Monday, February 8, 2016

An Inconvenient Truth


       I would first like to start off by stating that An Inconvenient Truth was a very well done documentary film. Al Gore did a fantastic job on explaining many of the causes that scientist have clinically proven to be causing global warming or what is also considered climate change. This film does an excellent job at showing hard core facts that are irrefutable to those who put climate change out to be a sham. Through Gores experience as a child, to his travels as a Politian, he has seen what us humans are doing on a first hand basis which has promoted him to take the initiative to help educate the people of the world, one city at a time.

            Al Gore brings many different topics to the table which all encompass the information we have already learned about in our class. I found it pretty interesting that he used the example about the hottest years up until the year 2005. Where the statistic showed that the hottest ten years had happened in the last 14 years. I remember our class seeing how this statistic changed for the years leading up to 2015 and how every year since has been hotter, ending with 2015 being the hottest on record.

            One really interesting thing about watching this movie is seeing how things have changed since this film came out in 2006. How some things have gotten better, like fuel efficiency of automobiles and forms of alternative energy. Also seeing how somethings have still trended in a negative slope, like the fact that each year has still gotten warmer and the ice caps are still melting at a record rate.

 
Gore makes a statement that really questions why people would
choose money/economy (the gold) over the planet that they inhabit
and contains everything in our lives.
          
Gore defines what global warming (aka climate change) is and many specific issues that contribute to the ongoing change in our climate. Some being about the amount of carbon dioxide that is being put into the atmosphere, the burning/cutting down of trees, politics (Money/Economy), the melting of the ice caps, ocean levels rising, animal extinctions, powerful storms, drought, extreme heat and flooding were some of the topics that were addressed by Gore.


            This documentary was extremely powerful, because it used facts and statistics to show the undeniable true behind the problems, us humans have contributed to the changed planet we live on. Even after digging at the viewer with all of this information, Gore does it with a unique way to educate us but not scare us to a panic. He shows that there is plenty that can be done to change our situation. It was very encouraging seeing this film because I knew that I could make a difference with the tools I already have and that our society has the technology and tools as well.

            I want to end things by quoting Gore after a scene in the movie about his son being in a car accident. He states, “This turned my whole world upside down and then shook it until everything fell out. My way of being in the world, it had just changed everything for me.” (An Inconvenient True) I saw this as a powerful quote that could be put into the context of our planet and what we have done to it. The recent changes that have occurred are mostly because of us humans and I don’t think a lot of us see this as a serious issue. This planet is in such a bad shape and is leading into an even worse direction. We have to realize that the Earth is our home, our planet, our everything. Without it, we are nothing. You get so close to seeing it all disappear, then you realize it is time to make a switch. Hopefully this film might have helped spark that idea in your mind or was a wake up call and encouraged you to participate in changing our planet for the better.
We must change our climate because this is the only Earth we have.

3 comments:

  1. I love that you discuss how things have changed since the documentary. I think it is very important to keep up with the current effects of climate change since they will continue to get worse from here on out. Also, the jump in temperature from 2014 to 2015 shocked me quite a bit, and supports the concept that we need to do something about global warming quickly.

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  2. First let me begin my saying that I loved what you said regarding what earth means to us. "Earth is our home, our planet, our everything" that is a really romantic thought. We are in a relationship with our planet, and we have not been talking care of it. You did a really nice job stating what has changed since the release of the movie. While we have not made a ton of progress we have made some. I remember watching this movie in 8th or 9th grade (I don't remember which one) and while I watched it I don't remembering it impacting me. I think we need to actually teach children what climate change is instead of making them watch a movie.

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  3. Very interesting how you related Gore's quote about his son being in a car accident to our place in climate change. In a way we are all in a near death experience just like his son. Obviously it is not as rapid as a car crash, however still a very relevant truth. We are approaching death; Maybe not as individuals, but our planet's species, wildlife, oceans, and millions of other people. Scary.

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