Gore's Movie

"An Inconvenient Truth" is apparently doing surprisingly well at the theatres. Although currently showing in just 77 theatres nationwide, it came in 9th last weekend, taking in over a million bucks and was, in terms of dollars per screening, well ahead of the number 1 movie. It did over $17,000 per screen vs. about $12,000 for "The Break-Up".

My wife and I, along with a couple of friends, went to see it on Sunday. I give it a strong recommend regardless of your political background or your thoughts on global warming. He isn't hysterical at all and simply points out the inescapable truth that there is a problem. He doesn't wildly predict the "end of the world", although he certainly points out some of the possibilities while pointing out that these are highly unpredictable. He concludes by providing a number of solutions, so it isn't just a bunch of hand-wringing.

The most clear scientific evidence is presented and I'll just touch briefly on three of the points that I found most interesting.

First, he talks about the much discussed historical temperature variations. Going back and graphing it over the past millennium, it is clear that what has transpired in the past 2 centuries is totally beyond in normal fluctuation that has been seen previously. We are actually in a warming trend that goes nearly quadruple anything in the past 1,000 years.

Next was an independent study of the science, and of media reports in connection to the topic. Of over 900 climate studies on global warming that were peer reviewed, not a single one disagreed with the fact of global warming. However, the media coverage shows an approximate 50/50 split of opinion on the subject.

Finally there was a chart of the United States showing various states that had independently enacted various statutes that reflect the heart and soul of the Kyoto Accords that our country has not ratified (by the way, we and Australia are the only two to have so failed). Gore didn't mention it in the movie, but I can't resist pointing out to you how similar the map was to the famous Blue/Red States map following the last presidential election.

Unexpected, but Welcome

It seems from this article and other recent developments that the Bush Administration may be getting the message from the American people that we want diplomacy FIRST. I'll will be cautiously optimistic for now. More interesting to me will be what goes on after November.

Entomologist?

Or just have a little insect knowledge? I was curious about this one. My friend, Bob The Bug Guy, was doing a little work in his yard today in Palm Desert, CA. He is a bit of an insect expert himself, as he is the owner of a pest control service out in the desert here in Southern California. He saw a red dragonfly and asked his daughter to come outside and photograph it for him. I think it's a very cool photo and worth sharing. He mentioned that he had never come across one before and I was wondering if anyone can give us any insights about it. Click on the picture to enlarge and look a the face. It's just incredible.