Global Warming is one of the most decisive and controversial political issues today. Former Vice President and environmental activist Al Gore has a strong opinion on the topic and takes these issues to heart. An Inconvenient Truth (2006) is a documentary-film version of Al Gore’s keynote presentation on global climate change which he has delivered in numerous cities around the world in efforts to de-politicize and raise awareness to the potential danger of climate change. In order to best convey his opinion Gore secures his audience’s attention and support by engaging them on a personal level, refraining from speaking about religion, and presenting them with accurate scientific information.
Gore emphasizes his point that global warming is a real problem by pulling at his audience’s emotions. He begins and ends his speech with peaceful scenes from
nature. A stream runs gently; trees in the woods lose their leaves. In the background, there is peaceful piano music and the sound of cicadas chirping. Gore tells his audience, “It’s our only home. That is what is at stake- the ability to live on planet Earth.” To support this point, Gore shows pictures of devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. At one point a voice clip plays, telling listeners about families being stranded in their attics and going insane because most of their home was underwater. Intense, minor music during these scenes gives them both sad and haunting auras. Later, Gore shows images of glaciers throughout the world. The first picture of each was taken more than ten years prior to his presentation. Sometimes a second picture from about five years before his speech is included, but Gore always finishes the set with a present day image. As the pictures progress, the point becomes clear. Global warming is melting glaciers worldwide, and if humans do not try to fix that problem the glaciers will only be pictures in children’s history books. Without serious change, glaciers will not exist. By showing images of how beautiful nature can be versus what it has become in some areas and using music to emphasize the mood of each point he makes, Gore moves his audience to feel a
desire to end global warming.
As an attempt to grasp his entire audience’s attention, Gore refrains from speaking about his faith, God, or anything religious. Instead, An Inconvenient Truth is based on charts, research, and personal experiences. This shows a different side of Gore than his essay, "Environmentalism of the Spirit," in which Gore emphasizes God’s hand in nature. Through his essay, Gore tells his readers humans want to be close to God, yet they destroy everything wonderful He has
made. This leads readers to believe mankind is the main reason nature is slowly being destroyed. On the other hand, An Inconvenient Truth gives spectators the view that global warming is the problem rather than humans. Gore does this because he wants his audience’s support. If he told his audience, “You are the problem! You are the reason nature is being destroyed! You need to change!” members would feel as if they were being attacked, and they would not want to support Gore’s cause. Similarly, if he spent the entire ninety minutes speaking about how humans need to strengthen their faith in God and take care of His creation, he would lose the support of members who do not believe in God or even those who do not share the same religious values as Gore. This is a particularly strategic move on Gore’s part, as he wants the support of his entire audience.
In An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore presents evidence that states the CO2 levels have been increasing for the past 650,000 years. This rise in CO2 has been causing significant warming around the globe. Al Gore states in his documentary that the higher the CO2 level is on Earth, the more heat that will be trapped in the
Earth’s atmosphere, causing climate change. Gore presents us with many graphs and diagrams to show the correlation that CO2 has with the rise and fall of the
average temperature on Earth. He also shows evidence that anthropogenic changes have played a significant role in climate change. Smog from factories and cars has been a major contributor to CO2 in the atmosphere. Thomas J. Crowley also comes to the same conclusion in his article "Causes of Climate Change Over the Past 1000 Years." In his article, Crowley states that the change in anthropogenic GHG forcing, particularly CO2 forcing, since the middle of the last century is about four times larger than the potential changes in solar variability. Both Crowley and Gore also use the same graphs of CO2 to provide evidence for their hypothesis. So based on these two pieces of evidence, you can see that Gore’s hypothesis is based around scientific evidence that has been researched extensively.
Gore uses a variety of accurate, scientific evidence to provide support for his argument that global warming is both real and due in large part to the activities of
humans, specifically our production of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide which has directly lead to increases in the planet’s temperature. His support for this stance is primarily drawn from the relationship between carbon dioxide levels and yearly average world temperature. Using the Keeling Curve, Gore shows that since 1958 atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have been increasing steadily, information easily found on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s website (NOAA). The second element of his argument easily backed by science is that the earth’s temperature has been increasing. Folland, Karl, and Salinger wrote a 2002 article “Observed Climate Variability and Change” which reports the same increase in average temperatures over the last half century used by Gore, stating the evidence “strongly” supports an “increasing global surface temperature over at least the last century,” and that warming in the northern hemisphere is “likely to have been the largest of any century in the last 1,000 years” further agreeing with Gore’s thesis.
