An inconvenient Truth

[Guest]

[Roz]

I wwonder if any Yaks saw this film? I think it sounds interesting but I don't like the fact that it's basically a political tool rather than a realistic review of climate change. You could never fit a fair review in a couple of hours anyway (more like a 1 year course for the very basics ) but I don't want to sit in the cinema going nuts watching poor or badly skewed scientific fact to fit a certain line of political argument (the latest thought is that there are likely to be a predicted reduction in sunspot activity will reduce solar input into our atmosphere which means that we'll get some breathing space to deal with climate change, but predicting sunspot activity is even more difficult than predicting the weather so don't let's rely on that )

Please don't turn this thread into a Gore/Bush discussion, we really don't have the time  I just want to know if anyone thinks this film is worth watching

[ferdinand_the_yak]

I'll be going to see it next week. It looks interesting. Politics aside, there are some facts that we can't ignore, I'd like to see how Al Gore does.

[savage727]

For all the hype about this movie here it is basically a no show.  It is not even playing anywhere near me and for people who have only so much discretionary income to spend on things like going out to the movies; they are going to spend it on something that will entertain them rather than listen to the message this movie sends. 

[Roz]

Jo did you see it? Apparently it's playing at a local arts picture house, and a non-academic friend went to see it and thought it was both interesting and convincing.

[Eve Harrington]

Frankly, I'm too scared to see it.  I'm scared to see the difference in the icebergs and polar icecaps between 1950 & 2000, etc. I'm terrified to hear all of the things that "could" happen in the future.  Whether or not it's politically motivated on Gore's part, I'm not sure.  He certainly has nothing to lose politically at this point, and has given no indication he's running for any political office in 2008. 
As with all documentaries, the truth does get skewed(if ever so slightly) to fit into the context of the story. But I think Gore is sincere in trying to educate people about the potential consequences of global warming.  I'm not a scientist, so I don't know how accurate his facts are. But I will say I haven't seen a lot of 'theory debunking' on this movie.

  Anyway, to me this is far scarier than any horror movie I've ever seen.

[Roz]

Potential?

Seriously, I've just spent the last 4 years looking at the direct consequences of global climate change so I'm all too often a prophet of doom and gloom on such issues... however in good news there's no evidence yet for increased wave heights due to global climate change, so for the moment no one's going to get more seasick than in the past

[Eve Harrington]

Potential?

Seriously, I've just spent the last 4 years looking at the direct consequences of global climate change so I'm all too often a prophet of doom and gloom on such issues... however in good news there's no evidence yet for increased wave heights due to global climate change, so for the moment no one's going to get more seasick than in the past

I agree with you in regard to the fact that we've gone waaaaaaaaay beyond potential consequences.   I, for one, remember MUCH colder NYC winters 15 years ago....
I was trying to be diplomatic about not turning this discussion political.  I definitely think the film is worth seeing, if I can build up the nerve.

[ferdinand_the_yak]

I saw it a couple of weeks ago. Of course in 2 hours it wasn't more than a very quick runthrough of several key points, but all in all, it was very informative. Eve, it is definitely very confrontng when, for example, Gore shows the stats for carbon dioxide levels (which cause the thickining of the atmosphere) for the last couple of thousand years compared to the last 10. Also when he showed what certain mountains/glaciers looked like 50 years ago, and what they looked like now. For example, 50 years ago, Mount Kilimanjaro in Japan was covered in snow. Today, there is barely a few patches scattered here and there over the mountain. In a few more years, there will be no more snow on Kilimanjaro. Confronting, indeed.

I was most ashamed when they were discussing the Kyoto treaty (plans for reducing global greenhouse emissions) and Gore said that only 2 industrialised nations had so far refused to sign it - the USA and Australia. What is worse is that many American states have already ignored the current administration's stance on Kyoto and have implemented greenhouse controls of their own, leaving Australia pretty much the only country to not have ratified Kyoto. Shame Howard Although I knew this already, it was made all the more poignant after I had seen some of the effects of global warming.

As for politics, of course a few barbs were thrown in, but I definitely wouldn't say it was over the top. More like "the current administration has not done this" etc.

See it - its worth it.

[Roz]

I, for one, remember MUCH colder NYC winters 15 years ago....
I was trying to be diplomatic about not turning this discussion political.  I definitely think the film is worth seeing, if I can build up the nerve.

That's really interesting. Of course all of Britain is in higher latitudes than New York, but thanks to a warm current of water that comes up from the South West Atlantic we are very warm for our latitude (this is also why we are so green/rainy), so basically we aren't used to the cold, my parents had never felt cold like New York in February (and we've been to Svalbard admittedly in June   but it is the arctic ) I can only imagine what it was like 15 years ago.

If we don't want to turn all political we can talk about the effects we have seen without moaning about whether anyone is putting a wind turbine/photovoltaic cell array on top of their house or purchasing a smaller car (NOT A PRIUS... if you don't drive it properly you don't save anything )

[Roz]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BjrOi4vF24