has no thorough

viewpoint on the topic watches this film, they will be convinced that climate change is indeed a serious issue at hand and that mankind needs to

act immediately in order to save the earth. However, if one further researches the topic and the arguments that Al Gore is making, one might

find that maybe it is not all entirely true. There are many different viewpoints on the issue of climate change and there are many valid arguments

made to support each view. There are many strengths to Al Gore’s argument if you believe climate change is indeed occurring and is due to

human activity. He supports his claims with evidence of earth’s destruction. For example, At the beginning of the film he shows that the

increased level of CO₂ in the past 50 years goes hand in hand with the increasing temperature of earth in the past 50 years. He shows the rapid

melting of glaciers in recently as well as the decrease in the thickness of ice in Antarctica. He also shows that as the overall temperatures

increase, the heating of bodies of water occurs as well. This results in more severe storms with more speed and faster winds. One major

example Al Gore shows of this,that all Americans can relate to, is Hurricane Katrina. Also, Gore claims that with the temperature increase

comes a change in ecological niches. This results in the uprising of new infectious diseases such as SARS and the Wes Nile virus. He shows

that at the rate of the melting of ice shelves due to the temperature increase that pretty soon Greenland and Antarctica will melt. This would

result in severe flooding throughout the world. In America, it would result in the flooding Florida, California and parts of New York,

specifically Gore points out that the 911 memorial site would become flooded. All of this information he uses to support his main point is quite

convincing.

However, if you do not buy into this theory then the film might only contain a handful of strengths that support Gore’s arguments and

many weaknesses that may point to climate change being all “hype”. There are many people that might find An Inconvenient Truth to only be

“broadly” accurate. For instance, a judge in Britain ruled that the film could only be showed in schools if “accompanied by a warning about its

‘alarmist’ and ‘exaggerated" claims’.

Not all of the information presented in the film is entirely accurate according to the scientific community.

For example, as of 2007, according to information gathered by the American Policy Roundtable, “ More than 17,000 scientists have signed a

petition circulated by the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine saying, in part “ there is no convincing scientific evidence that human release

of carbon dioxide, methane, or other greenhouse gases is causing or will, in the foreseeable future, cause catastrophic heating of the Earth’s

atmosphere and disruption of the Earth’s climate.” Al Gore is merely a politician and is not scientifically qualified to make some of the claims

that he does in the film. If the scientific community is not backing Al Gore on the content of the film, the film loses credibility.

The way the film itself is produced has many strengths and weaknesses. The film targets the viewers emotions more so than anything else.

It contains parts that don’t necessarily pertain to the topic of climate change. They try to emotionally get the viewer to empathize with the film.

They do this by adding scenes to the film that feature aspects about Al Gore’s life. It contains a scene where Al Gore reflects upon the

experience of when his son was hit by a car and nearly died as well as a scene where Gore reflects upon how he grew up on a tobacco farm

only to watch his sister tragically die of lung cancer at a young age. Also, when explaining how if Greenland and Antarctica were to melt, he

shows how this would result in the severe flooding of cities all over the world. He emphasizes that certain cities in the united states would

become severely flooded. He especially emphasizes that it would flood the 911 memorial site which he clearly does to emotionally effect the

targeted audience, which is the American people. All of this can be considered a strength to the film if you buy into it. However, if you realize

that the film is off the topic of climate change and into your emotions than you might consider it to be a weakness of the film. Another weakness

of the film is that it contains false information. He shows a chart that says that earths temperatures haven”t been as high as they are now in the

past millennium. However, this does not prove to be true as William Broad says; “So too, a report last June by the National Academies seemed

to contradict Mr. Gore’s portrayal of recent temperatures as the highest in the past millennium. Instead, the report said, current highs appeared

unrivaled since only 1600, the tail end of a temperature rise known as the medieval warm period.” Scientists acclaim the rise in temperature to

the natural warming cycle of earth.

The film does reflect something bigger in American culture and society. If the claim the humans are responsible for climate change is true,

America is the number one contributor to the problem as America is the number one country in CO₂ emissions in the world. According to

Vexen Crabtree , the United States contains 4% of the worlds population but produces about 25% of the worlds carbon dioxide emissions and

36.1% of greenhouse gas emissions. Also, the United States is one of the only countries in the world that has not adopted the Kyoto protocol

which is a pact that requires countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. As Americans, it is a part of our culture that everyone has their

own vehicle, and the nicest one possible at that. Up until very recently, no one was concerned about environmentally friendly vehicles,

gas mileage or the amount of pollution their car emits. It is a cultural issue when it comes to the amount of greenhouse gas emissions the United

States is responsible for and as a culture we should be more concerned about the environment.

Overall, An Inconvenient Truth is a well put together and convincing film. However, when further researched there seems to be faulty

information and inconsistent data throughout the film. If the scientific community does not believe that l climate change is even an issue,

especially not an issue caused by human beings, then I am forced to believe that An Inconvenient Truth is truly just “hype”.

Works Cited

"Arguments Against Global Warming, Evidence Against Global Warming - The Public Square." American Policy Roundtable | Non-

Partisan Public Policy Organization. 2007. Web. 25 Oct. 2010.

Broad, William J. "From a Rapt Audience, A Call to Cool Hype." The New York Times. Nytimes.com, 13 Mar. 2007. Web. 24 Oct. 2010.

Crabtree, Vexen. "The USA Versus the Environment: Oil, Pollution and Kyoto." Vexen Crabtree's Websites: Forcing Humanity Onwards. 4

June 2002. Web. 25 Oct. 2010.

Harris, Tom. "Global Warming, Scientists, Al Gore Climate Change." Canada Free Press: Online Conservative Newspaper, News, Politics,

Editorials. 12 June 2006. Web. 25 Oct. 2010.

Soltis, Andy. "What's Wrong With Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth." Web log post. Greensboring. 12 Oct. 2007. Web. 25 Oct. 2010.