"Al
Gore's film 'An Inconvenient Truth' is remarkable
in its simplicity and clarity of messages,"
says an EEA climate change expert lucky enough
to get a sneak preview. "The film shows Al
Gore travelling the world with a slideshow setting
out key causes, effects and solutions to global
climate change." "Gore clearly shows
the evidence that the increase in global temperature
over the last 100 years is, to a large extent,
due to greenhouse gas emissions from human activity.
He then presents the three 'causes': population,
technology and barriers to new thinking."
Read the full review here: To this he adds many
examples, from the US and elsewhere, of current
and projected impacts of climate change. He also
discusses the possibility of abrupt climate change,
which may cause, for example, melting of the Greenland
ice sheet. This would lead to a global sea level
rise of several meters. The consequences for low-lying
countries and cities would be enormous. There
is scientific uncertainty about the likelihood
of such events, which he recognises.
Gore's main point remains clear:
whatever the eventual impacts, there is a need
to act immediately to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
This can be achieved with current technologies
and in an affordable way, he says, although he
presents few specific examples in the film.
The movie also gives a fascinating
insight into the moral drive of one man to address
this issue. Gore has long been an advocate of
environmental matters but has struggled to get
his message across. He reflects on this struggle
and emphasises how he is still trying to do so:
he has presented his slideshow over 1,000 times
around the globe. In the end, he states that ultimately
it is up to each individual to act upon the messages
of the movie.
However, it is not until the
credits role (interspersed with catchy slogans:
"walk more, buy a hybrid car, demand green
energy, expect more from your parents, pray,"
etc.) that any real advice on action is given.
Perhaps Al Gore and the film would be more effective
if more time was spent on options for action and
their implications for individuals?
Having said that, the film is
convincing and Gore uses data from well established
scientific sources, such as the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to back up his
points. He also succeeds in using these facts
in a very transparent and convincing way. As a
result, the film is a good lesson in communicating
complicated science simply, but accurately.
So see the movie, help get the
message across and encourage others to so too!
For more information on the
facts on climate change, see the IPCC web site
(2001 report) http://www.ipcc.ch/. The IPCC will
publish a fully updated new report in 2007. Furthermore
see also the EEA web site, with information on
climate change in Europe: http://themes.eea.europa.eu/Environmental_issues/climate
http://epaedia.eea.europa.eu/
(For more information on the
film, An Inconvenient truth, visit: http://www.climatecrisis.net/)
New-look EEA website improves
accessibility
Today the European Environment Agency unveils
a new-look website offering users better functionality
and improved accessibility. The EEA aims to provide
timely, information to a wide range of target
groups. The re-launched website will help achieve
this goal by offering a better quality service
to more people.
For example, the website is
now compatible with “screen readers” used by people
with visual disabilities. Text sizes can be also
be enlarged manually to enhance readability.
The new-look website is also
accessible from mobile devices, such as mobile
phones and PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants).
Designed in line with EU guidelines
on eAccessibility, the EEA website is one of the
first from an EU body that complies with international
accessibility standards.
The role-out of the new website
design is a gradual process that will continue
for the coming weeks.
