After viewing of the film “An Inconvenient Truth,” featuring Al Gore, the concept of global warming in my life has really been enlightened. However, because people conduct themselves on a day-to-day basis, the problem will continue increasing in magnitude.
After seeing this movie, people walk away saying, “Wow, someone should really do something about this,” only to proceed with their daily schedule. In today’s day and age, with so many people in the world, it is not difficult to assume someone else will solve the world’s problems. After all, most people have their own issues to worry about; problems that do not even compare to issues of global warming in which can hardly be solved anyway. So it is this concept, in addition to the procrastination of the human race that prevents us from dealing with such a problem. The common mindset of most people is “We will worry about it when the time comes.” This may sound great for the time being because it gives society an excuse not to make any progressive moves in stopping such a scenario. But in reality, once the time has come where the human race needs to worry about global warming, it will be too late, and potentially millions of lives will have been destroyed, not to mention plants and other creatures. So it is a sad realization: global warming is indefinitely a topic of huge concern among future generations; a topic that will most likely bring dismay to people who’s lives have been compromised by their elders’ carelessness.
2 comments:
I agree with Adam that most people feel that others will help solve the problem of global warming. Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth also put into perspective for me what actually will happen if global warming were to continue to increase over the years. I liked how he showed pictures of what is happening to the earth and what will happen to the earth. One thing that I thought Gore should have spent more time on was how to prevent further global warming. Most people know that global warming is bad and that they contribute to the problem and Al Gore reinforced this, but he spent a short amount of time on telling people what they can do to help the problem. His documentary was watched by many people and he missed the opportunity to get the viewers involved in stopping unnecessary global warming. I would have liked to see him present the different options for fuel in the future, like hydrogen. Another thing that I did not like about the movie was that he kept showing his personal moments, like his son getting hit by a car. I was watching the movie to learn about global warming, not about his life. If he would have cut those clips out and spent that time talking about solutions for the common person, the movie would have been better. He had a captive audience throughout the movie and they all got the message that global warming is bad, but I do not think that they understood what they can do to help alleviate the problem.
I really enjoyed Al Gore’s movie, “An Inconvenient Truth,” and while not usually a “Gore” fan, I am pretty passionate about this subject. My English class last year was “Environmental Literature,” and we spent an entire quarter focusing on global warming, so most of what Gore presented in his movie was a refresher for me. Still, I thought it was very effective. Adam points out that this problem might not be solved soon (or at least until it is too late) because people assume someone else will take care of it, they’re worrying about their own personal problems, etc. While this is a valid point, I think that is what Gore is trying to break through and make us realize that we each can do something to offset global warming. I know, even though I care a great deal about the global warming issue, that I do a pathetic job of actually making decisions that help the environment. This is why the government needs to take action. And the only way to make the government do something about it is if we, as voters, take action. Us “young people” are the ones who are going to suffer the worst consequences if we let things remain the way they are. As newly eligible voters we need to vote in favor of what we care about, in this case, voting for legislators who will move to take a stand against global warming. A couple average citizens can’t make the auto industry raise their fuel efficiency standards, or sign the Kyoto Protocol, etc., but the government can make these kinds of changes. I disagree with the assertion that Gore should not have put his personal experiences in the film. I think that adding these personal experiences helped viewers realize that he grew up a normal person. It makes him more relatable. And if we realize that Al Gore is just regular person, then we, as regular people as well, can also do something to reverse the impending effects of global warming. I think the way Gore split up his time mainly describing what is going on with our planet now was effective, and that he did spend a sufficient amount of time on what we can do. Part of that included going to his website climatecrisis.net, which gives you many practical solutions to reducing your energy use. It always amazes me when people do not want to try and do things like replace their current light bulbs with low-efficiency bulbs or buy a car with better fuel efficiency, because more than helping the environment, it also helps you save money! I think the reason Gore didn’t spend more time talking about how to help is because he needed that time to make people realize what a serious issue global warming is. If people know what to do but don’t believe that it is that serious of a problem, that wouldn’t do any good.
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