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Poseidon Lost

We thought the sea was infinite and inexhaustible. It is not. Calling for a new vision to save our oceans. Table of Contents | Digital Edition
Guardian Environmental Network

Reporting and commentary from OnEarth editors and correspondents
Reality Show: Al Gore Connects the Dots
By Ben Jervey
July 15, 2011 | (7) Comments

Though his is no doubt the voice most associated with climate change (for better or worse), it seems like it's been awhile since we've heard from Al Gore on the subject. Well, Al's back, with quite the splash. A few weeks ago, Rolling Stone published his sprawling 7,000-word essay heaping criticism on likely targets including fossil-fuel funded junk scientsts and the misinformation-perpetuating mass media (which, as CEO of CurrenTV, he's certainly a part of). Even President Obama, whom Gore endorsed for president, gets burned for not prioritizing climate change.

So now, after unloading all his frustration, Gore is taking the next step and organizing another of his patented global climate events. This one, scheduled for September 14, is called the Climate Reality Project, and it sets out to connect the dots between manmade climate change and the crazy weather extremes that the world has been experiencing over the past few years.

Check out the "trailer" for the so-called "24 hours of reality."

Here's how Gore describes it in his journal:

The climate crisis is a reality, and we are seeing its impacts in extreme weather all around the world. Using the same deceitful playbook as big tobacco used years before to mislead the public about the dangers of smoking, oil and coal companies and their allies are now deceiving the public about climate change. They have nearly unlimited resources to sow doubt, but we have one critical advantage: Reality is on our side.

I don't think many would argue that the staunchest deniers subscribe to a different "reality" altogether, so I don't expect to wake up on September 15 to a world where everyone agrees on climate change. Best case scenario: the Climate Reality Project gets a lot of coverage that better illustrates the complicated-but-real connections between warming and weather. If so, some middle-of-the-road climate agnostics might come to better appreciate -- and fear -- the very real threat of climate change.

My only true gripe with the event doesn't have to do so much with the theme, but with the timing. It's a mere ten days before 350.org's big Moving Planet distributed global action. Billed as "a day to move beyond fossil fuels," creative events and actions are planned in cities and towns all over the world.

Maybe that won't be a big problem, though. Gore's Climate Reality Project is focused on 24 big cosmopolitan cities (one for each time zone), so concerned citizens in smaller cities and towns can still devote their time and energy to planning for Moving Planet.

More from OnEarth

tags: climate change Al Gore weather extreme weather climate reality project
Ben Jervey
Ben writes about climate, energy, and sustainability for numerous publications and is the former environment editor at GOOD. He's the author of "The Big Green Apple: Your Guide to Eco-Friendly Living in New York City" and currently lives in Vermont. A bicycle enthusiast, Ben has... More
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#1
Kron from Atlantis Wrote on July 16, 2011 - 13:19
" (Eventually) it will be recognized as one of the most remarkable and inexplicable aberrations of the scientific mind which has ever been recorded in history ". - Nikola Tesla.
#2
Guthrum Wrote on July 17, 2011 - 09:14
Mr. Gore is making (bilking) millions of dollars off of the "global warming" issue, all the while flying around the world in private jets, living in huge mansions, and feeding the public propaganda that many have swallowed hook, line, and sinker. This man is not a scientist, climatologist, or meteorologist. He is a politician, and not a very good one (he couldn't even carry his home state, Tennessee). He ignores any views from scientists and ducks any kind of debate or dissenting views, He ignores clear evidence that disputes his ideas and theories. He wants huge taxes placed on the American people to pay for his extreme ideas. Gore is trying to get laws passed that the American people have voted against.
#1
memills Wrote on July 17, 2011 - 12:29
Get real Guthrum. Al Gore isn't making millions off of global warming. He could be doing many other things to make a great deal more money. He isn't. The scientific community has consensus re climate change -- it is real. The oil / coal companies are messin wit your mind. When you see one of their expensive TV ads about 'clean coal,' etc., are they trying to sell you coal? No, they are trying to influence your attitudes to create a political environment that caters to their interests. Follow the money. Also, read up. Paul Gilding's "The Great Disruption" is a good place to start.
#2
Dana Pearson Wrote on July 18, 2011 - 13:16
How do you paid corporate shills live with yourself? Traitors to the human race! Bought and paid for, locked in a room full of fellow traitors, spewing your disgusting propaganda for $50 an hour...just listened to an ABC PODCAST running looooong term climate scenarios...hundreds of years...and it is so sad we aren't moving quicker to a sustainable planet...every day we delay because of jerks like you is another eon of hell for some child in the future.
#3
B. Baber Wrote on July 23, 2011 - 17:34
@Gunthrum - in reference to Gore you stated "He ignores clear evidence that disputes his ideas and theories. He wants huge taxes placed on the American people to pay for his extreme ideas. Gore is trying to get laws passed that the American people have voted against". What is the 'clear evidence' that disputes his ideas and what are the specific taxes you are referring to? Also, what are the laws, again specifically, the people voted against? Vague implications are easy, facts please.
#3
Steven Earl Salmony Wrote on July 22, 2011 - 09:45
"Why is Man failing?" is the question. Of course, there are likely many recognizable, understandable and acceptable responses to that query. Having made this acknowledgement, I remain dumbstruck by one glaring and willful failure. It is the conscious and abject failure on the part of many too many top ranking professionals with appropriate expertise and extant scientific evidence to respond to one central question, the rejection of which appears to be allowing ' the stage to be set ' for big trouble that takes its shape in the form of some unimaginable sort of colossal, human-induced global ecological wreckage. **** Is the population dynamics of the human species essentially similar to or else different from the population dynamics of other species? **** The implications of the correct response to that single query appear profound.
#1
B. Baber Wrote on July 23, 2011 - 18:07
Profound indeed. I, as well continue to be baffled by humans and I agree with your view on the failures of the top ranking 'leaders' of our world however, I am also in complete confusion regarding the apathy of the masses. I see the popluation dynamics of humans to be theoretically similar to any other species within the animal kingdom but with a distinct difference being that of the ego. The beginning of failure started when man declared his dominion of planet earth in my opinion. Personally I believe humans needed a top predator. Our intelligence has revealed our stupidity and unfortunately to the detriment of it's own species and the majority of all other species. You are kinder than I though since I say it as, why has man failed...