It is undeniable that An Inconvenient Truth, a documentary on former U.S. Vice President Al Gore’s lectures on global warming, is the one responsible for creating an extensive international awareness on climate change and its accompanying ramifications. Aided by a multimedia presentation (featuring a hilarious cartoon by The Simpsons creator Matt Groening), Gore presents an engaging and alarming state of the world in the clutches of global warming. Unlike any other documentary or lecture, An Inconvenient Truth delivers hard facts are presented in clear and accessible manner, sometimes injected with a bit of humor. Gore explains it all like a professor who truly cares about the subject; someone who is passionate on educating his students.

The documentary, directed by Davis Guggenheim, elaborates on the science of global warming. Using years of research and documentation, An Inconvenient Truth tells the story of our planet and what might happen if we do not act now. We witness Gore and his steadfast dedication in telling people about climate change; giving the lecture and presentation to thousands of audiences around the world; meeting with scientists and leaders of different countries to address this pressing issue. Interspersed with the presentation are reeling images of the effects of global warming for the last decades: glaciers melting, rivers drying up and receding shorelines. We see the subtle but dire changes in the weather system: hurricanes in South America, hotter temperatures, changes in the jet stream, and longer droughts. One of the most terrifying images in the film is the projected outcome if the sea level worldwide would rise up to twenty feet. Coastlines and cities around the world will be submerged, changing the face of the Earth as we know it.

Three years since the documentary was released, more people have become active in campaigns and programs combating the effects of global warming. According to climatecrisis.net, some of the impacts made by the film are:

• Over 106,000 tons of carbon was offset in 2007, equivalent to 225 million car miles.
• More people have switched to compact fluorescent bulb lights, amounting to 4200+tons of carbon offset.
• More than 250 climate change bills have been submitted to the congress, including the landmark Markey-Waxman Bill that was passed in 2009.
• A select committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming was established in the US. Senate
• An Assistant to the President for Climate Change and Energy was created by President Barack Obama.

For over thirty years, Gore has been active in environmental campaigns, bringing I environmental issues to the public. This documentary is but one of Al Gore’s campaigns to raise the awareness of people around the world about climate change and what we can do to help. For his commitment and numerous environmental campaigns, Gore became a co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.

Among his other projects on climate change are: the Alliance for Climate Protection (ACP), a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated in educating communities about global warming and the solutions that can be done; The Climate Project, an affiliate of the ACP with over 3,000 volunteers, personally trained by Gore, who conduct presentations around’ the world regarding climate change; and Live Earth, a for-profit company founded upon the power of the entertainment industry to move people and take part in the global initiative to work on solutions that will lessen the impact of global warming.

Gore has also written several books on the issue of climate change including ‘Earth in the Balance’ (1992) and’ An Inconvenient Truth’ (2006),the companion book to the documentary.

Through his numerous ‘solution summits’ with different experts and scientists around the world, Gore has written Our Choice, a follow up to An Inconvenient Truth. Our Choice presents the possible solutions and strategies that we could do to counteract the effects of global warming. Our Choice presents alternatives to the current energy sources such as wind, solar, biomass, and geothermal energies. The book also shows how deforestation, soil erosion and population explosion affect climate change. Through the perspective and insights of the numerous psychologists and neuroscientists, Gore also elaborates on the power of our minds to make a change and create a tipping point.

The challenge still rests on our capability to stir our collective conscious and create a wave of change. Global warming is .not merely a theory anymore; it is a ‘planetary emergency’ whose effects are already evident and are felt by millions of people worldwide. These effects will continue to be felt if we do not act now and the future generation will also suffer as well. Like Gore said in his introduction to Our Choice, we already have the tools to counter the effects of global warming, especially with the rapid developments in communication and technology today. All we need is the collective will to stand up and get things done.