An Inconvenient Truth Notes

An Inconvenient Truth: Notes from Al Gore's Presentation

About Al Gore

• Former Vice President of the United States.

• Chairman of Current TV and Generation Investment Management.

• Board member of Apple Computer, Inc.

• Senior Advisor to Google, Inc.

• Visiting Professor at Middle Tennessee State University.

• Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1976 (served four terms).

• Elected to the U.S. Senate in 1984 and 1990.

• Inaugurated as the 45th Vice President on January 20, 1993.

• Central member of President Clinton's economic team.

• Led the Clinton Administration's efforts to protect the global environment.

• Authored "Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit" (1992).

About the Film: An Inconvenient Truth

• Directed by Davis Guggenheim.

• Focuses on Al Gore's crusade to halt global warming.

• Aims to expose myths and misconceptions surrounding global warming.

• Presents Gore as funny, engaging, and intent on alerting citizens to the planetary emergency.

• Includes Gore's personal journey: From seeing the environmental crisis as a college student to becoming a dedicated advocate.

• Highlights that global warming is a moral challenge.

• Premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and Cannes.

• Won Academy Awards for Best Documentary Feature and Best Song.

• Estimated worldwide audience of 5 million people.

Impact of the Film

• Galvanized governments, leaders, organizations, and individuals to take action.

• Increased awareness of global warming to over a billion people.

• Over 106,000 tons of carbon were offset in the year following the film's release (equivalent to 225 million car miles).

• 4200+ tons of carbon were offset by switching to compact fluorescent light bulbs.

• Over 15 climate change bills introduced in Congress.

• The Markey-Waxman Bill passed the House in June 2009.

• Five countries and one Canadian province incorporated the film into secondary school curricula.

• President Obama created the position of Assistant to the President for Climate and Energy.

• The U.S. House and Senate established Select Committees on Energy Independence and Global Warming.

• Over 2600 people trained to give The Climate Project presentation, reaching 4 million people.

Al Gore's Presentation: Key Points

Opening Remarks

• References the first picture of Earth from space (Christmas Eve, 1968, Apollo 8 Mission) and Earth Rise.

• Notes that the photo led to the modern environmental movement within 18 months.

• Apollo 17 image (December 11, 1972) is the most commonly published photograph.

• Mentions the Galileo spacecraft's time-lapse picture of Earth's rotation.

Two Teachers Story

• Relates a story about a geography teacher who dismissed the idea of continents fitting together.

• Connects this to the assumption that the Earth is too big for humans to impact.

• The atmosphere is vulnerable because it is thin.

• Quotes Carl Sagan's analogy of a varnish coat on a globe to represent the atmosphere's thickness.

Basic Science of Global Warming

• Sun's radiation comes as light waves, heating the Earth.

• Infrared radiation is reradiated back into space.

• The atmosphere traps some outgoing infrared radiation, which keeps the Earth warm.

• Global warming pollution thickens the atmosphere, trapping more infrared radiation and heating the planet.

Roger Revelle and Carbon Dioxide Measurement

• Professor Roger Revelle proposed measuring carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere.

• Charles David Keeling made precise measurements for decades, starting in 1957.

• Weather balloons were sent up daily from a remote area in the Pacific.

• Gore learned about this as a college student and understood the significance.

• The Earth "breathes" in and out annually, with CO2 levels changing due to Northern Hemisphere vegetation cycles.

The Keeling Curve

• Measurements since 1958 show a clear upward trend in carbon dioxide levels.

• The oscillation representing the yearly cycle of plant growth and decay is superimposed on the overall rising trend.

Political Involvement and Advocacy

• Organized the first congressional hearings on global warming in the mid-1970s.

• Wrote a book and ran for President in 1988 to raise awareness.

• Went to the White House in 1992 and worked on a carbon tax.

• Participated in the Kyoto treaty negotiations in 1997.

Visible Impacts of Global Warming

• Mount Kilimanjaro's disappearing snows.

