An Inconvenient Truth Educates, Forewarns

Although global warming has been an issue on the forefront of modern science and society for years now, it wasn't until 2006 that an eye-opening documentary about it was produced. Based on the book An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It, written by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, the documentary of the same name was directed by Davis Guggenheim and was first shown at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. The film made its way to the states then, debuting in New York and Los Angeles on May 24th, 2006.

The film centers around Gore and his efforts to convey to the public just how severe the problem of global warming has become. An Inconvenient Truth focuses on the ways Gore has personally been impacted by climate change by highlighting his studies at Harvard with climate expert Roger Revelle, a car crash that almost killed his young son, and his sister's death from lung cancer. The documentary also successfully portrays a worldview that many of us aren't accustomed to examining, which is that in comparison to all of space, Earth is merely a tiny speck, but all of human history has happened here and it's our only home.

Ripe with scientific data surrounding climate change and the negative effect on Earth and its inhabitants, the documentary is both interesting and foreboding. A main focus of the film is Gore's own analysis and research about the annual temperature and CO2 levels in Antarctic ice samples, which has been on the rise. Other examples are used to convey the consequences of global warming on animals and humans alike. Perhaps the most poignant visual is the possibility of a major ice sheet in Greenland collapsing that would cause coastal flooding and result in 100 million refugees the world over.

This documentary is sobering and almost terrifying in its severity; however, there's a message of hope here as well at the end of the film. Gore argues that the effects of global warming can indeed be reversed should the appropriate actions are taken now. Steps to take include the proactive action of releasing less CO2 into our atmosphere, coupled with the reactive action of planting more vegetation to combat and consume the existing high levels of CO2 currently wafting around the planet.

An Inconvenient Truth earned $49 million at the box office worldwide and is the 5th highest grossing documentary film to date in the United States. This film taught the public at large to stop viewing global warming as a myth or something for future generations to worry about, and to act now to prevent the collapse of the planet.

The minds behind this documentary Al Gore and Davis Guggenheim are engaging in a new initiative to take a more active role in the fight against global warming. They have backed the Dot Eco initiative to establish the .eco top level domain. This new initiative powered by Dot Eco LLC, will donate over 50% of domain registration proceeds back to fund scientific initiatives and research in climate change, ocean analysis, economic policy, and other environmentally-related areas. Dot Eco is a powerful and truly innovative initiative that can help save our environment.