An Inconvenient Truth

Go and see this movie. Please. Can you please just go and see this movie? I'm still working on my delivery a bit, since so far everyone I've told about "An Inconvenient Truth" has has politely yawned and looked the other way when I've said it's a documentary about global warming. Even when you add the juicy tidbit that Al Gore, would-be President of the United States is the star, the response has still been kind of lackluster. So I will continue to work on a better pitch, but don't wait for me, just go see the damn thing.

I would lie to you. It is actually a documentary about global warming. And Al Gore really is in it. Apparently he became interested in global warming while a student in university and has been toting around a Powerpoint presentation on it all these years. Who knew? He speaks passionately about his travels around the globe, both on fact-finding missions to the poles and drought-stricken areas, as well as places he has gone to speak.

The best part of this movie is his steadfast dedication to getting the message out. Gore wanted to present the information, albeit highly scientific data, in s simple form that anyone could understand. He recognized early on that this message was something important that had to be imparted to people and systematicallyworked through all the barriers he could think of that would prevent people from understanding and accepting it. He said the only way he knew how to do it was city by city, person by person, and it really seems that the film at least is gaining something of a cult following. I heard about it from a Greenpeace worker who switched tactics when he learned I already donated, right into selling the movie. Several other people urged me to go and see it and I guess here I am trying my damndest to convince you. There is just something about the importance of the message, the size of the problem, and the passion of the people involved that makes you feel bad for standing aside.

If that hasn't convinced you, consider the science:

"If the warming continues, we can expect catastrophic consequences.
-Deaths from global warming will double in just 25 years -- to 300,000 people a year.
-Global sea levels could rise by more than 20 feet with the loss of shelf ice in Greenland and
Antarctica, devastating coastal areas worldwide.
-Heat waves will be more frequent and more intense.
-Droughts and wildfires will occur more often.
-The Arctic Ocean could be ice free in summer by 2050.
-More than a million species worldwide could be driven to extinction by 2050."

Some links you may find useful:
Wikipedia entry on the film.
Watch the Trailer.
Showtimes.
The original Powerpoint presentation.

OK, you're excused. Go and see it now please.