• Glacier National Park's shrinking glaciers.

• Columbia Glacier's retreat.

• Water shortages for 40% of the world's population dependent on Himalayan glaciers.

• Glacier loss in the Italian Alps, South America (Peru, Argentina, Patagonia).

Ice Core Data

• Lonnie Thompson's ice core drilling reveals trapped atmospheric bubbles.

• Measurements of CO2 levels and oxygen isotopes provide temperature data for past years.

• The Clean Air Act's impact is visible in ice core samples.

• Data from mountain glaciers goes back 1,000 years, showing a medieval warming period, but current warming is far greater.

• Antarctic ice core data goes back 650,000 years, showing that CO2 levels have never exceeded 300 parts per million until now.

• Graphs illustrating CO2 levels and temperature over 650,000 years demonstrate the correlation.

• The difference between a normal temperature and an ice age is linked to CO2 levels.

Future Projections

• Within 50 years, CO2 levels are projected to increase dramatically.

• This increase is far beyond the natural cycle.

• Moral implications: Allowing this to happen is deeply unethical.

Personal Turning Point

• His son's near-fatal accident in 1989 shifted Gore's perspective.

• He traveled to Antarctica, the South Pole, the North Pole, and the Amazon to understand the issue deeply.

• Atmospheric temperature measurements show a clear upward trend since the Civil War.

• The 10 hottest years ever measured have all occurred in the last 14 years, with 2005 being the hottest.

Extreme Weather Events

• Heat waves: Europe (2003, 35,000 deaths), India (122 degrees Fahrenheit), and the American West (200 cities broke records).

• Ocean temperature increases lead to stronger storms.

• Hurricanes: Jeanne, Frances, Ivan, Emily, Dennis, Katrina.

• 2004 set an all-time record for tornadoes in the United States and typhoons in Japan (10, previous record was 7).

• The first-ever hurricane in the South Atlantic occurred in Brazil.

• Hurricane Katrina's intensification over warmer waters in the Gulf of Mexico.

• Warnings about stronger hurricanes and levee breaches in New Orleans were not heeded.

Other Effects of Global Warming

• Increased precipitation in big storm events.

• Rising insurance losses due to severe weather.

• Flooding in Asia (Mumbai, India: 37 inches of rain in 24 hours) and China.

• Increased drought, especially in Africa (Darfur, Niger) due to relocated precipitation patterns.

• Lake Chad has dried up.

• Increased soil evaporation.

Personal Connection to the Land

• Shares a story about totaling the family car at age 14.

• Describes his childhood on a farm, spending part of the year in Washington D.C.

• Notices the changing climate patterns on his farm.

Canaries in the Coal Mine

• Arctic: Experiencing faster impacts from global warming.

• Ward Hunt Ice Shelf cracked in half.

• Drunken trees due to thawing permafrost.

• Collapsing buildings and damaged pipelines.

• Fewer days of frozen tundra for driving (225 days 35 years ago, now below 75).

• Nuclear submarine data shows a precipitous drop in Arctic ice cap thickness and extent since 1970 (40% reduction in 40 years).

• Within 50-70 years, the Arctic may be completely ice-free in summertime.

Arctic Ice Cap Melting

• Ice reflects 90% of sun's rays, while open ocean absorbs 90%, leading to faster heating.

• Polar bears are drowning because they can't find ice.

• The Earth's climate is a nonlinear system with sudden jumps.

• An average 5-degree Fahrenheit increase means only 1 degree at the equator but 12 degrees at the poles.

• Changes to wind and ocean current patterns.

Ocean Conveyor

• Gulf Stream meets cold winds off Greenland, transferring heat to Western Europe.

• The ocean current system is a loop.

• Cold, salty water sinks in the North Atlantic at a rate of five billion gallons per second, driving the current.

• The melting of the last glacier in North America caused a freshwater influx, shutting off the pump and causing Europe to enter an ice age for 900-1,000 years.

