Al Gore Wins Nobel Prize

[jdobbin]

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/nobel_peace

Former U.S. vice-president Al Gore and the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change jointly won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for their efforts to spread awareness of man-made climate change and to lay the foundations for fighting it.

Gore, who won an Academy Award earlier this year for his film on global warming, "An Inconvenient Truth," had been widely tipped to win the prize.

He said that global warming was not a political issue but a worldwide crisis.

"We face a true planetary emergency. ... It is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity," he said. "It is also our greatest opportunity to lift global consciousness to a higher level."

The price of Bush

Continued war in Afghanistan ... billions

Continued war in Iraq ... billions

Continued deficits ... more billions

Al Gore winning an Oscar and a Nobel in the same year: priceless

[M.Dancer]

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/nobel_peace

The price of Bush

Continued war in Afghanistan ... billions

Continued war in Iraq ... billions

Continued deficits ... more billions

Al Gore winning an Oscar and a Nobel in the same year: priceless

To be honest, I think it devalues the prize immensely to offer it to a producer of a propaganda film.

[M.Dancer]

But some questioned the prize decision.

"Awarding it to Al Gore cannot be seen as anything other than a political statement. Awarding it to the IPCC is well-founded," said Bjorn Lomborg, author of "The Skeptical Environmentalist."

He criticized Mr. Gore's film as having "some very obvious mistakes, like the argument that we're going to see six meters of sea-level rise," he said.

"They (Nobel committee) have a unique platform in getting people's attention on this issue, and I regret they have used it to make a political statement."

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...tory/Front/home

[jazzer]

Gee, kinda begs the question, do you think Dubya will ever be nominated? Oh wait, I forgot it's a peace prize.

Edited October 12, 2007 by jazzer

[jazzer]

To be honest, I think it devalues the prize immensely to offer it to a producer of a propaganda film.

To be honest, I think it elevates the prize immensely to offer it to a producer of a film that demonstrates perhaps the most important environmental concerns of all time.

Edited October 12, 2007 by jazzer

[M.Dancer]

To be honest, I think it elevates the prize immensely to offer it to a producer of a film that demonstrates perhaps the most important environmental concerns of all time.

Which would be true if it wasn't rifled with factual errors. Who knows, maybe Michael Moore should get one too......

[M.Dancer]

A High Court judge today ruled that An Inconvenient Truth can be distributed to every school in the country but only if it comes with a note explaining nine scientific errors in Al Gore’s Oscar-winning film.

The judge said some of the errors were made in “the context of alarmism and exaggeration” in order to support Mr Gore’s thesis on global warming.

Which is propaganda by anyother name.....

Error one

Al Gore: A sea-level rise of up to 20 feet would be caused by melting of either West Antarctica or Greenland “in the near future”.

The judge’s finding: “This is distinctly alarmist and part of Mr Gore’s ”wake-up call“. It was common ground that if Greenland melted it would release this amount of water - “but only after, and over, millennia.”

Error two

Gore: Low-lying inhabited Pacific atolls are already “being inundated because of anthropogenic global warming.”

Judge: There was no evidence of any evacuation having yet happened.

Error three

Gore: The documentary described global warming potentially “shutting down the Ocean Conveyor” - the process by which the Gulf Stream is carried over the North Atlantic to western Europe.

Judge: According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), it was “very unlikely” it would be shut down, though it might slow down.

Error four

Gore: He asserted - by ridiculing the opposite view - that two graphs, one plotting a rise in C02 and the other the rise in temperature over a period of 650,000 years, showed “an exact fit”.

Judge: Although there was general scientific agreement that there was a connection, “the two graphs do not establish what Mr Gore asserts”.

Error five

Gore: The disappearance of snow on Mt Kilimanjaro was expressly attributable to global warming.

Judge: This “specifically impressed” David Miliband, the Environment Secretary, but the scientific consensus was that it cannot be established that the recession of snows on Mt Kilimanjaro is mainly attributable to human-induced climate change.

Error six

Gore: The drying up of Lake Chad was used in the film as a prime example of a catastrophic result of global warming, said the judge.

Judge: “It is generally accepted that the evidence remains insufficient to establish such an attribution. It is apparently considered to be far more likely to result from other factors, such as population increase and over-grazing, and regional climate variability.”

Error seven

Gore: Hurricane Katrina and the consequent devastation in New Orleans to global warming.

Judge: There is “insufficient evidence to show that”.

Error eight

Gore: Referred to a new scientific study showing that, for the first time, polar bears were being found that had actually drowned “swimming long distances - up to 60 miles - to find the ice”.

