Plot

Filmmaker Davis Guggenheim follows Al Gore on the lecture circuit, as the former presidential candidate campaigns to raise public awareness of the dangers of global warming and calls for immediate action to curb its destructive effects on the environment.

A documentary on the threat that climate change poses to the Earth - it's causes, effects and history and potential solutions to it. Presented by Al Gore through a lecture that he has given to audiences across the globe, plus through more introspective moments.—grantss

Without a doubt, the destruction of the environment has triggered the gradual decline of our world. However, not all hope is lost--we can still reverse this situation, following the lead of dedicated activists. With this in mind, director Davis Guggenheim documents the effort of former United States Vice President Al Gore to raise awareness of the devastating consequences and effects of global climate change. Through his crusade, shocking facts come to light, highlighting the importance of taking immediate action to avoid the inevitable.—Nick Riganas

Director Davis Guggenheim eloquently weaves the science of global warming with Mr. Gore's personal history and lifelong commitment to reversing the effects of global climate change. A longtime advocate for the environment, Gore presents a wide array of facts and information in a thoughtful and compelling way. "Al Gore strips his presentations of politics, laying out the facts for the audience to draw their own conclusions in a charming, funny and engaging style, and by the end has everyone on the edge of their seats, gripped by his haunting message," said Guggenheim. An Inconvenient Truth is not a story of despair but rather a rallying cry to protect the one earth we all share. "It is now clear that we face a deepening global climate crisis that requires us to act boldly, quickly, and wisely," said Gore.—Plantation Productions

Director Davis Guggenheim eloquently weaves the science of global warming with Mr. Gore's personal history and lifelong commitment to reversing the effects of global climate change.

A long-time advocate for the environment, Gore presents a wide array of facts and information in a thoughtful and compelling way. Al Gore strips his presentations of politics, laying out the facts for the audience to draw their own conclusions in a charming, funny and engaging style, and by the end has everyone on the edge of their seats, gripped by his haunting message, said Guggenheim.

Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005. Planet is beset by extreme events that occur at an alarmingly high frequency now. Earth is a preciously small planet in space. The atmosphere is very thin, and we are capable of changing its composition with our actions. Suns rays hit the Earth and some it is reflected back into space. Some of the outgoing infrared radiation is trapped by the atmosphere. As the atmosphere is thickened by pollution less and less of the reflected sun light escapes into space and gets trapped in the atmosphere, thus leading to global warming.

The level of CO2 in the atmosphere has been rising relentlessly for the last 45 years. Now we are beginning to see the impact of the same. The level of ice mountain tops has been going down, glaciers are retreating, and this is happening consistently worldwide. Scientists can look at ice cores and figure out the global temperature when the ice core was formed, by studying specific oxygen isotopes in the core. The ice layers are formed by the annual melting and refreezing of glaciers and each layer serves as a record for a particular historical time period.

The data for the last 1000 years of temperature and the last 1000 years of CO2 has a near perfect correlation. In Antarctica, scientists can go back 650,000 years. Again, temperature and CO2 concentration in the air are closely correlated. CO2 concentration has never gone up beyond 300 PPM, but today it is already 650 PPM. This is a man-made phenomenon. The concentration of CO2 will rise drastically in the next 50 years as well.

Gore feels that we take the nature for granted and what we have today, might not be available to the coming generations. 10 of hottest years on record have come in the last 14 years. 2003 heat wave killed 35,000 people in Europe. Oceans are getting warmer as well and that causes stronger storms and large Hurricanes, which are already happening. US set an all-time record for tornadoes. Japan was hit by record powerful typhoons. As hurricanes pass over warmer waters, they pick up speed and they pick up moisture content.

Al Gore loses the Presidential election to George Bush in the swing state of Florida. He devoted more time to his climate change cause. Global warming puts more moisture in the air, which comes down and precipitation and flooding. India, China, US, have all seen major floods and insurance claims are going through the roof. Global warming also relocates the precipitation and causes severe drought events at the same time. Lake Chad was the biggest lake in the world in 1963 and has dried up to almost nothing.

Arctic, Greenland, Alaska are all thawing. Permafrost is thawing and that causing all infrastructure built on Permafrost to destabilize. The thickness of the arctic ice cap is going down and has already diminished by 40% in 40 years. In 70 years, Arctic will be ice free in the summer. Arctic ice used to act like a giant mirror and reflect 90% of suns rays back into space. But now with the ice gone, 90% of the sun's rays are absorbed by the water and the Arctic water is getting warmer rapidly. As the Arctic warms up, it also stops the giant Earth Ocean current conveyor belt which works only due to the temperature variance between the Equator and the Poles. Ocean current redistributes the heat from the equator to the poles, and without it, Europe goes into an Ice Age.

The US is the worst contributor to the problem. Politicians will care only if people do. Global warming creates new species of insects that used to be killed off by the winter. The insects sometimes devastate entire forests. Cities were formed just above the mosquito line, but the line has now moved due to Global Warming. Vectors for infectious diseases are increasing their range. 30 new diseases have hit humans in the last 25 years. Coral reefs are bleaching. Species loss is happening at 1000 times the natural rate.

Antarctica is the largest mass of Ice on Earth. The Antarctic Ice Shelf is now breaking off. When the floating sea ice disintegrated, the land-based ice could not be held back, and it started breaking off and falling into the Ocean. Land based ice increases sea levels. Greenland and West Antarctic Ice sheets will raise sea levels by 20 feet. The melting of Ice in Greenland is accelerating. 20 feet of sea level rise would mean many low-lying areas would be submerged under water, globally.

China is investing heavily in new coal fired power plants. Human population is going to grow to 9 billion by 2050. Population puts pressure on food demand. 30% of CO2 that goes into the atmosphere each year comes from burning forests to create crop fields. We are using technology, which sometimes can have unintended consequences. We divert rivers to irrigate crops, but then dry up inland lakes fed by the rivers. US is biggest contributor per Capita and in total 30% of all global emissions come from the US.

The detractors are trying to re-position Global Warming as a theory, rather than fact. The Scientific community does not doubt Global Warming as a man-made phenomenon. This doubt is being deliberately created. US automakers are not competitive as their gas mileage standards are far lower than their global competitors. Even China is ahead of US in this regard.

Humans have the technology to make a dent in carbon emissions. We just need political will. Ozone issue was solved by the world by working together. US cities and states are ratifying the Kyoto protocol.