Thursday, January 31, 2013

Al Gore: New thinking on the climate crisis

Al Gore: New thinking on the climate crisis

Find the TED talk Here


Summary:



Just like military conflicts are put into three separate categories, climate change is as well. First there are local problems, such as air and water pollution. Then there are regional problems, such as acid rain over a large territory. Lastly, there are world problems, which is where the climate crisis mainly lies, for the local and regional problems are just problems, while issues such as global warming are just that, global. Everything and one is affected. And due to this, we need to respond with a worldwide response. Everyone needs to switch to a more ‘green’ way of living, and most importantly there needs to be a global transition to a low-carbon economy. And this needs to happen now. The ice caps are melting at an astonishing rate. Earth is warming at a terrifying rate. Skeptics say that all of all of our extreme weather can easily be caused by variations in sun, but due to atmospheric temperatures this cannot be right. And there are less and less skeptics. 69% of Americans believe that global warming is real, and 68% believe that this is due to humans. But even with this new sense of belief, Americans do not think that Global Warming is very important. It is not a top priority of the president, and in the 2008 presidential debates, only eight out of the 3201 questions posed during the 2008 presidential elections by major TV networks were about climate change. So, how do we fix climate change? We create a CO2 tax. This tax would not only lead to a much better situation in regards to climate change, but would lead to solving problems such as poverty as well, as the best way to solve the poverty crisis is to solve the climate crisis. Our current system is flawed. Non-renewable energy is flawed. It’s bad for the economy and it’s bad for earth. We need to switch to a renewable non-carbon based economy. Just like how in the 1800s Lincoln was a hero by abolishing slavery, we need heroes to fix this disaster. The climate crisis is not a burden, it is an opportunity to rise to a challenge that is worthy of our best efforts.  We should be happy that we are the generation that a thousand years from now will be celebrated. And quite honestly, if the climate problem was given a week of what the Iraq War budget was, it would likely no longer be a crisis.

Analysis:



Al Gore’s TED talk on a new way of thinking towards climate change is an interesting one. First off, Gore is a highly captivating speaker, which really elevated his talk, which really was not in need of any elevation in the first place. His choice of examples was quite wise, as he managed to both demonstrate how bad the problem already is, and just how bad it could get. Gores message is an interesting one. He believes, and wants us to believe, that the climate crisis happening now is not a curse, but rather a blessing in disguise, as it allows us to be heroes. And independent of whether this is true or not, it is a wise point to make. Comparing solving climate change to something like ridding the world of slavery or giving blacks equal rights as whites is a powerful message, and one that will make people want to help. But this message has a possible flaw. Yes, we need heroes, but by stating that we need them many people will try to solve the problem for the wrong reasons. Yes, this may not necessarily be a bad thing, but by appealing to people via a hero-complex people will be attracted to solving the problem, but these people will very likely not be the hero that we need.


Gore, Al. "Al Gore: New Thinking on the Climate Crisis." TED: Ideas worth Spreading. Accessed February 01, 2013. http://www.ted.com/talks/al_gore_s_new_thinking_on_the_climate_crisis.html.

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