Gore’s presentation uses the audiences’ emotions to draw support for his argument. By strategically planning his words, Gore gains the trust of his audience members, making them more inclined to believe his thesis. This trust, combined with relatable stories and clear accurate scientific information allow his audience
to accept and understand the argument he presents. The overall popularity of his presentation can be attributed to these factors.
Gore emphasizes his point that global warming is a real problem by pulling at his audience’s emotions. He begins and ends his speech with peaceful scenes from
nature. A stream runs gently; trees in the woods lose their leaves. In the background, there is peaceful piano music and the sound of cicadas chirping. Gore tells his audience, “It’s our only home. That is what is at stake- the ability to live on planet Earth.” To support this point, Gore shows pictures of devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. At one point a voice clip plays, telling listeners about families being stranded in their attics and going insane because most of their home was underwater. Intense, minor music during these scenes gives them both sad and haunting auras. Later, Gore shows images of glaciers throughout the world. The first picture of each was taken more than ten years prior to his presentation. Sometimes a second picture from about five years before his speech is included, but Gore always finishes the set with a present day image. As the pictures progress, the point becomes clear. Global warming is melting glaciers worldwide, and if humans do not try to fix that problem the glaciers will only be pictures in children’s history books. Without serious change, glaciers will not exist. By showing images of how beautiful nature can be versus what it has become in some areas and using music to emphasize the mood of each point he makes, Gore moves his audience to feel a
desire to end global warming.
As an attempt to grasp his entire audience’s attention, Gore refrains from speaking about his faith, God, or anything religious. Instead, An Inconvenient Truth is based on charts, research, and personal experiences. This shows a different side of Gore than his essay, "Environmentalism of the Spirit," in which Gore emphasizes God’s hand in nature. Through his essay, Gore tells his readers humans want to be close to God, yet they destroy everything wonderful He has
made. This leads readers to believe mankind is the main reason nature is slowly being destroyed. On the other hand, An Inconvenient Truth gives spectators the view that global warming is the problem rather than humans. Gore does this because he wants his audience’s support. If he told his audience, “You are the problem! You are the reason nature is being destroyed! You need to change!” members would feel as if they were being attacked, and they would not want to support Gore’s cause. Similarly, if he spent the entire ninety minutes speaking about how humans need to strengthen their faith in God and take care of His creation, he would lose the support of members who do not believe in God or even those who do not share the same religious values as Gore. This is a particularly strategic move on Gore’s part, as he wants the support of his entire audience.
In An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore presents evidence that states the CO2 levels have been increasing for the past 650,000 years. This rise in CO2 has been causing significant warming around the globe. Al Gore states in his documentary that the higher the CO2 level is on Earth, the more heat that will be trapped in the
Earth’s atmosphere, causing climate change. Gore presents us with many graphs and diagrams to show the correlation that CO2 has with the rise and fall of the
average temperature on Earth. He also shows evidence that anthropogenic changes have played a significant role in climate change. Smog from factories and cars has been a major contributor to CO2 in the atmosphere. Thomas J. Crowley also comes to the same conclusion in his article "Causes of Climate Change Over the Past 1000 Years." In his article, Crowley states that the change in anthropogenic GHG forcing, particularly CO2 forcing, since the middle of the last century is about four times larger than the potential changes in solar variability. Both Crowley and Gore also use the same graphs of CO2 to provide evidence for their hypothesis. So based on these two pieces of evidence, you can see that Gore’s hypothesis is based around scientific evidence that has been researched extensively.
Gore uses a variety of accurate, scientific evidence to provide support for his argument that global warming is both real and due in large part to the activities of
humans, specifically our production of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide which has directly lead to increases in the planet’s temperature. His support for this stance is primarily drawn from the relationship between carbon dioxide levels and yearly average world temperature. Using the Keeling Curve, Gore shows that since 1958 atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have been increasing steadily, information easily found on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s website (NOAA). The second element of his argument easily backed by science is that the earth’s temperature has been increasing. Folland, Karl, and Salinger wrote a 2002 article “Observed Climate Variability and Change” which reports the same increase in average temperatures over the last half century used by Gore, stating the evidence “strongly” supports an “increasing global surface temperature over at least the last century,” and that warming in the northern hemisphere is “likely to have been the largest of any century in the last 1,000 years” further agreeing with Gore’s thesis.
Gore’s presentation uses the audiences’ emotions to draw support for his argument. By strategically planning his words, Gore gains the trust of his audience members, making them more inclined to believe his thesis. This trust, combined with relatable stories and clear accurate scientific information allow his audience
to accept and understand the argument he presents. The overall popularity of his presentation can be attributed to these factors.