I know I shouldn't, but now that al gore and ipcc are awarded the
nobel peace prize for 2007, I think there's something strange going on... not so much because environmental changes have nothing to do with peace, because they do (read
collapse by
jared diamond for more about that), but mostly because human-caused (anthropogenic) global warming is far from certain, and especially not when it comes to al gore's movie an inconvenient truth.
here's a report about a high court judge in the uk that ruled that the movie can only be distributed to schools in the country together "only if it was accompanied by new guidlines [sic] to balance the former US vice-president’s “one-sided” views". they found nine inconvenient (pun intended) faults in gore's movie:
Error oneAl Gore: A sea-level rise of up to 20 feet would be caused by melting of either West Antarctica or Greenland “in the near future”.
The judge’s finding: “This is distinctly alarmist and part of Mr. Gore’s “wake-up call”. It was common ground that if Greenland melted it would release this amount of water — “but only after, and over, millennia.”
Error twoGore: Low-lying inhabited Pacific atolls are already “being inundated because of anthropogenic global warming.”
Judge: There was no evidence of any evacuation having yet happened.
Error threeGore: The documentary described global warming potentially “shutting down the Ocean Conveyor” — the process by which the Gulf Stream is carried over the North Atlantic to western Europe.
Judge: According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), it was “very unlikely” it would be shut down, though it might slow down.
Error fourGore: He asserted — by ridiculing the opposite view — that two graphs, one plotting a rise in CO2 and the other the rise in temperature over a period of 650,000 years, showed “an exact fit”.
Judge: Although there was general scientific agreement that there was a connection, “the two graphs do not establish what Mr Gore asserts”.
Error fiveGore: The disappearance of snow on Mt Kilimanjaro was expressly attributable to global warming.
Judge: This “specifically impressed” David Miliband, the Environment Secretary, but the scientific consensus was that it cannot be established that the recession of snows on Mt Kilimanjaro is mainly attributable to human-induced climate change.
Error sixGore: The drying up of Lake Chad was used in the film as a prime example of a catastrophic result of global warming, said the judge.
Judge: “It is generally accepted that the evidence remains insufficient to establish such an attribution. It is apparently considered to be far more likely to result from other factors, such as population increase and over-grazing, and regional climate variability.”
Error sevenGore: Hurricane Katrina and the consequent devastation in New Orleans to global warming.
Judge: There is “insufficient evidence to show that”.
Error eightGore: Referred to a new scientific study showing that, for the first time, polar bears were being found that had actually drowned “swimming long distances — up to 60 miles — to find the ice”.
Judge: “The only scientific study that either side before me can find is one which indicates that four polar bears have recently been found drowned because of a storm.” That was not to say there might not in future be drowning-related deaths of bears if the trend of regression of pack ice continued — “but it plainly does not support Mr Gore’s description”.
Error nineGore: Coral reefs all over the world were bleaching because of global warming and other factors.
Judge: The IPCC had reported that, if temperatures were to rise by 1-3 degrees centigrade, there would be increased coral bleaching and mortality, unless the coral could adapt. But separating the impacts of stresses due to climate change from other stresses, such as over-fishing, and pollution was difficult.
interesting, huh? there's more about it... three links:
Al Gore told there are nine inconvenient truths in his film - the article about the court ruling
One Man Challenges the World According to Gore - a blog post commenting it
Climate Change Hysteria and Al Gore’s “Chicken Little” Scare Tactics - a long but interesting note about the whole climate change question. read especially the section entitled "Is the Science Certain? Is the Debate Over?" whether there really is global consensus among the scientists or not.
I'll leave it at that for now.
