Why do people insist on altering there lives because of what one man says?

Question

The first person to bring global warming to the mainstream was Al Gore yet he himself pollutes as much if not more than most people out there. Do people realize that even if everyone in the world waas to go eco it still cannot reverse the inevitable?

Dear leaptad,

The reason I use Al Gore is that he is the biggest advocate but also the biggest hypocrit. I just want some kind of consistency. Is it a do as I say not as I do type thing? Personally i won't give up my SUV and my way of life when it looks as though to me that this guy just wants publicity and donations. This isn't a big bang, evolution, creationist thing where Science is all one sided. This issue has many scientists on both sides saying different things.

Smash why do you have to make it a Republican thing? I know Democrats and Independents that do as much harm to the planet as "Republicans"
Also it's not a matter of "Watching your neigbors improve their life before you start to change" it is a matter of something that is not in our control. None of us in our lifetime nor 5 generations from now will see the end of the world due to "global warming". Also I have issue with the responses that say The top scientists say so "so there"....please see the other side...there are just as many scientists saying otherwise. Science is not a rebuttal if you have arguing scientists.

Suzanne L:
I think there is something else going on there if you cry everyday thinking about what kind of world your grandchildren will inherit. If you do all you can then you should feel no remorse. What is asinine is all the scare tactics these political figures and media show people. I saw an add that said polar bears will be extinct in 50 years.......my first question is When was the last time any of us have seen a polar bear and 2 you cannot be serious that because I drive an SUV or use an aerosol can I am killing a polar bear. What is this world coming too? It's almost unbeleivable.

Answer 1

True - Not because people pollute so much, but because they are basically insignificant in this world.

There are 6 billion people, but many, many, many times that of trees, plants, birds, and other flora and fauna. Man is just a dot in the big picture.

It's just a shame that otherwise intelligent people, say from Europe have been indoctrinated in the teachings of the pseudo science of global warming. You think they would have learned. It wasn't but 50 years ago they believed in the pseudo science of Eugenics, and look where that led them.

Answer 2

Something in the way smart e responded to the question gives me the creeps. American military might saves our arses from the ruskies eh ... we all know how smart Americans are, their foreign policy has always been America first ... now they seem to be building an infrastructure based on fear ... how many of them would vote differently if they did not fear that in doing so they would loose the quality of life. sorry smart e but i think you have a bit of a power complex, perhaps you should have paid more attention whilst you sailed the seas. We struggled alone to combat Hitler whilst you sat back scheming how you could profit from Europes downfall, then, when it became apparent that the going was going our way, (thanks to the political bravery of Winston Churchill) and the Nazis were scuttled, until Pearl harbour brought America reluctantly into the fight ... Yadayadah ...The last ice age ... was probably caused by a metiorite splatting the area known as the Gulf of Mexico causing a mighty upheaval in the atmosphere, I am of the opinion that humankind will have to learn a lot more about Earth husbandry, and care, than military might. The Earth is fragile, even tho it is BIG ... rather like some countries.

Answer 3

Forget Al Gore, he's irrelevant.

Look at what the scientists are saying. They've been studying global warming for over a century, and have concluded that the current warming is primarily due to human greenhouse gas emissions. Read the IPCC report summary to find out what the best climate scientists on the planet think about the issue.

Answer 4

Al Gore helped to bring the concepts of Global Warming to those who were still unaware of it. Many many people were already aware of it prior to this, but his efforts to raise awareness, even to those who might only find out through the movies. For this, he has done great work as his efforts have promoted change and thought on how to change. Scientists weren't blown away or surprised with what he had to say and it wasn't "new" news that he brought it out.

What does Al Gore's possible pollution have to do with the concepts that he is bringing up? They don't change the facts and way too many people are trying to use them to say that what he says isn't so. That's not an argument against what he's had to say. Should everybody wait until Al Gore pollutes less than them to make a change? It's like waiting for your neighbors to improve their lives before you are willing to make a change in yours. What's the reasoning?

