Inconvenient Truth

Author's Rating:  

Documentaries lie on the continuum between fact and fiction. They show recreated reality as the producer sees it. Will the paying audience agree? Al Gore's anecdote about South America and Africa demonstrates the changing styles of science. Will today's beliefs become as obsolete as 18th century science? Gore says pollution causes global warming by trapping heat that would escape into space. Is carbon dioxide the sole cause? What if the output from the sun is increasing? What if the orbit of the earth is nearer to the sun? Gore explains his arguments. There was global warming during Medieval times. One difference is the higher level of CO2 compared to the estimates from the past. Gore predicts skyrocketing levels in 50 years. [If true, people will die off as during the Global Cooling of the 14th century and solve the problem until the next cycle.]

Gore said the ten hottest years of the past 2 centuries were in the past decades; the earth is warming up since the last Ice Age. The warmer oceans create bigger hurricanes. Was the New Orleans disaster of 2005 due in part to faulty engineering or politics? Gore lost the 2000 Presidential election because he didn't carry his home state of Tennessee. Was that due to his advocacy of NAFTA or the Gun Ban? Did people distrust Gore's judgment? Global warming causes both floods and droughts. Ocean and wind currents redistribute tropic heat. This film also advertises Al Gore as if he was running for office again. Gore explains the effects of earlier springs on increasing insects that adversely affect human life. Gore says the melting glaciers of Greenland can cause ocean levels to rise by 20 feet. This would devastate Florida, San Francisco, and other places because of the rise of the oceans.

Could the world's population have tripled in 40 years? Wouldn't that require massive increases in food? Carbon emissions correlate to relative wealth of the countries. An urban legend (?) Of a frg in hot water is used as a warning. Gore's older sister smoked cigarettes and died of lung cancer. [Gore didn't explain this as caused by big corporations and their advertising.] The lack of articles questioning global warming could demonstrate censorship. Big corporations funded universities and direct research, its not just the White House that manipulates statistics. Gore failed to point out how Big Oil has rigged the laws to create high gasoline consumption. Just look at America before the 1950s when people shopped and worked at local small businesses and most did not own automobiles or air conditioners. "Are you ready to change the way you live?" [Are you, Senator Gore?] The film gives a number of suggestions to reduce energy consumption voluntarily. [Gore does not recommend nationalizing Big Oil to prevent further damage to the people and environment, as has happened since the 1940s. Countries like Mexico and Venezuela that nationalized their oil industries have low gas prices and energy independence.]

Sep 24, 2008