Global Warming Essay

Just about everyone has heard of global warming, but have you ever wondered what is actually is? Global warming is basically, a gradual increase of the overall temperature of the earth’s atmosphere. Global warming is believed to be caused by increased levels of greenhouse gases, causing a greenhouse effect. However, there are many different theories on how and why the harmful gases are being created. In Al Gore’s, An Inconvenient Truth, Gore states that Carbon Dioxide, one of the most commonly discussed greenhouse gases, is caused mostly by humans. The Great Global Warming Swindle, by Martin Durkin however, disagrees with Gore and believes that global warming isn’t actually as big of a problem as he says it is.

An Inconvenient Truth, aims to call attention to the dangers society faces from climate change, and suggests urgent actions that need to be taken immediately. The movie is based on a slide show that Gore has showed worldwide over 1000 times in the last 15 years. Gore’s movie is believed to be an advocacy piece that is part documentary, part biography, and part campaign ad. Gore talked about the climate change and how it is and is going to affect the Earth, and he also talks about his life and his family for no reason. In the UK, An Inconvenient Truth was proposed to be distributed to all secondary schools as a part of an education package on climate change. The announcement prompted Stuart Dimmock, a concerned parent and school governor, to bring a legal action against the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, claiming that the film was political and as such its distribution to schools contravened the Education Act of 1996. When a judge analyzed the film, he found nine different errors.

Some months before his case came to court, Dimmock had told his local newspaper that he would be happy for An Inconvenient Truth to be distributed to schools if it were accompanied by another film, The Great Global Warming Swindle, so they are offered a balanced presentation of opposing views. As opposed to The inconvenient Truth, the Great Global Warming Swindle, states that there is no proof that the current global warming is caused by the rise of greenhouse gases from human activity. The current warming is likely part of a natural cycle of climate warming and cooling that’s been traced back almost a million years. Martin Durkin’s main point of his movie was the tell the viewers how they shouldn’t be so worried about a short-term climate change and be more worried about starving children and debt and other issues he finds more important.

Whether you agree with Al Gore or Martin Durkin, both documentaries are very political and opinionated. Even the scientific facts in each movie have been questioned. The climate is changing, and people may be causing it, or they may not, but no matter what, people need to do what they can to keep a clean Earth just in case. I guess you never truly know what’s going to happen until it does.