Project Four: An Inconvenient Truth

An Inconvenient Truth featuring Al Gore is a hard hitting film centered on the hard truth of global climate change. Gore presents information in this film that is both shocking and mind-blowing to the typical person who has ignored the climate their entire life. Gore stresses throughout the film many different topics and in the end, he wants everyone to be the change that is needed to turn this environment around or at least be the one that helps slow down the process of tearing the Earth apart day by day. This film is a lot to handle the first time that you view it but Gore does a great job of appealing to your emotions to help persuade you to agree with the fact that, you are part of destroying the Earth and you need to change your lifestyle or the generations after you will be worse. This film can be considered successful or unsuccessful for many different reasons but at the end of the film, I felt the same about the climate crisis as non-existent. The more I thought about the topic and began to research more into the matter, my feelings began to change and felt a new growing concern for the environment. This new concern was achieved through the hard facts presented by Gore and being reinforced through research.

There are several different types of committees and organizations that have been set up across the world and the more you read through the materials, you quickly discover the growing concern for the environment and what the true issues are for the people of the world. All the facts that Gore presented throughout the film seemed to be relevant and holding the truth due to his large involvement in the climate crisis and through more reading his facts begin to become reoccurring and this is not a large surprise. According to the Climate Change Front and Center at World Economic Forum, I discovered more information regarding the facts that Gore presented in the film. Gore referred to images containing mountains that were once snow covered and over time due to global warming have begun losing this snow and has caused problems throughout different parts of the world. In this article it also refers to the topic and it focuses on California which is closer to us and is easier to grasp than parts of the world that we have never seen before. They discussed at the Climate Change Front and Center at World Economic Forum that California is losing snow coverage in the Sierra Mountains which is a cause of global warming and this is a source of drinking water for these people and if these mountains lost snow coverage it can result in a terrible outcome for the citizens of California (Climate). So do you want to lose your drinking water because you just had to take an extra five minutes in the shower?

Over time the thought of global warming was a small topic that people were just simply overlooking but Gore believed for the longest time that the world was warming up, but information presented by the scientist in various fields concluded that this was not true and that they thought the world was actually getting colder. How is the atmosphere temperature decreasing if mountains that used to be covered in snow are now bare? According to Than, I found that we were provided with the wrong information regarding the atmosphere temperature, and this was not due to the lack of intelligence of the scientist but due to the equipment used to record these temperatures dating back to the 1970’s, which was inaccurate and different than today. This equipment from the 1970’s provided a false temperature read out and in the end provided the wrong base for comparing temperatures (Than). Gore presents all this information throughout his film, but you do not consider it to be nothing but just another fact that he has found over time, but after reading some more information you begin to believe his statements even more.

Gore has been faced with many people that are opposed to his claims and these are mostly centered around the oil and coal industry which are focusing strongly on profits and not the future of the world. The Exxon Mobil Corporation is one the largest companies in the world and is responsible for some of the highest profits ever recorded and which is all gained from oil. Gore states in the film that the reduction of oil will cause a great reduction in the release of greenhouse gases and will slow down the global warming affect. Exxon has a different view on this and before the release of the film, Exxon donated a large sum of money to unveil two commercials that are known as global warming alarm that provides information regarding the decrease in burning of fossil fuels to reduce emissions (Shakir). Why would Exxon release commercials that are harmful to their bottom line? Exxon released these TV ads to avoid responsibility for the global warming crisis and did not want consumers of their oil to rebel against them due to the Gore film, and Exxon is responsible for the burning of these precious fossil fuels and a major role in the warming of the Earth’s atmosphere. Recent studies from scientist conclude that global warming is based on human activities and this is no surprise because we as people are always looking to get the most money possible and ruining the future has never been top priority until recent years (Shakir).


The Exxon Mobil Company is a prime example of a company that is only concerned about the bottom line and through its notorious funding of anti-climate change has been providing information that confuses citizens and keeps bringing more money in. These claims made by Exxon are false and they have cut spending for these anti-climate change organizations to cover themselves for providing a product that is ruining the environment (Legum). An Inconvenient Truth stresses the thought of caring more and not worrying about the now but the future and Gore’s use of a personal connection to providing a better future for his son is an example of what he is trying to convey to these large industries. If Exxon Mobil were to be more focused about providing a better future for the generations to come after them, they will start a revolution for change for the climate crisis. Obviously, a decrease in emissions from fossils is the next step in stopping global warming but is it enough?
According to Alan Zarembo, achieving such a reduction of emissions that would show significant gains of the reverse of global warming are almost impossible. Replacing all fossil-fueled electricity power plants worldwide with wind, solar, and nuclear energy solutions would result in a 39 percent reduction on the Earth. This reduction is an unachievable task in my opinion; it is not possible to think that removing all these power planets is not going to hurt the Earth even more. In most cases it takes more of fossil fuels being burnt to convert to these new forms of energy. These methods are currently not efficient enough and right now are causing more harm to the planet than good. During the film Gore expresses an immediate need to change our lifestyles to help reduce our carbon footprint and his use of facts are relevant but do not take in count of the big picture. In reducing the carbon footprint, the Earth will be better off in the future but we can no expect significant changes right away.

Change is needed to improve our lives and the lives of generations to come. This change is urgent and with participation from all aspects of the planet, change can come. An Inconvenient Truth is a film that educates the viewers and with education comes change. After viewing this film and gaining insight into the horrible climate situation, I feel that we as Americans, the largest producers of CO2 emissions need to start a revolution for change and provide a brighter future for the generations to come. Gore is an influential player in the global climate crisis and through his great forms of persuasion, I am left with one question recirculating in my mind; What can I do now to help give my children a better future and what are they going to do to provide the next generation with an even better future?


 
Works Cited
"Climate Change Front and Center at World Economic Forum." Truthout (2007): n. pag. Web. 25 Oct 2010.

Legum, Judd. "ExxonMobil Stops Funding Competitive Enterprise Institute ." Thinkprogress (2006): n. pag. Web. 27 Oct 2010.

Shakir, Faiz. "Big Oil Launches Attack On Al Gore." Think Progress (2006): n. pag. Web. 25 Oct 2010.

Than , Ker. "Key Argument for Global Warming Critics Evaporates." (2005): n. pag. Web. 25 Oct 2010.

Zarembo, Alan. "Game Over on Global Warming?." Truthout (2007): n. pag. Web. 27 Oct 2010.