I'm postponing my review of P&P to extol Al Gore's documentary, An Inconvenient Truth.
The film opens nationwide next weekend, but I'm now fortunate enough to live near New York City, where it premiered on Friday.. "Rachel from Keene" and I joined a throng of New Yorkers to pack the Lincoln Sq theatre on Saturday to watch the movie. For the past few years, Gore has been touring the nation (and then the world), giving a slide show presentation on global warming. "An Inconveneint Truth" is in essence that same presentation put on the big screen. But don't fret about being bored, as Gore is funny at points, always concise and displays compelling images and videos. I was literally on the edge of my seat an hour into the movie -- an unusual response from me at the theatre, and certainly the first time for a documentary.
Gore clearly and directly lays out the threats of global warming. He deals with the skeptics, including many of the counter-arguments promulgated in this week's WaPo Magazine article on the movie and the global warming debate in general. I admit that when I watched the trailer I was skeptical about the claim that sea levels will rise by 20 feet anytime soon. But now I'm convinced that it's a real possibility. And I feel that I can defend that position in a discussion with just about anyone except a climatologist.
Without giving away the ending, there are two positive feedback loops that can lead to severe ice melting. (Gore avoids engineering/scientific terminology such as "positive (or negative) feedback loops.") I was sold when Gore showed successive time-lapse images of these feedback loops occurring over the course of one month in 2002. And while some of the images will shake you, there is also a sense of hope. Gore notes that through the Montreal Protocol, we have eliminated CFCs and the allowed the ozone layer to heal quite rapidly. We won't be able to stop the Earth from warming over the next decade, but collective action will mean the difference between a few poor ski seasons in Pennsylvania and global catastrophe.
To learn what you can do to help, and why your actions are necessary, go see this film. It'll be the most worthwhile $10 movie ticket you ever buy. (Plus the proceeds go to help the cause.)
And, if you're reading this in the Princeton area, I'll be trying to organize a local group, so let me know if you're interested.
Let me know when you get a group together -- I can't wait to see this!