The Inconvinient truth: Analysis - Research Paper Example

Fossil fuels are the primary source of excessive CO2 emissions, according to Gore. Other sources of this gas include cutting down forests and producing cement. As Gore states, greenhouse gases warm our atmosphere because they soak up excessive sunlight, sunlight that should be refracted into space, instead of being absorbed. Gore then goes on to note that there is ample evidence that this is occurring. He uses anecdotal evidence, such as the fact that Glacier National Park is no longer a glacier at all, as all the snow and ice has melted from this park; that the same thing has happened at the Tschierva Glacier in Switzerland and the Rhonde Glacier, also in Switzerland, and the Upsala Glacier in Argentina; that record high temperatures are being recorded across the United States; that wildfires are increasing; that hurricanes are increasing and getting stronger; that Lake Chad is disappearing; that both the North and South poles are melting; and that coral reefs are dying, because the ocean is becoming more acidic, and the ocean is getting warmer; there are increasingly large pockets of “dead zones” in the oceans, where there is too much oxygen in the ocean to support life.

He goes on to imagine what our world would be like if Greenland melted and broke into the sea, which would cause the water levels to rise between 18 and 20 feet. In that case, Miami would be underwater, and so would Amsterdam. In Bangladesh and Calcutta, the 60 million people who live in these two cities would have to leave. That said, Al Gore is just one individual, and not even a scientist. However, the scientific consensus agrees with Gore. For instance, Oreskes (2004) states that the debate on climate change is over, because the dissenting opinions on the matter are not significant or credible.

She notes that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, as created