Is any part of An Inconvenient Truth controversial?

Question

Is any part of An Inconvenient Truth controversial? I watched the movie An Inconvenient Truth yesterday. It seems to have a lot of good facts. I asked a question on Ask Yahoo about oxygen dating because of it and somebody called it An Inconvenient Lie. Is there a legimitate reason to call it a lie, or was somebody just being witty?

Answer 1

The movie is basically accurate. There is near-universal agreement among scientists that human activity contributes to global warming. Most of the people who disagree with the movie have no legitimate basis for their disagreement, they just get angry at things they don't like (hence "Inconvenient" in the movie's name).

Answer 2

I have not seen the movie so I am unqualified to speak about it. As for global warming I wonder where Al Gore was 11,000 years ago when there was 10,000 feet of ice covering Wisconsin? I know that global warming is true and that it has been going on for some time. What the pundits never mention is that by the history of the Earth we are in a rare period of global cooling. Typical Earth climate didn't allow for permanent ice, even at the poles.

Answer 3

because the human origins of international warming and climate replace ARE shown. because soe crackpotswho don't realize technological awareness opt for to trust oil corporation propaganda would not replace that. And the actual shown actuality that the oil companises bribed a uk decide reachable down a pretend verdict about Gore's movie would not replace it both. "An Inconvenient truth" is precise--no longer between the "accusations" leveled hostile to it has stood up.

Answer 4

Some of the details about exactly what will happen and when are still being debated by serious people. Not the basics; global warming is real, it's caused by us, it's not natural, it's a serious threat to our economy and to people in poor countries around the world who don't have the means to cope with it.

Here's some solid information about the basic scientific agreement on global warming and just a little of the data underlying it.

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/fu...

http://scrippsco2.ucsd.edu/graphics_gall...

http://aip.org/history/climate/co2.htm...

http://www.ipcc.ch/spm2feb07.pdf...

Not from some weirdos, but from the most respected scientific organizations in the world. Practically every scientific organization publicly supports the reality of global warming.

The people below are hardly fans of Al Gore. They don't get their information from "An Inconvenient Truth", they get it from the best scientists in the world. None of these people are fools, or environmental crazies. You may not respect them all, but surely you respect some.

"The science of global warming is clear. We know enough to act now. We must act now."

James Rogers, CEO of Charlotte-based Duke Energy.

"The overwhelming majority of atmospheric scientists around the world and our own National Academy of Sciences are in essential agreement on the facts of global warming and the significant contribution of human activity to that trend."

Russell E. Train, Republican, former environmental official under Presidents Nixon and Ford

"We simply must do everything we can in our power to slow down global warming before it is too late. The science is clear. The global warming debate is over."

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Republican, Governor, California

"Our nation has both an obligation and self-interest in facing head-on the serious environmental, economic and national security threat posed by global warming."

John McCain, Republican, Senator, Arizona

"These technologies will help us become better stewards of the environment - and they will help us to confront the serious challenge of global climate change."

President George Bush

Answer 5

First reason to suspect-Al Gore...throughout the movie he keeps throwing in clips of his defeat...get over it!

Second- The Kyoto Treaty. Gore and Leiberman signed it, but the Clinton Administration NEVER sent it to the Senate for ratification.

Third- The reason the current administration does not ratify is that the treaty gives China a blanket exemption. China is building coal fired power plants at a rate of one a month. These are one of the biggest contributors of Carbon Dioxide. By 2010, China will be the biggest producer, passing up the US

with no constraints by the treaty!

Fourth- The earth does go through cycles, by the data presented the carbon concentration is 10 times what it has historically been, yet the overall ocean temperature or mean sea level has not risen.

Fifth- There are layers of vegetation in the arctic that only grow in average temp of 67 degrees F. 10 thousand years ago, the glaciers were 3000 feet thick at the US/Canada border. Read the Lewis and Clark journals from 200 years ago, at the mouth of the Columbia River (OR/Wa) they noted iceberg passing them i the ocean. The journals of Sir Francis Drake showed he could not get further than the Frasier River due to it being locked in with ice, the Ocean on the West Coast of Canada!

This rapid warming has been going on for 10 thousand years, extrapolate that out and you will see how fast this change is...

Sixth-Al Gore is evangelical, he states the earth is only 15 thousand years old, that man and god have created this, and this is the fire and brimstone shown in the bible as the coming of the lord.

Do we really believe, as insignificant as we are, that we can influence this earth, in the short amount of time?

seven- Al Gore stated he invented the Internet
eight-Al Gore stated that he and his wife "tipper" were the basis for the book/movie "Love Story"
nine-Al Gore stated "I was at the North Pole on a submarine"

need I say more.....

OOps, sorry your question

Oxygen dating of ice is not reliable. Ice is not the original form of the precipitation, but the result of compression/temperature/snowfall.

Notice in the movie how Gore always says "My friend gave me this information" , My Friend told me about this, My friend was there", never stating very many names.

Doesnt THAT sound strange? Cutting edge data, confirming global warming, but only referred to as from "a friend"

Answer 6

The entire movie is based not on science but on a desired political outcome. There has been a wealth of science that debunks all aspects of the man-made part of global warming, and even whether GW is really happening at all. But any scientist who does speak out in opposition to the "consensus" is branded a "denier" (an attempt to equate a scientific viewpoint with holocaust deniers). Attempts are made to show that some who are skeptical were "paid" for their research, but no mention is ever made of the exponentially greater amounts of grant money paid for researchers who are in the man-made camp.

