Reaction Paper on Global Warming

A Reaction to the Documentary Film Entitled “ An Inconvenient Truth “ by Al Gore

Introduction
How many among us have proclaimed at least once, in a rather self-righteous manner, that we are someone who is environment-friendly or someone who is eco-conscious? Almost all of us have been guilty of making such a grand statement without fully knowing what it really means. After all, being earth-friendly is very much in fashion nowadays. No one will last an hour inside a mall without seeing fashionable ladies toting a canvass bag or wearing shirts that allude to their propensity to recycle or to plant trees. It makes one wonder though how many of these canvass-toting individuals know how many years does our planet has left before it reaches an environmental tipping point or in what year was the hottest earth temperature recorded.

I admit that I am one of those individuals who proclaimed and believed that I am a friend of the earth. After all, I try to conserve water as much as I can and I segregate garbage whenever I have the chance. But like many individuals out there, I was ignorant about the real issue concerning our environment, that is until I have seen the documentary An Inconvenient Truth. Directed by Davis Guggenheim and featuring former United States vice president Al Gore, the documentary zeros in on the subject of global warming and how it is affecting and will affect the planet Earth.

The Effectiveness of Al Gore
Technical and cinematic achievements aside, I believe the best contribution of this film is that it has made the issue of global warming accessible to ordinary individuals. Gore plays the role of environmental spokesperson well. He provides a believable and authoritative personality to the documentary and to the issues it is trying to expose. Much of the popularity that the film has enjoyed it owes to Gore's ability to act as an expert and a fellow observer at the same time.

When this film was released, not a few have surmised that it is nothing but a gimmick to catapult Al Gore back into the White House. After watching the film though, many of Gore's detractors have been transformed into followers. The fact that there is now a different person in the Palace is a vindication for Gore and a proof of his sincerity and lack of political agenda. The strongest point of Gore lies in his ability to convey urgency while at the same time maintaining a hopeful attitude and optimistic outlook which is not an easy feat to achieve when you are talking about the current state of the environment.

The Message of the Film
The message of this film is very clear: that global warming is real and we must do something about it or we will suffer the consequences. According to Gore, the planet has about ten more years before it reaches a “tipping point” at which instance there would be little that we can do already. The best part about Gore's message is that they are presented not without scientific evidence and proofs. The following scientific phenomena and materials are used to support the film’s main thesis:

• before and after photographs of melting ice glaciers; • temperature records from the 1980s that show that the ten hottest years have occurred in the last three decades; • the Keeling curve which measures the rising level of CO2; • a study that shows that carbon dioxide concentrations are higher now than at any point in history.
The presentation of these pieces of evidence are essential to lending veracity to the film's core message. Without them, Al Gore would simply appear as a preacher pointing to some distant doomsday.

Visually Engaging
One of the first things that you will realize while watching An Inconvenient Truth is how engaging and enjoyable the experience is and this is largely because of the visuals that were used in the film. From the opening scene, when we were shown the now famous photograph of the earth taken by the first Americans who went to space , the audience were being foretold that the film is going to be one visual treat. Throughout the film, beautiful and terrible images were precisely interwoven to help achieve the film's goal of sending out the dual message of making people realize how beautiful our planet is and making us see the extent of the destruction that has already been done.

Not a few individuals were turned off when they learned that this film is a documentary. But if only these individuals gave the film a chance then they would have been amazed at the fact that it is one such visual achievement. Documentaries – especially those that deal with subjects relating to the environment – have a reputation of being boring and uninteresting. The “An Inconvenient Truth” may just change people's impression about environmental films and even documentaries as a whole with its engaging style and arresting elements.
Conclusion
An Inconvenient Truth is a film that should be seen by anyone who cares for the environment and for the future of humanity and our planet. It is one of the most accessible materials that has ever been produced about the subject of global warming. It is easy to dismiss the criticism that the movie is plain propaganda because of the many sound scientific pieces of evidence that the film present. The “ An Inconvenient Truth “ actually is a well presented and entertaining thesis on the reality of the global warming phenomenon and the things that we can do to stop it to avoid a total disaster that is looming to happen in the near future.