Judge: “The only scientific study that either side before me can find is one which indicates that four polar bears have recently been found drowned because of a storm." That was not to say there might not in future be drowning-related deaths of bears if the trend of regression of pack ice continued - “but it plainly does not support Mr Gore’s description”.

Error nine

Gore: Coral reefs all over the world were bleaching because of global warming and other factors.

Judge: The IPCC had reported that, if temperatures were to rise by 1-3 degrees centigrade, there would be increased coral bleaching and mortality, unless the coral could adapt. But separating the impacts of stresses due to climate change from other stresses, such as over-fishing, and pollution was difficult.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/s...icle2632660.ece

[ScottSA]

To be honest, I think it elevates the prize immensely to offer it to a producer of a film that demonstrates perhaps the most important environmental concerns of all time.

Actually, it may be important, but since there is absolutely nothing to do about it except adapt, putting out ridiculously overblown horror flicks is hardly a boon to humanity and far from deserving of a Nobel Prize. Once upon a time a Nobel Peace Prize meant something, like when my dad's colleague won it for feeding billions of people, but now it's simply used to feed the latest leftwing or anti-American fad.

[Guest American Woman]

Continued war in Afghanistan ... billions

Continued war in Iraq ... billions

Continued deficits ... more billions

Al Gore winning an Oscar and a Nobel in the same year: priceless

Lovin' it!

I seriously bet Bush is annoyed. Lovin' that, too.

[capricorn]

To be honest, I think it elevates the prize immensely to offer it to a producer of a film that demonstrates perhaps the most important environmental concerns of all time.

The more I read about the scientific errors in Al Gore's film, the more I think it should be categorized as a work of fiction. Here's more debunking of his apocalyptic claims.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtm.../scigore111.xml

Oops, MD caught that too. Good going MD.

Anyhoo, some of our schools are showing his film but from what I read, no alternative scientific views are presented to the students. Whether this is by oversight or design, it is wrong.

[jazzer]

Aah, the sweet smell of jealously. Too bad most of you weren't on the committe that provided Gore with the esteemed award.

[ScottSA]

Aah, the sweet smell of jealously. Too bad most of you weren't on the committe that provided Gore with the esteemed award.

Alrighty then. Is there a Nobel Prize for debating ability?

[Guest American Woman]

Aah, the sweet smell of jealously. Too bad most of you weren't on the committe that provided Gore with the esteemed award.

I'm thinking the White House is reeking with the smell of jealousy right now.

[noahbody]

I would have given it to Dion for offering to bring the Taliban prisoners over to Canada.

[ScottSA]

I would have given it to Dion for offering to bring the Taliban prisoners over to Canada.

We should give it to the Glasgow bombers for not hurting anyone in their attempt to kill people.

[noahbody]

We should give it to the Glasgow bombers for not hurting anyone in their attempt to kill people.

Or possibly we should give it to Harry Potter for saving the world from He Who Must Not Be Named. Fiction does qualify after all.

[Higgly]

To be honest, I think it elevates the prize immensely to offer it to a producer of a film that demonstrates perhaps the most important environmental concerns of all time.

+1 here. The Noble Committee was probably less concerned about the facts than the concept. Whatever you may think of Al Gore's film, he recognised a tipping point and took a tremendous personal political risk to stand up for what he thought was right. Anybody who wants to shoot arrows at the US needs to remember this.

The Noble Prize is a European prize; Europe has felt the effects of climate change more than anybody else to date. There is a huge agricultural sector in Europe that is one of the foundations of their culture.

We are at a tipping point with respect to climate change. The Nobel Committee knows this and has given us their opinion.

Of course, there is always the opinion of George Bush....

[jdobbin]

Lovin' it!

I seriously bet Bush is annoyed. Lovin' that, too.

Gore has certainly had a good year. And like it or not, he has influenced Republicans on the issue. The smart ones like Arnie have embraced the issue and have done well by it.

[jefferiah]

I'm thinking the White House is reeking with the smell of jealousy right now.

I seriously doubt it.

I don't think it demotes the value of awards though as some have said. Who has ever established that they had any to begin with?

Britney Spears has won awards. Michael Jackson has won awards. I don't think they are incredibly talented. Awards are a nice way for like minded individuals to congratulate themselves.

People who do not concern themselves over being popular are not concerned about other people's popularity.

Edited October 13, 2007 by jefferiah

[Guest American Woman]

So Michael Jackson and Britney Spears have won awards. And of course those awards are on par with the Nobel Peace Prize. Talk about sour grapes.

As for Bush not being jealous-- Sure. He's happy just to have been nominated.