Go here for another viewpoint backed up with science.

http://epw.senate.gov/repwhitepapers/HOT%20AND%20COLD%20MEDIA%20SPIN%20CYCLE.pdf

And before anyone whines about the fact that these facts were presented by a politician, I remind you of algore's life profession. He is not, as some might think, a meteorologist. He is a ....... politician.

Answer 7

It's a theory. There are other scientists that suspect increased solar activity, or cow farts, or whatever - is causing global warming. I will watch the movie myself because I like to hear all sides of the argument, but I'm NOT going to believe it just because Al Gore said it's true.

Answer 8

Well, Gore has overlooked lots of other data. I have not personally seen it, but I do know other geologists who have and think it is ridiculous. I wish I could tell you exactly why, but I don't know enough about what is said in the movie.

[EDIT] In response to the the above comment, some scientist do claim that the sun is the major factor in global climate change. however, their data only sort-of agree (one paper in particular was so adament about their being a linear relationship between solar irradiance and climate but their data suggested only r=.4, which isn't really an indication of anything). Solar influences are not the only things influencing climate. Tectonics have a lot to do with it too. The thermal isolation of Antarctica by the separation of South America from Antarctica played a large role in the glaciation of Antarctica and the global climate today that is heavily influenced by the thermohaline circulation of the global oceans.

While, I agree that humans aren't having as big of affect as the media is making it out to be, to place everything on solar influences would be just as bad as blaming everything on humans.

Answer 9

Here's the problem -- Al Gore's movie presents only one side of the story. He happens to be right - but he ignores some seemingly compelling evidence against global warming.

The lies come from the people that try to argue against global warming. If you look at the climate and geological records it is OBVIOUS that global warming is being accelerated by human activity.

The nonsense about "cow farts" is just that -- the level of methane in the atmosphere is insignificant compared to the level of carbon dioxide. At present the level of methane in the atmosphere is about 1.7 ppm, compared to carbon dioxide levels above 365 ppm. Not only that - but human activity is responsible for the recent rises in carbon dioxide AND methane (see graph #1 from the NOAA, not exactly a bunch of environmentalist hippies).

Then take a look at historical levels of CO2 and compare those to the temperature record (graph 2 is CO2 levels, graph 3 is temperatures). It's fairly obvious that CO2 levels make a pretty damn big impact on global temperatures.

Since it's obvious that humans are pumping greenhouse gasses such as CO2 and CH4 into the atmosphere (not to mention N2O), and it's also obvious that these gasses cause the planet to get warmer -- what do you think should happen? I don't know about you, but I'd expect the earth to get warmer... and guess what... IT IS! Let's look at another graph of recent temperatures... I'll show three - a 2000 year graph (4), a 1000 year graph (5), and a 150 year graph (6)... Yep, pretty obvious that the planet has warmed significantly over the past 100 years.

As for people that say this is a normal pattern. Yes, obviously the planet warms and cools (see graph 7). But what is also obvious from the graph is how incredibly fast this recent warming period has come on. This is not normal. Look at how smooth and gradual the other climate changes have been -- then look at where 2004 fits on the graph -- it just jumps up out of nowhere!

Any reasonable person can conclude that human activity is having a real effect on the global temperature. To deny this fact is simply absurd and ignores very simple truths.

...end of rant.

Edit:
I lied, time to rant more...

First - to BMS. You sir, are an idiot.

The sea level IS RISING - and it's rising at a faster rate than has been seen in centuries. Also - the average ocean temperature has risen by EVEN MORE THAN THE AVERAGE AIR TEMPERATURE. Just saying something doesn't make it true - try looking things up before you make idiotic statements.

Here's another gem from BMS - "There are layers of vegetation in the arctic that only grow in average temp of 67 degrees F." WHAT? What the hell is a "layer of vegetation"? Nowhere in the arctic does it EVER average 67 degrees F - NOWHERE. If you mean fossilized layers... Ever heard of plate tectonics? Antarctica was once tropical as well - that doesn't mean it was tropical IN THE SAME LOCATION. God you're an idiot.

Now, to mountaingym (or as I like to call you "mr. answer most the questions brooks b has answered and give the exact same information except explain it very poorly and never give a source so they can do some actual research")

Why is it that many older geologists like to doubt global warming... Might it have something to do with the fact that when they went to school and entered the work force they mostly did work related to hydrocarbon fuels!?? I think so. Just to check on this hypothesis of mine I asked my geology professor -- he agreed with me (he worked for Chevron research after he got his master's degree). I win.

Denying that humans are having an effect on the global temperatures is simply idiotic. The planet was actually showing a cooling trend recently (though there was a medieval warm period, but it wasn't as warm then as it is now -- also that was a more gradual warming period that lasted for well over 250 years from beginning to end) -- but now suddenly the planet warms about .8 degrees Celsius in a matter of 50 years! THIS IS NOT F***ING NORMAL.

Can anyone deny that human activity has pumped billions of tons of several kinds of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere each year? (no)... Can anyone deny that these gasses contribute to the planet warming? (no)... Can anyone deny that the planet is now becoming inexplicably warmer? (no)... Can anyone deny anthropogenic climate change without resorting to misleading and/or irrelevant information? (no).

I am so tired of people that deny global warming, but can't back it up with cited sources. All they ever do is list a couple absurd anti-environmentalist books and act like that makes them some sort of expert on climatology. Get a clue, and start doing some of your own research people. You just make yourself look stupid to educated people because you obviously don't understand what you're talking about.

Answer 10

Only the conclusions (manmade activity is cause of global warming), the facts, and the fixes are incorrect.

The rest is a fine film. Oh, the narrator is a bore.