Review: "An Inconvenient Truth" is a wake up call for Americans with cavalier environmental attitudes

Sunday, September 10, 2006 by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger Editor of NaturalNews.com (See all articles...) Tags: population correction, global warming, environmental protection

If you haven't seen "An Inconvenient Truth" yet, you owe it to yourself to go watch this film. It's a true masterpiece of presentation that manages to tell the truth about carbon dioxide emissions and climate change without sounding alarmist. The movie is, of course, the brainchild of Al Gore, a person I never really respected much when he was a politician. But as a person who is willing to put everything on the line and is asking Americans to wake up to the reality of what's happening in the world around them, Al Gore has earned my renewed respect. He has reinvented himself and he's now squarely positioned as a thought leader outside the realm of politics. In fact, this single effort of his could be far more influential than all the efforts to censor science and deny global warming that are being fronted by the current administration.

I also admire Al Gore's presentation in "An Inconvenient Truth." It spells out what's happening with an array of animated illustrations that make a very convincing and scientifically sound argument about the imminent threat of global warming. Through our cars, factories, farming, transportation and other industrialized activities, we are emitting record levels of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere -- levels that have never been seen in the history of our planet. If this trend is not immediately reversed, devastating results are inevitable.

As Al Gore explains in the movie, receding glaciers and the melting of ice caps on the planet will lead not only to rising ocean levels around the world -- threatening literally hundreds of millions of people who live in cities close to sea level -- but also altering ocean currents and causing weather patterns that will result in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of humans and animals. This is all spelled out in great detail with the aid of overwhelming scientific evidence.

The argument on global warming is over

The science on this issue is beyond debate. The only debate is in the arena of politics and spin. There have been no legitimate scientific assaults on "An Inconvenient Truth," there has only been political denial by pro-business miscreants who would willingly trash the planet in exchange for a 10 percent boost in next quarter's profits.

In the film, Al Gore addresses and refutes many of the myths and counterarguments about global warning, such as the ridiculous idea that we have to "balance the earth with the economy" -- a misleading phrase used by pollution apologists who narrow-mindedly claim the only way to grow the economy is to destroy the planet in the process.

There's a bit of humor in the film, a whole lot of insight, and regrettably, more than a few slow moments that delve into Al Gore's personal history. Although these moments provide some interesting insight into the motivations of Al Gore as an individual, they didn't lend much to the primary purpose of the film, in my opinion.

Gore reinvents himself

I'm skeptical of the intentions of most people in power, including politicians. The vast majority of people in power simply use it in order to accumulate wealth or other personal benefits. There's no doubt Al Gore has accumulated his share of wealth, but with this film, he has made a choice to spend a significant amount of time and energy doing something constructive, something that's raising the alarm and helping us all become aware of an enormous, shared challenge that we must act now to overcome.

He did not have to do that. It could even be argued that there were many reasons why it was against his interest to do so, yet he chose to pursue this activity, and I applaud him for that. If only other leaders -- both inside and outside the political arena -- would have the courage to stand up and do what's right, we might not have so many of the problems that are facing our world today.

Lastly, I admire Al Gore's communication ability. As a communicator myself, I'm more than a bit impressed to see someone who has mastered the art so successfully. Of course he's had a lot of practice, not only in politics but also in giving this particular speech over a thousand times. You would hope that anyone giving a speech a thousand times would be very good at delivering it, and he is. I'm also glad to see a former professional politician doing something that's actually useful for humanity rather than sitting around in Washington pretending to represent the will of the people (the favorite pastime of professional politicians, it seems).

I strongly recommend that you see "An Inconvenient Truth." It is a wake-up call to America -- one that would be ignored at our own peril. If we fail to recognize what we are doing to our planet, then we will suffer dire consequences that will inevitably include a massive population correction.

Make no mistake about it: The earth doesn't need humans in order to survive, but humans absolutely need the earth in order to survive. If we, through our actions, unleash unprecedented climate change, then we're going to suffer the results. It isn't nature's revenge and it isn't punishment -- it's just cause and effect.

Overall, in "An Inconvenient Truth," Al Gore paints a grim but highly educational picture of the ecological challenges facing humanity from today forward. It is a movie not to be ignored or trivialized.

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