AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH

I first heard the documentary film, "An inconvenient truth" from my professor in Public International Law, Ambassador Tolentino, who happens to be an advocate of environmental law. Well after downloading it from limewire, I was able to watch it last night and it somehow opened my eyes to the possibility that global warming really could devastate the world we are living in. Though, a lot of debates are going on right now after the film has been shown, whether Al Gore has a strong scientific proof on everything he has presented, still I believe we must do something to prevent damage to the world.

AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH, shows Vice President Al Gore's fervent crusade to stop global warming, which he did after his defeat in the 2000 Presidential election. Al Gore depicts some of the misconceptions that surround global warming.

Al Gore, I believe indirectly ridiculed the Bush Administration when he said that we should be more or equally concerned with some other threats to the world than terrorism, and one of this is Global Warming.

Al Gore presented a series of statistics, showing the rise of the temperature of the earth due to global warming, which he points out to be caused by the greenhouse gases. A history of the world geography, showing how the mountains like Mt. Kilimanjaro have changed a lot through the years from being a "snowy mountain" to an almost "dry" one. Al Gore holds that the catastrophes like strong hurricanes are some of the harsh consequences of global warming. He gave a picture of what lies ahead if we continually procrastinate on halting global warming's progress. He presented what's going to happen if Greenland and West Antarctica would collapse and be submerged into a high level of sea-water caused by the melted ice. He depicted that Manhattan in New York, the very point where the World Trade Center Memorial is being built; Florida; India and Bangladesh; Beijing and Shanghai in China; and the Netherlands would be extremely submerged into water through the rise of sea level. In consequence of this, there would be a lot of refugees who will seek some place to transfer their homes to.

He also gave a history of the tragedies and catastrophies the world has encountered. From the diseases, viruses that have caused deaths to the extinction of the species of animals and plants.

According to Al Gore there is a Collission between civilization and the earth. This is caused by: 1) Population Explosion, in consequence of which a rising demand for food, water and other resources are at hand; 2) Scientific and Technological Revolution. According to Al Gore New Technology dramatically altered the predictable consequences of our old habits and old technology, and lastly 3)the Economic Patterns we have. In line with this, Al Gore was somewhat apologetic, when he depicted their family business of tobacco in the past, which according to him contributed to the climate crisis we are experiencing right now.

The crusade for halting Global Warming has long began. It started from the conclusions of scientists who were ridiculed and silenced by the previous administrations according to Al Gore, because "facts lead them to an inconvenient truth". There were even 928 articles written in the US on global warming, specifically denouncing greenhouse gases, but these were doubted and criticized as having no strong bases. Al Gore criticized how US took a long time to be a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol,which is an agreement by countries with the objective of reducing Greenhouse gases that cause climate change.

Al Gore ultimately brings a persuasive argument that we can no longer afford to view global warming as a political issue - rather, it is the biggest moral challenges facing our global civilization.

I liked the end of the documentary, where in between the credits they have shown some things we should do to change the way we live and solve the climate crisis. Here are some:

1. Reduce carbon emissions
2. Buy energy efficient appliances
3. Weatherize your house
4. Re-cycle, Re-use, Reduce
5. Switch to renewable sources of energy
6. Plant lots of trees.
7. Speak up in your community and get Organized and take back the power
8. Call radio stations and write newspapers, if they don't listen make your own media.
9. Help farmers grow food for local markets with organic methods.
10. Raise fuel economy standards, require lower emissions from automobiles.

And this is I liked the most! "DEMOCRACY ISN'T SOMETHING YOU HAVE, IT IS SOMETHING YOU DO! So Vote for leaders who pledge to solve the crisis! Write to Congress!, if they don't listen Run for Congress! And if you believe in Prayer, Pray that people will find the strength to change! Learn as much as you can from the crisis and put it into action!

"What gets us into trouble is not what we don't know. It's what we know for sure that just ain't so." - Mark Twain