An Inconvenient Truth - the perfect antidote to media spin
In the film An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore arms the viewer with two
priceless facts related to climate change.
Firstly, Gore notes that, of a sample of 928 peer-reviewed scientific
papers on climate change from the last decade, none (zero, 0) disagree
with the consensus that man-made pollution has caused most of the warming
of the last 50 years.
Secondly, Gore reveals that of all the published media stories on climate
change, 53% imply that there is disagreement, or otherwise cast doubt
on global warming being a serious problem.
These two pieces of information, and a graph predicting collosal increases
in carbon dioxide emissions to 2050, should be all we need to decide whether
we want to be part of the solution, or part of the problem.
Measurements say it is happening. The doubt must really lie in what
widespread public acceptance of the facts might mean for corporate profits
and the government. This may explain why commentators often still prefer
to present climate fact as climate 'theory'. It excuses inaction.
This film is definitely part of the solution. It should be part of the
syllabus, part of every induction, part of parliamentary debates and part
of the reason we encourage each other to invest in activities which put
global habitat before profit.
We're all in the same boat on this one.
The Leg | 21 Oct 2006
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