Comments on: Al Gore and the Nobel

By: Jason

Jason — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 20:30:57 +0000

David Benson, you talk of extinctions that will happen. Daniel Botkin, president of the Center for the Study of the Environment and professor emeritus in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology at the University of California said this yesterday in an article:

“Case in point: This year’s United Nations report on climate change and other documents say that 20%-30% of plant and animal species will be threatened with extinction in this century due to global warming — a truly terrifying thought. Yet, during the past 2.5 million years, a period that scientists now know experienced climatic changes as rapid and as warm as modern climatological models suggest will happen to us, almost none of the millions of species on Earth went extinct. The exceptions were about 20 species of large mammals (the famous megafauna of the last ice age — saber-tooth tigers, hairy mammoths and the like), which went extinct about 10,000 to 5,000 years ago at the end of the last ice age, and many dominant trees and shrubs of northwestern Europe. But elsewhere, including North America, few plant species went extinct, and few mammals.”

By: Paul Biggs

Paul Biggs — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 10:13:59 +0000

Dream on King Canute. Humans don’t control the climate.

By: Paul Biggs

Paul Biggs — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 10:12:39 +0000

Dream on King Canute. Humans don’t control the climate.

By: David B. Benson

David B. Benson — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 23:10:20 +0000

Gadzooks!

The Nobel Peace Prize Committee is correct. Some aspects of climate change are irrevokable already, such as species extinctions. Controlling climate change needs be accomplished ’soon’ so as to avoid further species extinctions and many other essentially irreversible (and undesirable) changes.

By: Paul Biggs

Paul Biggs — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 09:42:26 +0000

What ‘agreement’ can control the complex, chaotic, non-linear climate system?

What a ridiculous final sentence:

“Action is necessary now, before climate change moves beyond man’s control.”
–Nobel Committee, 12 October 2007

Gadzooks! Man can apparently control the climate, but only in a time frame that fits a political definition of NOW!

By: TokyoTom

TokyoTom — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 04:19:00 +0000

Lisa, I agree with you.

If it had been in the Committee’s power to have changed the past or to turn the clock of time ahead, surely they would have preferred to award the prize to someone who had already been instrumental in getting the US and the world to commit to an effective climate treaty. But alas, no such agreement has yet been reached.

But as the Committee remains convinved of the urgency of dealing with climate change, I suppose they can be forgiven for doing what is clearly second best, though it is all that is within their power.

By: LDilling

LDilling — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 19:22:37 +0000

also, one postscript– danielc- I don’t agree that the “war” being fought in climate is one of communication. The polls show that for several years the public has accepted that climate change is real, is a problem, and the majority think that the government should act to do something about it. Gore’s film has elevated visibility in the past year, but the reality is that an overwhelming majority already thought it was a problem. The issue for me is one of action and urgency– we need to move beyond talking about the science (which, as you say, has been settled for a while), and actually implement policies and measures that will make a difference.

By: LDilling

LDilling — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 19:13:51 +0000

Thanks to all for the thoughtful comments and discussion!
- danielc, I can certainly see that the Nobel Committee has awarded environmentally-based awards in the past, but I question whether Gore’s role in communication warrants the prize. Take Maathai, for example, a previous winner. She was the first woman to receive a doctorate in east and central Africa. She started the “Greenbelt” movement in her region in Africa, which empowered women to plant trees to improve their environment and their quality of life. Her movement resulted in over 20 million trees being planted and counting. Her influence extends far beyond the environment to her work on women’s issues, human rights, poverty, and democracy. Of course the environment is critically linked to these issues. So I can accept that there is precedent for environmental issues. But the second part of my question is whether Mr. Gore’s work on communicating climate is commensurate with the stature of the award. I have argued above that, while it is laudable and excellent work, it does not do the hard work of actually making a change in our approach to climate. I like your quote of John Orr’s– it is exactly the point I was trying to make. It is not enough to simply make discoveries (or, I would add, to talk about them). It is what we then do with the knowledge that makes a difference. The IPCC at least was a herculean effort, organized by many scientific leaders, often volunteers, and would seem more deserving in this respect.
- David B., thanks for the correction! you are right.
- TokyoTom, yes, I would agree that the Committee was sending a signal. But again, I would like to see us move beyond signals to rewarding substance.

By: TokyoTom

TokyoTom — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 14:54:25 +0000

Lisa, Gore may very well be a flawed candidate, with some responsibility with Clinton for not negotiating Kyoto sufficiently to include China and for failing to submit it to Congress, but the Committee obviously gave it to him to send a signal to the US and the rest of the world where they think our priorities should lie – and in stark contrast to US foreign policy over the years of the Bush administration.

By: David B. Benson

David B. Benson — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 00:07:36 +0000

Technically, Mr. Gore did not receive an Oscar. The Oscar for Best Documentary Feature is awarded, by tradition, to the director, in this case Mr. Guggenheim. Mr. Guggenheim chose to have everybody involved on the stage with him at presentation time.

Mr. Gore does, I believe, have an Emmy award.