Answer 5

Smash and SuzanneL are really a couple of loony-toons! Humankind is the scourge of the Earth? What absolute dribble! Why are these loons so all-fired sure that we, (meaning Mankind) are altering the planet's temperature? No study, that's why. This planet is billions of years old. It has seen ice ages and hot, desert-like stages too. It will again. Increased solar activity has more to do with global warming than anything Man has been up to. Jeez, read the science and the real research and the history of this good Earth. Don't fall for that "The Planet has a Fever" crap that the king-hypocrite Al Gore is spewing! Now I've got to get into my air conditioned SUV and drive to the club where I'll consume some adult beverages with my fellow planet-raping Republicans. God, it's Great to be on top of the Food Chain!

Answer 6

There will always be two sides to this debate...well at least as long as there are large polluters like big oil. They pay companies to find any loop hole, any test that came up inconclusive to put doubt into peoples minds. Of course there are other contributing factors to global warming then man made scenarios, but the fact of the matter is there are things humans are doing to greatly (speed along) increase these effects...the scientific community have at least agreed upon this matter. The percentages are still being argued. So altering ones life is a conscious decision to slow down this process....to think of future generations and what kind of world we want our children and their children to live in.

Answer 7

I can't beleive the willfull ignorance of some people because they are too f'ing selfish to change one iota of their fat, bloated, SUV driving lifestyle.

I guess you really don't care about your children or grandchildren. That is so sad. I literally cry when I think about the earth my 2 little grandsons will inherit if we don't change our ways.

I don't give a rip about Al Gore. He may or may not be a hypocrite. That does not keep me from trying to do my small part. I knew of the destructive effects of human consumption way before he even left the White House.

Prize for most ignorant answer goes to Mr. Jello. There may be GAZILLIONS of other creatures on the earth, but ALL of them are CONTRIBUTING to the earth, not raping it. They take only what they need, and they all play an important part in keeping the ecosystem in balance. The predators help thin the herds of grazing animals, the grazers provide food for the predators and fertilize the earth and help germinate plants through their waste. Then they die and provide food for insects and scavengers and finally fertilize the earth. Insects provide food for many.

Humans cannot even provide fertilizer. Our wastes are turned into toxic sludge, and our dead bodies are either pumped full of toxic chemicals before returning to the ground, or burned, releasing more CO2 into the environment.

Modern man (and I include myself, since I drive, use chemicals, heating and air conditioning) is a scourge. All we do is take. You may in fact be right about the destruction being inevitable. And the utter destruction of humankind is probabably the only hope for the earth and the rest of her inhabitants.

Answer 8

First of all, Gore may have brought global warming to the mainstream, but it has been studied by scientists for decades. As far as the "inevitable", I'm not sure what you mean. I've never read or seen anything conclusive that says that we cannot reverse global warming.

As far as Gore's pollution, although that's certainly dissapointing, I don't see how it has any relavence as a whole. That's just him. Global warming is everywhere.

Answer 9

Most people are not altering their life because of Al Gore. The few ones that do simply scream the loudest. High fuel prices are causing people slowly to move to a more conservation minded life style, in my opinion. The days of the Clinton administration selling of the strategic national reserve to keep gasoline at 1 dollar per gallon or long gone, it is now time to grow up and face the facts. That is the way capitalism works.

Answer 10

Intelligent people understand that Al Gore is only educating the public about what scientsists have found. And that's all he is doing.

When the "deniers" start talking about global warming as if it were "Al Gore's theory" al they do is demonstrate their own ignorance.

And their opinion that "there's nothing that canbe done anyway" is simply wrong--but under the circumstances 9their ignorance) they could hardly be expected to knowthat, either. Or the fact that conserving energy doesn't require "changinging their lives."

Answer 11

I don't give a hoot what Al says.

I checked out the data. It doesn't lie.

If nothing can change what you call the inevitable, why would anybody try and get people to change their lifestyle? All the money in the world isn't going to help Al Gore when civilization collapses.