An Inconvenient Truth
There is agreement among
the world’s experts, scientists and concerned citizenry, while a few
nay-sayers balk and bawl, over the urgency of the cause and the outcome
if nothing about the ecological state of mankind changes. The message is
clear and concise. Global warning is real. It is caused by human
activity and mankind must halt and reverse the trend before the earth
becomes unlivable for human beings.
There is heated debate over Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth. Parent
groups try to keep it out of schools although it is now an established
part of curriculum in many educational institutions. Lobbyists, some
politicians and most all of the big oil corporations call it “the
greatest hoax ever perpetuated on the American people. “
Whatever an individual's
personal beliefs are the intelligent thing to do is set aside Al Gore’s
politics, his dissenting critics and watch the film.
He stands before an audience with dramatic visuals playing in the
background. The picture evolves from “Earthrise” taken by the first
American astronauts to later space photographs taken showing the clear
shrinkage of the glaciers and lakes, the recession of shorelines and the
melting snow caps.
The statistics are jaw-dropping in their conclusion. The 10 warmest
years in history were out of the last fifteen. South America was held in
the thrall of its first hurricane. Typhoons pound Japan as hurricanes
rip through the southern and northeast sections of the United States.
Carbon dioxide levels are higher than previously thought and the cyclic
rotation of highs and lows of carbon dioxide is gone and the levels rise
higher and higher each year.
The primary cause of man-made global warming is the burning of fossil
fuels. Even early attempts at changing the course of fossil fuel usage
have been fraught with obstacles. U. S. President Jimmy Carter began an
energy campaign during his tenure, going so far as to have the White
House fitted with solar panels. His successor, Ronald Reagan had them
taken off. After Thomas Edison and Henry Ford met, they had initially
planned to use Edison's nickel iron battery to power affordable and
efficient cars for the mass market that would be recharged by home wind
turbines. In fact, electric cars were the wave of the future in the
1900‘s, but Edison advised For
