The truth about An Inconvenient Truth
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Dr Mark Taylor |
The hit movie An Inconvenient Truth starring former US Vice President Al Gore has taken the world by storm – but what do the scientists think?
Senior Lecturer in the Department of Physical Geography at Macquarie University Dr Mark Taylor took around 30 of his environmental science students to an advance screening of the movie on 6 September, and has keenly observed the effect of the movie on our political and social landscape.
The movie follows Gore as he tours the world on a personal crusade to educate the public about the myths and misconceptions that surround global warming. It appears that his message has been well received not only with the general public but also with business and governments.
Sea change
“A week before we went and saw the movie, John Howard was on Four Corners and was asked about the need for Australia to reduce CO2 emissions by 60 per cent as recommended by CSIRO,” Taylor recalls.
“Howard replied ‘Well that sort of scenario, 60 per cent set for Australia would have enormously damaging impacts on our economy, on the price of petrol, on a whole lot of things…’. What he’s essentially saying is that he’s not going to do anything because it’s going to affect the economy. However, since then there’s been a sea change, a massive shift in public perception with respect to the environment, which has forced a rethink by the Government.”
However, although Taylor doesn’t believe An Inconvenient Truth was solely responsible for this change in perception, he says it provided a catalyst for the recent shift in broad public concerning human induced environmental impacts.
“I think the film was a watershed, and that this watershed has been on the horizon for a while,” Taylor says. “The public are identifying more clearly with environmental problems. For example, people are saying ‘we know oil is a finite resource, we support policies and legislation that encourage more efficient resource use and more sustainable living, we can see populations growing, we’ve got water shortages and droughts and salinity issues that need to dealt with now, not in 50 years time."
Getting the science right
Taylor, who teaches resource and environmental management and researches catchment health, heavy metal pollution and the physical degradation of riverine habitats, took Macquarie ocean climate modeller Dr Neil Holbrook along to the movie screening. Both were impressed by its scientific accuracy.
“The science in the movie is pretty much on the money,” Taylor says. “There are one or two minor things, such as the connection drawn between Hurricane Katrina and global warming. It’s difficult to directly attribute that specific event to global warming - despite climate modelling predictions showing increased storminess. But in essence, Gore did a pretty good job, particularly because the movie looked at the broad picture rather than just focusing on delivering scientific data.”
For more information, contact Dr Mark Taylor at mark.taylor@mq.edu.au On 20 May, 2007 Macquarie University will be screening An Inconvenient Truth as part of its Movies at Macquarie: Fact or Fiction series. Check out www.pr.mq.edu.au/mqmovies/ closer to the date for more details.