Al Gore is back and even more committed to changing climate change skeptics’ minds about the link between climate change and extreme weather. Through a revised version of his An Inconvenient Truth slide show, Gore hopes to convince households, schools and businesses alike that global warming and climate change is something that cannot be ignored and that an immediate response is required.
Al Gore will present “24 Hours of Reality” in various languages every hour from Wednesday to Thursday this week starting in Mexico City and spanning all 24 time zones around the globe. “There will be 200 new slides arguing the connection between more extreme weather and climate change,” Trewin Restorick, Chief Executive of the event's UK partner Global Action Plan, told Reuters. “There will be a full-on assault on climate skeptics, exploring where they get their funding from,” Restorick added.
“24 Hours of Reality will focus the world’s attention on the full truth, scope, scale and impact of the climate crisis. To remove the doubt. Reveal the deniers. And catalyse urgency around an issue that affects every one of us,” says Al Gore Chairman of the Climate Reality Project.
Gore’s 2006 documentary film entitled “An Inconvenient Truth” has been largely criticised by climate change skeptics, who claim that the film is largely one-sided. However, at the same time Gore has received worldwide acclaim and recognition for the film, with the film amassing over $49 million at theatres throughout the world.
Gore is also urging social networkers to hand over control of their Facebook and Twitter account to the project to enable his message to reach as many individuals and groups as possible.
"The whole focus of this 24 Hours of Reality presentation will be the reality of the climate crisis and the reality of the solutions available," said Gore, who will deliver the final presentation at 19:00 on Thursday in New York City. "It will defend the science and defend the scientists and point to solutions all over the world."
Increased investment in renewables needed
Gore’s latest campaign to raise awareness of climate change comes days after UN General Secretary, Ban Ki-moon, warned last Thursday of the consequences of global warming during his tour of the South Pacific. Speaking at the University of Sydney, Ban criticised climate change skeptics for not accepting that science has proven climate change is real. "Watching this high tide standing on the shore of Kiribati, I said, 'High tide shows it's high time to act,'" Ban said. "We are running out of time."
Reacting to Ban’s speech, the German renewable energy institute, IWR, highlights that global greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced by significantly increasing investment in renewable energies. In 2010 around €140 billion was invested worldwide in new renewable generation technologies (up from €125 billion in 2009). However, the IWR estimates that an annual investment of at least €500 billion is required to significantly curb rising carbon dioxide emissions.
"The current pace at which renewables are being rolled out worldwide is insufficient to offset the global increase in carbon dioxide emissions," explains Dr. Norbert Allnoch, Director of the IWR. The IWR proposes a further development of the Kyoto Protocol to protect the global climate. According to Dr Allnoch: "A twin-pronged approach aimed at reducing carbon dioxide emissions and increasing investment in renewable technologies as envisaged in the CERINA Plan could offer a way out of the current dead-end with regard to climate policy."
Global carbon dioxide emissions rose sharply again in 2010 after falling in 2009, reaching a record level of more than 33 billion tonnes. "This is a global race to save the planet," Ban said. Al Gore hopes he can prompt the breaking of a new world record.
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