Global Warming

I was at a Seminar at work where the speaker mentioned various factors that our business customers are noticing and the companies should identify them too. One of those factors was “Green” factor or awareness of Environmental issues. In the same context, the speaker mentioned the book “An Inconvenient Truth” by Al Gore. The coincidence is that very same day my roommate brought home the DVD, “An Inconvenient Truth”.

“AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH, offers a passionate and inspirational look at one man's fervent crusade to halt global warming's deadly progress in its tracks by exposing the myths and misconceptions that surround it” (http://www.climatecrisis.net/aboutthefilm/). I should call it as a recorded presentation or documentary by Al Gore instead of a movie. I have seen numerous movies; movies that have spent millions of dollars on special effects, crew, exotic locations. However, it is surprising to see how a single stage, a large projected screen, a flat screen TV and few pictures, footages and data can impact you more than the multi million dollar projects.

Al Gore talks about facts backed up by scientific data. He begins with the most beautiful picture of earth taken from space and then dives into what could be changing this beautiful world. Gore talks about increase in the amount of Carbon dioxide and the risks associated with the increase. The increase is not gradual over the last few decades. The steep climb in the recent years is the reason why few years have changed something that millions of years haven’t; the increase in temperature. In one of the charts, Gore shows how the level of CO2 that has always remained within bounds for thousands of years have shot up in the last few decades. It is no longer funny when I think that it hasn’t snowed in Richmond, VA this winter. The picture below from the book “An Inconvenient Truth” depicts the inconvenient truth.

Another issue that we have to think about is population? Gore talks about the massive mission that we have overtaken and how quickly we overstepped on it. The population that reached 2 billion in early twentieth century has quickly risen to close to 7 billion today; that’s a 5 billion increase in a single century. Thus, what mankind reached in 20 centuries, we managed to nearly triple it in 1 century. The population consumes resources and we are finding it the hard way. Cutting down trees is not helping the cause but instead it is worsening it. Few pictures that show how land masses have changed over the course of 20-30 years are shocking and scary. All this is still not enough for the world’s population. Another example that Gore mentions in the documentary is that about 40% of the world’s population depends on the water that flows from the Himalayas. The snow covered Himalayan ranges are melting quicker and that could lead to a massive problem for the World’s top 2 populated countries that rely on it for water sources.

There are various other facts presented by Gore; facts that are true and eye opening. Few other topics touched by the documentary include glaciers and ice masses like Arctic and Anti-Arctic ice masses that are changing more rapidly than expected. The changes to these ice masses could mean about 20 feet increase in the sea level and also increase in the water temperature around the world.

I am not huge on political issues. Gore to me was always a political figure. However, after watching this documentary, I am convinced that Al Gore not getting elected could be a blessing in disguise. Gore is trying to persuade people into thinking about their future. He brings around a point that everyone is aware of but no one is acting on. It’s a point that could have the same response that Galileo received centuries back. No one might believe the seriousness and the urgency around it. I knew about the Global Warming issue; however, I never knew how quickly it could impact us. There is a part in the documentary where Gore talks about oceanic currents and how the pump keeps the planet alive. It startling you when he mentions that if the currents stop flowing, it could take approx. 10 years for us to go into Ice Age.

The movie has definitely made me think about a lot of things around me. It has implanted the worm in my brain that wiggles to make something happen. I or for that matter any individual would feel helpless and insignificant in this vast galaxy. However, the tiny planet that we live on is changing very day and it is not changing for good. I can understand that we cannot stop it from happening. But we can definitely slow the damage. I look at it as a disease that is not completely curable. However, with proper care and control, we can increase the life expectancy of the planet.

Finally, it is not for anyone else that you do it; u do it for yourself. The documentary is just an awareness drive. Gore uses an analogy of a frog to illustrate the need of awareness around the world. The story goes that a frog, placed in hot water, will immediately jump out of the boiling water. However, when placed in lukewarm water whose temperature is slowly rising, the frog will not notice the change. Well, that’s the extreme since there will be frogs that will jump out eventually. That is exactly what we want from people; to understand the rising issue and work on it.

We have received a lot from planet Earth for thousands of years. It is now our time to give planet earth something that is long overdue.

Please visit the websites below for more insight on global warming.

http://www.stopglobalwarming.org
http://www.climatecrisis.net