Jin Chow 2

My Take of An Inconvenient Truth

The website www.climatecrises.net is the official website of the film “An inconvenient Truth”. The website summarizes the film as “one man's fervent crusade to halt global warming's deadly progress in its tracks by exposing the myths and misconceptions that surround it.” For Al Gore, the much debated issue of global warming is no longer a political issue - it’s a moral issue – and this comes across very strongly in his film. But to what extent is Mr. Gore’s clear passion for the issue clouded by his desire to be in the limelight? To what extent do money, power, and fame play a role in the way Mr. Gore handles his delivery of this ‘travelling presentation’ and the marketing of this film? Are the ‘scare tactics’ used in this film necessary, and if so, what is the ultimate purpose of the film? I will attempt to answer these and other questions in the critique that follows.

Before being critical of Mr. Gore, I’d like to say that I personally believe this movie does more good than harm. If it has done nothing else, this film has at least helped to bring the issues of global warming and climate change into a wider arena for public discussion, and I say this while recognizing that not everyone agrees with me. Regardless of whether or not I agree with the way the information is presented, at least the information is being presented - something that might not have happened if Mr. Gore didn’t make this film. And, to be perfectly clear about where I stand, I believe the vast majority of facts presented in this film are true – even in the face of mounting criticism against the filmmakers. Are there some distorted or exaggerated facts? Most likely. Does this stand in the way of the major purpose of this film? I don’t think so. Viewers, I believe, are smarter than that. In this day and age, we can’t believe in just one source of knowledge, we’re always critical and skeptical. I think of “An Inconvenient Truth” as one piece in the larger solution to slowing global warming and mitigating climate change. 

With this in mind, it’s important to explain how this movie impacted my understanding and position regarding climate change. To be honest, I didn’t know the basic science behind global warming the first time I watched this movie back in 2005. I understood the concept of a greenhouse and was therefore able to perceive of the Earth as a greenhouse with the atmosphere acting as the glass roof, but I certainly couldn’t explain the raw science as well as I can now. At that time I was interested in environmental issues, however, and was very keen to watch this film. When I first watched this film, I have to admit, it scared me. It made me think about the Earth and our impact on the Earth in a more focused way – even if I, admittedly, did little to change my lifestyle. This film was one of many factors which inspired me to learn more about the Earth and the people living on it - an inherently geographical pursuit. At first it made me think about dooms day. It made me think that we really don’t have a chance to fix the problems that are wrong with this planet and that the entire planet as a whole is at risk of literally ‘going bad’ or ‘becoming toxic’. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the filmmakers wanted to use this ‘scare tactic’ to give people a jolt and to some degree I can’t find fault in that. How else do you get people to pay attention? Sometimes provocation is an easy solution. But as I watch it again now, years later, as I study geography, my mind has changed.  
I now understand the science behind global warming and I recognize that there are many more variables in the equation. The radiation balance of the Earth is not only a factor of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, as this movie tends to make one believe, but is rather a cocktail of competing ‘warming’ and ‘cooling’ effects. I no longer believe that our impacts on the planet can cause the planet to ‘go bad’ or ‘become toxic.’ In fact, it’s my position that in the long term, we are fairly insignificant in terms of the health of the planet as a whole. The planet will survive human habitation on it – it will adapt. The question is whether or not humans can sustain themselves on a planet which is adapting. Obviously, this is a vital question – it’s just not the obvious one that comes from watching this movie. It’s my guess that most people who watch this film tie the fate of the planet and the fate of humanity together, but this bi-lateral dependence is not so. Again, and to put it as clearly as possible, humanity may not be able to survive on a changed Earth, but the Earth can and will survive a change in or even extinction of, humanity.
Many would argue that the fate of the planet is insignificant if there are no humans on it – and rightly so in many ways! There is no doubt that climate change, natural or human induced, is going to effect humans in many negative ways (and probably a few positive ones too). It’s this that I think should be the central theme of this argument and something I wish the film focused on more. Mitigation is one thing (and one that hasn’t been overly successful), but adaptation is another. We need to start to think about how we will adapt to a changing climate, rather than continually fighting over whether climate change is human induced or not. Al Gore’s motive for making this movie is probably not centered on this. I do not believe Al Gore truly has the future victims of climate change as his central priority and I’m not sure he is the best spokesperson either. But the fact of the matter is that he has brought the issue into the limelight and has created space for those with more humanitarian missions in mind to implement them. I cannot bash Al Gore for this.

What I can criticize him for, however, is his self-centeredness. It seems the positive benefits of this film are a lucky offshoot for him – something he didn’t plan. What struck me vividly as I watched this film again was how much of the film revolved around Mr. Gore himself, and not the issue at hand. I recognize that there is some attempt at story-telling in order to make this a more marketable film, but it was a bit over the top. From the opening scene with Gore in his limo, to the scenes on the farm, to the near loss of his son, this film is just as much an autobiography to make himself look good as it is a political tool for fighting global warming. In the face of an embarrassing loss in the 2000 presidential election, it seems that Gore needed this film for his own ego.

So what was Mr. Gore’s purpose in making this movie? I think it was primarily to promote awareness for an issue that he truly does care about, but I also think there was a secondary motive to improve his image. What was the plan Mr. Gore and the producers had when making this film? I think it was to do anything possible to make this issue a news headline and they figured out that ‘scare tactics’ were the best strategy. Would this film have been different if it wasn’t Al Gore presenting the facts? Absolutely, but I personally don’t believe that Al Gore is the key to the debate that this as sparked – rather, it’s the issue itself which is attractive for us to follow.  

SnagFilms Film Widget

Travel Diary 2.0 Style - Good for Geo-Fieldwork or Trips

Check out http://www.loggel.com/ for a great online tool to organize pictures, videos, and text from any trip. Ability to geo-tag is my favorite for geography teachers. I can envision this being used for work in the field or simply as an assessment for a school trip during an 'activity week' or 'classroom without walls' experience. Could be very useful for World Challenge as well.

IB Geography 2009 Pre-test Online - No username or password needed

I'm experimenting with a free quiz maker today from the site www.proprofs.com which you can sign up for. I've previously created a 75 question 'pre-test' in PowerPoint which comprehensively covers the new IB Geography Curriculum for 2009. See the entire quiz in .ppt form here (btw, this also includes an excel file with sources and another with shows how each question links to the new IB Geography Specification). Finally, I've found a way to put this online for free, but I've only included the first 10 questions of the quiz for time-saving purposes. I can see myself using this tool from www.proprofs.com to create 'pre-tests' for all of my classes. Results can be analyzed and saved in excel format. Below is the example quiz which I've embedded here an struggling to embed into this blog. Go ahead and try the quiz yourself by clicking on the screenshot below which links to the page with the quiz! Thanks.

Twitter wants to know location too!

In a follow up to my previous post about mapping 'tweets' in order to understand the spatial distribution of certain social phenomena this article discusses how Twitter is now interested in doing exactly this on a grander scale.  Take a look.

http://www.businessinsider.com/one-of-twitters-next-projects-location-2009-6