Edited October 13, 2007 by American Woman

[margrace]

Yes American Woman, the Nobel prizes are considered the top in the world. I wish that a lot of these people who are denying global warming would listen to people in the middle and north of Ontario. I have a little tree that is considered very iffy to grow in my area. When I first had it the leaves would not come on until at least the middle of june and they would be gone by the second week in september.

Now the leaves come on it in May and are still on as I write today, Oct 13th. If as we hear from the protester that Global Warming is a very slow process then I would like to comment that this has happened over the last 10 years and not slowly either, the tree extended it growing period very suddenly.

So if Global Warming is a slow process how does one explain this and how does one explain that we regularly got frost at the end of August or early in Sept. To date we have had no frost here this year. I still have very tender plants growing with no problem, Dahlias, Tuberous Begonias and Nasturiums. My tomatoes were still growing very well but I pulled them up last week.

How does one explain that we got vertually no snow in our area, part of the snow belt, until Febuary this year and it only lasted one month. It will be very scarry in a lot of ways if this happens again this year.

No our weather is not changing is it?

Edited October 13, 2007 by margrace

[ScottSA]

Yes American Woman, the Nobel prizes are considered the top in the world. I wish that a lot of these people who are denying global warming would listen to people in the middle and north of Ontario. I have a little tree that is considered very iffy to grow in my area. When I first had it the leaves would not come on until at least the middle of june and they would be gone by the second week in september.

Now the leaves come on it in May and are still on as I write today, Oct 13th. If as we hear from the protester that Global Warming is a very slow process then I would like to comment that this has happened over the last 10 years and not slowly either, the tree extended it growing period very suddenly.

So if Global Warming is a slow process how does one explain this and how does one explain that we regularly got frost at the end of August or early in Sept. To date we have had no frost here this year. I still have very tender plants growing with no problem, Dahlias, Tuberous Begonias and Nasturiums. My tomatoes were still growing very well but I pulled them up last week.

How does one explain that we got vertually no snow in our area, part of the snow belt, until Febuary this year and it only lasted one month. It will be very scarry in a lot of ways if this happens again this year.

No our weather is not changing is it?

The weather may or may not be changing, but that's not what "the debate" is about. In actuality, if Global Warming is indeed taking place, it's the best thing that could ever happen to Canada. If you believe it's taking place, though, buy up Canadian real estate as fast as you can...it's about to skyrocket.

[margrace]

Isn't the melting of the ice cap part of the weather news. I think you are splitting Hairs here.

[noahbody]

So if Global Warming is a slow process how does one explain this and how does one explain that we regularly got frost at the end of August or early in Sept.

As a kid, I used to drive through an area called "the 8-mile lake." It was farmland. It got the name as years earlier the approx 8 mile area had been covered with water. The lake was fed by precipitation, no rivers flowed into it. It had dried out from years of drought. A couple of years ago, I drove by the area and was very surprised to see a small lake. The answer to your question is: Weather changes. Climate shifts. Always has, always will.

Try to keep in mind, we went from the hottest decade on record, "the dirty thirties" to an ice-age scare in approx 30 years. From an ice age scare we've gone to a global warming scare in approx 30 years. The only constant is scare. I would assume this because many who go into environmental science, go into it to save the planet. Emotion has no place in science.

If Gore was born 30 years earlier, he would have likely won a Nobel for saving the planet from an ice age. Only now we'd be looking back saying "What a boob."

[jbg]

To be honest, I think it devalues the prize immensely to offer it to a producer of a propaganda film.

From a blog I haven't seen before, thoughts on who should have won Peace Prize (link):

FRIDAY'S GREGALOGUE: IRENA SENDLER

The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded this morning, and I'd like to congratulate Irena Sendler. Sendler was a former history teacher who rescued 2,500 children during the Holocaust and was a top contender for the wondrous prize. Back during the early 1940's, Sendler was a Catholic social worker who had gone into the Warsaw ghetto to rescue Jewish kids who were destined either to starve there, or die in death camps. She would sneak the kids past Nazi guards, sometimes hiding them in body bags, or would provide them with false documents - inevitably getting them to Polish families for adoption, or hiding them in convents or orphanages. She also made a list of the children's real names, put them in a jar and buried them, so that some day she could dig them up and find the kids to tell them their true names. The Nazis captured her and beat the crap out of her, but she later escaped, and she went into hiding. She's now in her late 90's , living in a nursing home in Poland.

I want to congratulate her, because she didn't win the Nobel Peace Prize. Instead it went to Al Gore, the guy who invented the Internet. Go figure.

Unt dass isst mine, DARM-ge-fuehl.