Not just inconvenient

Recently we watched a documentary entitled “An Inconvenient Truth” by Al Gore. I’m sure the title is familiar to you because it was shown in SM cinemas some time ago. You might’ve been reluctant to watch it or perhaps you didn’t watch it at all because first, you hadn’t heard of Al Gore as a film star and second, global warming might not be your piece of cake. But if you value the Earth - the very ground you step on- then this is a film you must watch. What I learned from it are truths that aren’t just inconvenient, but also staggering, eye-opening and even a bit frightening.

A longtime and respected advocate for the environment, former American presidential candidate Al Gore has given some 1,000 talks on climate change since 1989. “An Inconvenient Truth” captures Gore’s “traveling global warming show” and punctuates it with film snippets of his personal journey to show why, out of the world’s menu of issues, Gore has remained so passionate about the environment. He is charismatic even from the silver screen and his voice commands attention.

The film begins with a monologue by Gore: “You look at that river gently flowing by. You notice the leaves rustling with the wind. You hear the birds; you hear the tree frogs. In the distance you hear a cow. You feel the grass. The mud gives a little bit on the river bank. It’s quiet; it’s peaceful. And all of a sudden, it’s a gear shift inside you. And it’s like taking a deep breath and going, ‘Oh yeah, I forgot about this.’”

He goes on to present a slideshow of pictures, facts, graphs and even amusing cartoons to illustrate his advocacy. In the slideshow, Gore reviews the scientific opinion on climate change, discusses the politics and economics of global warming, and describes the consequences that global climate change will produce if the amount of human-generated greenhouse gases is not significantly reduced in the next 50 years. Fifty years may seem like a far off time from now. But when you think about it, you realize that that’s the time your children and grandchildren will be living.

Gore also discussed the risk of the collapse of a major ice sheet in Greenland or in West Antarctica, either of which could raise global sea levels by approximately 20 feet (6m), flooding coastal areas in countries such as India and the United States and producing up to 100 million refugees. Melted water from Greenland, because of its lower salinity, could halt the Gulf Stream current and quickly trigger dramatic local cooling in Northern Europe.

The documentary ends with Gore noting that if appropriate action is taken soon, the effects of global warming can be successfully reversed by releasing less carbon dioxide and growing more plants or trees. Our ever-increasing industrialization and modernization may have made our world wealthy but that poses a paradox. It was funny how he asked the audience between amassing wealth (represented as gold bars) and between having the planet Earth to live in, which would you choose? Gold bars or the planet Earth?

Gore calls upon viewers to learn how they can help in this initiative. Everything one does has a corresponding effect on the environment -each time waste is produced creates a mini-ripple effect in this global phenomenon. Here are some everyday practical tips that we help solve the climate crisis: don’t waste paper, carry a refillable beverage bottle, modify your diet to eat less meat, buy things that last, reduce before you buy (pre-cycle) and support environmental groups.

You’ll have to see the presentation to believe it. It may not involve cars transforming into robots or a certain magical, young wizard, but for a documentary-style film, “An Inconvenient Truth” is very interesting. It’ll move you. You’ll begin to notice that our climate is hotter than ever before, our storm winds are stronger and more recurrent and the calamities (tsunami, hurricane, etc.) get deadlier and deadlier. You’ll realize that we have to face the truth boldly and do something about it. This truth isn’t just inconvenient. It’s daunting.