• Similar event could occur if Greenland melts.

Other Environmental Issues

• Oxides of nitrogen from decaying vegetation cause air pollution.

Effect on Ecosystems

• Peak arrival date for migratory birds in the Netherlands has shifted due to warming, affecting caterpillar availability for chicks.

• Decreasing frost days in Southern Switzerland lead to an increase in invasive exotic species.

• Bark beetles are devastating spruce trees in Alaska.

• Mosquitoes are climbing to higher altitudes, expanding the range of infectious diseases.

• 30 new diseases have emerged in the last quarter century.

• Coral reefs are bleaching due to global warming.

• Species loss is occurring at 1,000 times the natural background rate.

Antarctica

• The largest mass of ice on the planet.

• Breakup of ice shelves along the Antarctic peninsula is an alarm bell.

• Ice shelves larger than Rhode Island have broken up in the last 15-20 years.

Larsen B Ice Shelf

• Meltwater forms pools on the surface.

• The ice shelf completely disappeared in 35 days in 2002 causing astonishment among scientists.

• Floating ice no longer held back land-based ice, leading to ice falling into the ocean.

• West Antarctica: If it were to go, sea level worldwide would go up 20 feet.

Greenland

• Also would raise sea level almost 20 feet if it went.

• Meltwater tunnels to the bottom of the ice and lubricates where the ice meets the bedrock.

• Dramatic increases in surface melting since 1992.

• The maps of the world will have to be redrawn.

Potential Sea Level Rise Impacts

• Florida, San Francisco Bay, the Netherlands, Beijing, Shanghai, Calcutta, and Bangladesh would be severely affected.

• The World Trade Center memorial site in Manhattan would be underwater.

China's Role

• 1. 3 billion people, surging economy, massive coal reserves.

• Using old, dirty technologies.

Three Factors Causing the Collision

• Population: Increased from 2 billion to almost 6.5 billion in one lifetime.

• Scientific and Technological Revolution: New power brings responsibility.

• Our Way of Thinking: Misconceptions and lack of awareness.

Population Pressure

• Puts pressure on food, water, and vulnerable natural resources.

• Leads to forest devastation through cutting and burning (30% of CO2 emissions).

The Boiling Frog

• Analogy: If a frog jumps into boiling water, it jumps out. If it jumps into lukewarm water that is slowly heated, it will stay until rescued.

• We need a sudden jolt to become aware of danger.

Personal Story: Tobacco

• Gore's family grew tobacco.

• His sister died of lung cancer.

• His father stopped growing tobacco after understanding the connection between smoking and cancer.

Misconceptions

• Disagreement among scientists: There is a consensus that global warming is real and caused by humans.

• Economy vs. Environment: Doing the right thing creates wealth and jobs.

• Problem is too big: We already know what to do.

The Disinformation Campaign

• Efforts to reposition global warming as theory rather than fact.

• Internal memos reveal strategies to create doubt.

• Scientists face persecution and ridicule.

• Political interference in scientific reports.

Economic Opportunities

• Japan, Europe, Australia, and Canada are ahead of the US in mileage standards for automobiles.

• California's initiative to have higher-mileage cars is being sued against.

• The companies that are building more-efficient cars are succeeding.

Solutions

• Efficient electricity appliances, end-use efficiency, higher mileage cars, other transport efficiency, renewable technology, carbon capture and sequestration.

Political Will

• A renewable resource in America.

• We can make choices to bring our individual carbon emissions to zero.

• Most nations have ratified Kyoto.

• US states and cities are taking the initiative.

Moral Issue and Call to Action

• Are Americans capable of doing great things, even though they are difficult?

• We have solved global environmental crises before (ozone layer).

• Need to act together to solve this problem.

• It is our ability to live on planet Earth that is at stake.

The Pale Blue Dot

• Carl Sagan's image of Earth from four billion miles away.

• It's our only home.

Final Message

• Future generations may ask why we didn't wake up when we had a chance.