Al Gore's Movie

awip2062 · Post by **awip2062** » Wed May 24, 2006 11:21 am

I thought there was a thread here that mentioned Al Gore's movie and some teacher taking her kids to see it...but I can't figure out where it is...(yes, I tried the search function but I am being lame now, I guess).

Anyway, I thought this from the Washington Post was interesting:

"So here's what Al told Grist Magazine about global warming: "I believe it is appropriate to have an overrepresentation of factual presentations on how dangerous it is, as a predicate for opening up the audience."

Ummmmm....did he just say it is okay to fudge things to get people on the same page with you?

Here is the whole article: http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/200 ... -2838r.htm

Devil's Advocate · Post by **Devil's Advocate** » Wed May 24, 2006 11:55 am

Umm, your link is to the Washington Times, which is a very different publication to the Washington Post.

Edit: And now that I've looked at the article, I see it's an utterly risible pack of lies. So much so that I doubt if Gore actually said what was attributed to him, pending corroboration.

That said, "overrepresentation" doesn't mean "fudge" or even "exaggerate." It means (in context) putting forward the facts over and over, fact after fact after fact, till even the most head-in-sand-est of readers (such as the author of the article) gets the point.

awip2062 · Post by **awip2062** » Wed May 24, 2006 12:46 pm

Mea culpa on the mistake of the name of the paper. It was not intentional, but I did make a mistake nonetheless.

As for the article itself, I didn't write it, I just saw it and thought it was interesting. I was looking for something entirely different actually! LOL

awip2062 · Post by **awip2062** » Wed May 24, 2006 12:53 pm

Hmmm..I guess we need to define terms. I define "overrepresentation" as over representing, or saying there is more of something than there really is.

ElfDude · Post by **ElfDude** » Wed May 24, 2006 1:08 pm

Oh boy! A global warming thread!

I must confess that when it comes to most current events I'm usually just a blowhard. But temperature, this is my actual (and only) field of expertise. Measuring temperature is my specialty. I'm a nerd in a temperature metrology lab. Consequesntly, watching all the global warming debate is interesting to say the least (and absurd to say the most).

Here's what we know. We started trying to measure the temperature of the Earth about 100 years ago. That alone says a lot. Our international temperature scale changes often. It changed in 1948, and then it changed again in 1968, and then again in 1990 (I used to work under a scientist who was involved in the both the 1968 and 1990 conferences). The uncertainty with which we can measure has improved dramatically in recent years. When I look at equipment that was used even as recently as 30 years ago I have to chuckle at it.

Now... since we have attempted measuring the temperature of the Earth (quite a task in itself), we've seen interesting stuff. Let's just assume that all the measurements have been accurate and leave out improved equipment and stuff. In the 1970's we saw that the temperature of the Earth was dropping! The first earth day celebration (I'm old enough to remember this) was a big wake up call about global cooling! We were going to drive ourselves into another ice age with all of our pollutants. I read a magazine article from the 70's in which there were scientists saying that we needed to drop soot all over the polar ice caps to warm them up and stop their expansion! I wonder what would have happened if we'd listened to them...

But then the trend reversed and we saw an increase in temperature begin. From the 70's to the late 90's we saw an increase of... are you ready for this? Less than 1?C! But we need to panic! Al Gore has declared that we have less than ten years to live if we don't turn this around right now!

What really caught my attention was a recent report from a scientist in the U.K. who pointed out that since 1998 the temperature of the Earth has not risen. So apparently we've already beaten global warming and Al Gore's movie isn't even needed.

I guess my point is, we have virtually no significant evidence of anything. We're talking about a tiny amount of change over a mere 100 years. That sampling of time has seen both an up and a down cycle. But there's so much hype going on. Is the planet's climate changing? Of course it is. It always has been. It goes up and down, and has been doing so long before we invented the internal combustion engine.

One has to question the motives of those crying doom and gloom. I'm not sure what's in it for Al Gore. Perhaps just attention? Big fees for making public speeches? Movie profits? Another run for the presidency? Dunno. I guess we'll see in a couple of years.

schuette · Post by **schuette** » Wed May 24, 2006 1:18 pm

what you said was interesting..cheers for that elfie

Soup4Rush · Post by **Soup4Rush** » Wed May 24, 2006 1:18 pm

I would expect you would have to put the thermometer in the Middle East to get an accurate reading

ElfDude · Post by **ElfDude** » Wed May 24, 2006 1:22 pm

Soup4Rush wrote:I would expect you would have to put the thermometer in the Middle East to get an accurate reading

Yes, you would. And I'm pretty sure we have countries over there that cooperate in this stuff. Kuwait, Israel, the UAE (I think)...

Soup4Rush · Post by **Soup4Rush** » Wed May 24, 2006 1:36 pm

I remember when we deployed to Pakistan back in the late 80's. I remember looking around and thinking if they ever gave the world an enema, this is where they will stick the tube.

ElfDude · Post by **ElfDude** » Wed May 24, 2006 1:45 pm

Soup4Rush wrote:I remember when we deployed to Pakistan back in the late 80's. I remember looking around and thinking if they ever gave the world an enema, this is where they will stick the tube.

You're a hero!

Soup4Rush · Post by **Soup4Rush** » Wed May 24, 2006 2:05 pm

aww shucks,

not really, the only combat I ever saw was in the bars of the Phillipines.

ElfDude · Post by **ElfDude** » Wed May 24, 2006 2:18 pm

Soup4Rush wrote:aww shucks, not really, the only combat I ever saw was in the bars of the Phillipines.

But you would have done it if the orders had come in. You and your brothers remain heros in my book!

Soup4Rush · Post by **Soup4Rush** » Wed May 24, 2006 2:26 pm

I was in the reserves when the Gulf War broke out, but my unit was never activated. I would have but I am sure I would have been scared. I had a buddy who was over there and he came back a changed person. He was in the 3rd armored I think, He was a Bradley commander and it was his unit that was fired on by that Apache. I guessed that hellfire killed some of his friends. sad stuff. Its too bad that war has to happen. I hate the Iraq war, but someone has to protect the innocents of the world. This has been true all through history. Sounds like Iran needs to be next.

ElfDude · Post by **ElfDude** » Wed May 24, 2006 2:56 pm

Soup4Rush wrote:I was in the reserves when the Gulf War broke out, but my unit was never activated. I would have but I am sure I would have been scared.

That's the definition of courage, buddy.

Soup4Rush · Post by **Soup4Rush** » Wed May 24, 2006 3:00 pm

you would have done the same too.