Al Gore states in the documentary that the most vulnerable part of the earth is its atmosphere. People claim that the Earth is too big for us as humans to actually do any damage to it, however Al Gore goes on to say that the atmosphere is thin enough that we are easily capable of causing damage to it.
He goes on to explain what global warming is. At first he gives the textbook definition, the one we've all heard a dozen times. Then he plays the following clip which definitely adds to the humor of the documentary!
Roger Revelle was one of Al Gores college professors who was the first person to propose measuring carbon dioxide in the Earths atmosphere. After Revelle put together years worth of data he was able to piece together the relationship between the increase in CO2 and the increase in human activity.
The
documentary then goes into the melting of glaciers and ice. Gore states
that 40% of all people in the world get their drinking water from
rivers and streams that are fed more than half from the water coming off
of glaciers. Within this next half century, this 40% of the population
is going to face a big problem with obtaining drinking water.If you compare a graph of 1000 years of CO2 concentrations and 1000 years of temperatures, they look the same, the relationship is undeniable. There's evidence that the more CO2 there is, the hotter the temperatures.
"...what we take for granted might not be here for our children..." - Al Gore
The ten hottest years on record have occurred in the last 14 years. The hottest of all was 2005. In 2003, there was a heat wave in Europe that killed 35,000 people. Al Gore says that we are already seeing these predicted heat waves of global warming. Consecutive days of 100+ temperatures are more common now than ever, and not just on land but in oceans too. And when ocean temperatures rise, winds increase, and stronger storms result. Take Hurricane Katrina for example."The Era of Procrastination, of Half-Measures, of Soothing and Baffling Expedients, of Delays, is Coming to its Close. In its Place We are Entering a Period of Consequences." - Sir Winston Churchill
Here are some other interesting facts I learned from this documentary:- Permafrost is a thick layer of soil that stays frozen and never melts. At least that's what we thought, but we were wrong. We are now seeing permafrost begin to melt and shift, destroying homes, roads, habitats, and more.
- In the Alaskan Tundra, 35 years ago you could drive on the snow safely 225 days a year, now its down to just below 75 days.
- In the last 40 years the Arctic Ice cap has diminished by 40%
- There are shifts in seasons due to warming temperatures.
- 30 new diseases have emerged in the last century, some that we once had in control are coming back.
- Coral reefs are bleaching because of the warming temperatures, so all animals that rely on the coral reefs now have no habitat
- Scientists predicted that a specific area of ice would last another 100 years, but in just 35 days it was gone... they were shocked. When we will learn?
Communicating and educating is key. We already have the knowledge and science it would take to make the correct changes. Are we in the U.S. going to be left behind as the rest of the world bands together to help save the environment? Are we capable of making changes even if they are hard? Yes we are.
We thought the hole in the ozone layer would be impossible to fix, but we fixed it. And it took the world working together, making the right changes to slowly mend what was broken. We can do it again.
