Politics

An Inconvenient Truth for Gore

Al Gore’s Oscar winning documentary has to face an inconvenient truth of its own. Some scientists are calling his claims exaggerated and erroneous. According to today’s New York Times, there has been a backlash among some in the scientific community since the release of the film.

Scientists argue that some of Mr. Gore’s central points are exaggerated and erroneous. They are alarmed, some say, at what they call his alarmism.

“I don’t want to pick on Al Gore,” Don J. Easterbrook, an emeritus professor of geology at Western Washington University, told hundreds of experts at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America. “But there are a lot of inaccuracies in the statements we are seeing, and we have to temper that with real data.”. . .

Criticisms of Mr. Gore have come not only from conservative groups and prominent skeptics of catastrophic warming, but also from rank-and-file scientists like Dr. Easterbook, who told his peers that he had no political ax to grind. A few see natural variation as more central to global warming than heat-trapping gases. Many appear to occupy a middle ground in the climate debate, seeing human activity as a serious threat but challenging what they call the extremism of both skeptics and zealots.

Kevin Vranes, a climatologist at the Center for Science and Technology Policy Research at the University of Colorado, said he sensed a growing backlash against exaggeration. While praising Mr. Gore for “getting the message out,” Dr. Vranes questioned whether his presentations were “overselling our certainty about knowing the future.”

Typically, the concern is not over the existence of climate change, or the idea that the human production of heat-trapping gases is partly or largely to blame for the globe’s recent warming. The question is whether Mr. Gore has gone beyond the scientific evidence. . .

“Nowhere does Mr. Gore tell his audience that all of the phenomena that he describes fall within the natural range of environmental change on our planet,” Robert M. Carter, a marine geologist at James Cook University in Australia, said in a September blog. “Nor does he present any evidence that climate during the 20th century departed discernibly from its historical pattern of constant change.”

This story is significant, not only because it recognizes the range of opinions within the scientific community (which the film does not acknowledge), but also because it appears in The New York Times, of all places. No one will be able to argue that this story is propaganda campaign on the part of oil companies.

3 Comments

  • Paul

    While it’s interesting that a noted scientist is stepping up to challenge Gore, if you notice, they’re not saying that it’s not a problem either. They’re simply saying that it’s overstated.

    The same way that we’ll tend to overstate almost ANYTHING that we’re passionate about.

    For a look at what global warming IS doing to our planet, without Gore being the talking head, dig up a copy of the October or November edition of National Geographic. I came thisclose to weeping seeing these pictures of the planet being bled dry because we can’t seem to try and do something responsible when it comes to the environment.

    Finally, especially when talking to people on the right, I wonder how much of this is not liking the message, and really wanting to shoot the messenger.

  • Don

    The whole thing is this: al gore is not concerned about anything but al gore.When everyone wakes up and looks at this Fake Phony Fraud for what he is then you can look at the issue. I think scientist’s are starting to get pissed that thery are thrown into a battle without facts. They deal with and live in a world of fact. This issue is fueled by emotion. al gore is no dummy, he knows that we get caught up in emotion. Go back a few weeks Denny had a picture of the polar bears. They looked lost on the ice feature.I had seen it on the front page of the Sunday ny slime {times}. A guy in the coffee shop showed me and said look at the poor bears. I too thought for a second, ‘Wow that’s terrible” {emotion} Then reality ny slimes. I wrote on this it was BS. They swam out to it, can swim 100 miles. Also the polar bears are not endangered. If this clown wants to make a movie and make money fine, but now they show this trash in schools and that is wrong. I understand that the education system wants to produce left-leaning future democrat voters but this is a waste of taxpayer dollars. Paul I’m just glad to be right, and on the RIGHT……….

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