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"An Inconvenient Truth" not inconvenient at all
by Michelle Minnoch

While most people head out on the long weekend and get away from it all, a reporter's life isn't that easy. With events going on 24/7, getting away for a long weekend is rarely an option.

While everyone was away, I decided to take in a movie "for one" on Saturday night. It was a movie I have been longing to see, one that I hope would educate me on a subject I hear about, but am not really up to speed on.

"An Inconvenient Truth", the climate change documentary staring former US Vice President Al Gore, looks at climate change, and what needs to be done by this generation so the next few generations have a safe and secure planet.

Gore, not jumping on any bandwagon, has been studying climate change since his university days. While studying at Harvard University, his professor, Roger Revelle, was one of the first scientists to record and measure carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

He has been lobbying Congress most of his political life about the issue, and at one point in the 70's, was told Global Warming was not a real issue, and it was not anything to be concerned about.

The facts and the presentation of the documentary was easy to follow, and jaw dropping facts were presented at every turn. Although there were only ten people in the theatre, a few times audience members gasped at the information being presented;

10 of the earth's hottest years have been within the last 14 years

warmer oceans = stronger storms, which can explain the high number of large hurricanes within the past 20 years

while the United States makes up only 4% of the world's population, they consume 25% of the world's energy

the Arctic Ice Cap has melted 40% in the last 40 years

The thing is, this guy is beyond just giving the facts. Gore has travelled to Antarctica, the Poles, Greenland, and so forth, and studied the effects global warming has had in these regions. He has seen first hand the damage mankind is doing to our planet.

While some prominent scientists had not seen the film, they had read Gore's book, on which the documentary was based, and said the science was conveyed correctly.

One hundred per cent of the proceeds of the film and the book are going to a campaign to further spread the message about global warming. The film's distributor, Paramount Classics, is donating 5% of the documentary's gross to the campaign, with a minimum guarantee of $500,000.

I appreciate good film making, and am always eager to learn. This documentary taught me a lot about what I did not know about global warming and has peaked my interest. This is a film that should be shown in schools the statistics are not only eye opening, but they are real.

Critic Roger Ebert wrote the following about "An Inconvenient Truth" "In 39 years, I have never written these words in a movie review, but here they are: You owe it to yourself to see this film. If you do not, and you have grandchildren, you should explain it to them why you decided not to".