Last night I attended a presentation on global warming by Al Gore, the 45th Vice President of the United States. The presentation was held in Vanderbilt’s Student Life Center, a much too small facility for someone of Gore’s stature and a subject of such a critical nature. The overflow crowd stood against the wall and filled the reception area outside the auditorium where speakers were installed for the benefit of those who could not get seats. I got there very early knowing this would be the case.
I had a little preview of this presentation which was likely the very same Gore had just given to a crowd reported of over 1000 at Stanford University a few weeks ago. Gore has a few proven lines he is known to use in all his presentations that put the audience at ease and provides a hearty laugh now and then. He almost without fail introduces himself as the person “that used to be known as the next president of the United States”.
In this presentation he also has a great little story that gets a good laugh. At one point he displays a photograph taken from space of the southern hemisphere showing the relationship of South America to Africa. He joked that when he was in a grade school geography class the teacher displayed a world map of the same and that one of his classmates noted that the shapes of South America and Africa looked like they may have once fit together and asked the teacher it that were true. According to Gore, the teacher laughed at the idea, now a widely held scientific view of continent drift. “The student went on to become a dropout and a drug addict," Gore joked sadly, “ And the teacher went on to become the science advisor in the current White House”. At that point Gore uses his high-tech visuals to bring the African and South American continents together in a perfect fit.
I have always been an environmentalist since my youth and was first attracted to Al Gore as a potential presidential candidate in1988 when he first declared his candidacy. Al Gore has always been a champion of the earth’s environment and I have always championed Al Gore, one of the more intelligent, more compassionate, sincere and good men on this planet. I worked in the 1988 Al Gore campaign and in every Gore campaign since. I have never lost faith in this man’s ability to lead the world towards a more sane stewardship of the earth, of civilization, of peace and democracy. I was shattered by the turn of events in 2000 that allowed the US Supreme Court to infamously appoint the eminently incapable, intellectually challenged and poorly qualified, George W. Bush in a blatant political coup by corporate special interests.
I was astounded by the evidence of Global warming presented by Gore last night. Attendance at this presentation could leave no doubt in anyone’s mind that global warming is not only true but that it is outside the pattern of any previous warming cycle known to man and is accelerating at an alarming rate. He offered essentially irrefutable proof – and I’m not talking a hint of global warming or a reasonably expected change in warming trends - but stark and alarming evidence of environmental mayhem that has already begun and cataclysmic events that will take form in a decade or so. And not just minor and slowly creeping change by evolutionary standards, but quick and deadly change by real time standards.
Gore presented a stunning visual image display of receding glaciers, pollution shrouded cityscapes and satellite images of change over the last ten years that defies denial. He led the audience through the domino effect of how one change triggers another, the delicate balance of our fragile ecosystem and how it is perhaps being irreparably destroyed by man's irresponsible savaging of the earth’s resources including our air and water.
He also cited scientific evidence, including core drillings in arctic ice that track CO2 levels through thousands of years of history enveloping several ice ages, that confirm the drastic changes that man - not natural climatic change - has wrought on this earth. Chilling!
He showed picture after picture of glaciers and snow clad peaks taken at the turn of the last century and pictures of the same spots today showing mountains denuded of snow, glaciers that have disappeared, rivers and lakes that no longer exist, satellite images of shrinking ice masses and those of greenhouse effects, and more, all simply shocking.
He cited alarming evidence of declining moisture retention of soil over huge swaths of crop lands worldwide, the effects of deforestation in the southern hemisphere which has significantly less land mass than the northern hemisphere, and the effect causing alternate spikes in Co2 levels as a result of the earths seasonal tilting and elliptical orbit around the sun. He spoke of population density and its effect. He related how all of these changes affected other aspects of our environment and especially changes in weather patterns, ocean temperatures and currents, all producing violent reactions. He used computer overlays to depict the land masses that will be lost by the rising ocean levels and stated that all the world maps will have to be redrawn to reflect this loss. In one example he showed how almost fifty percent of Florida’s present land mass will be reclaimed by the ocean. He gave stunning estimates of the millions of lives that will be lost as more violent and increased recurring cataclysmic events such as tsunamis and hurricanes take place.
Regarding global warming Gore stated, "It is deeply immoral. This is not a political issue, it is a moral issue.''
He pointed out that of publication and discussion of global warming evidence in all scientific journals to date there are zero opinions that argue the evidence for global warming is wrong or suspect, but that in all of the public media published reports, 53% of those reports argued that global warming is not factually supported. He also suggested these public media reports refuting any evidence of man-induced global warming were supported by scientist prostitutes commissioned by corporate special interests.
In conclusion Gore cited how the United States is the leading polluter among industrialized nations responsible for the major portion of environmental pollution and how we might reverse this deadly trend here and worldwide. He cited the technology that exists today that if brought into play could reverse this trend and within a decade or so bring our nation (and the world) back to pollution levels of the mid-seventies, a reasonably tolerable pollution level that would allow the earth to tolerate man’s existence and routinely cleanse itself of man’s destructive presence.
Gore was greeted by two, full participation, standing ovations as well as spontaneous bursts of applause during his presentation and a final standing ovation. At the end of the presentation Gore was swarmed by students and other attendees eager to make comments and ask questions. Gore’s flawless presentation, which overflowed with data from scientific studies, lasted nearly two hours and was amazingly accomplished without any notes except for visuals projected on two large overhead screens. His performance was an intellectual tour de force and a bittersweet reminder of what this nation and the world has lost at the hands of George W. Bush and those who helped Bush steal the presidency.
Gary
P.S. - I just learned a new documentary film "An Inconvienient Truth" produced and directed by Davis Guggenheim will be premiered this month at the Sundance Film Festival. The film both captures Gore's presentation and explores Gore's journey as a worldwide environmental champion. This could become one of the most important and influential films in world history.
For addition reports regarding Gore’s previous presentation on global warming go here: http://daily.stanford.edu/tempo?page=content&id=18826&repository=0001_article
And here http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/living/education/13347621.htm
