MOVIE REVIEW calls the movie “one-sided, misleading, Katrina: Both Balling and CEI cite exaggerated, speculative, wrong” and studies finding no correlation between Southwest Hydrology set out to learn lists 25 “truths” that it believes Gore left global temperature and an increase in the what climate scientists are saying about out. Critics generally focus on specific strength or frequency of hurricane-force former Vice President Al Gore’s movie, points in the movie, some of which storms. Realclimate.org says that Gore used “An Inconvenient Truth,” released last even the supporters concede could scenes of Hurricane Katrina destruction summer. The movie, adapted from his be misleading. Examples include: to illustrate that society is vulnerable to book of the same name, follows Gore’s weather extremes, but that he stopped short crusade to educate the public about what The effect of carbon dioxide on of making a strong -hurricane he views as the major environmental temperature: CEI says a graph showing connection, as the remains uncertain. crisis our planet is headed toward if we CO2 concentrations correlated to don’t collectively and immediately act to temperature over time is misleading Effect of the Clean Air Act: All scientists avert it. Did Gore get the science right? because the relationship is not linear agree that Gore incorrectly claims that the and projecting the future temperature effect of the Clean Air Act can be seen The movie’s supporters, including a large increases based on predicted CO2 in changes of aerosol concentrations in contingent at realclimate.org, a blog increases is incorrect. Supporters agree Antarctic ice cores in just two years. site about “climate science from climate that the graph could be misinterpreted, scientists,” praise its effectiveness in although they say Gore’s linkage of Invasive Species: Gore suggests, but does making science interesting to the general not directly state, that climate change temperature and CO2 in ice cores is valid. public, to the extent that the movie was a alone is the cause for invasive species. hit and has raised the public’s literacy level Melting snowfields and glaciers: In a Scientists agree that invasive species are on climate issues. They commend Gore’s movie review published by TCSDaily.com, opportunistic and capable of surviving in clear, (mostly) accurate, and not overly Balling says the snows of Kilimanjaro, a range of environments, thus they may alarmist presentation of what is likely cited in the movie as evidence of global thrive where other species cannot, but to occur if human-induced greenhouse warming, are melting because of a other factors also must come into play, gas emissions continue unabated. local shift to drier conditions that began including their introduction to an area. about a century ago. CEI argues that Spiegel Online investigated the integrity of glaciers have been receding worldwide In spite of these points, the consensus Gore’s science and found that the strongest for more than a century. Scientists at seems to be that Gore basically did get criticism has come from individuals realclimate.org counter that the snowpack the science right. A few of his visual data who receive funding from coal and oil retreat on Kilimanjaro cannot be fully presentations are potentially misleading, industries, such as Robert C. Balling Jr., accounted for by changes in atmospheric but he chose his words carefully and professor of at Arizona State moisture. Furthermore, focusing on one made few technical mistakes.

University, and organizations such as the specific example ignores the point that Visit www.realclimate.org, www.cei.org, Competitive Enterprise Institute. CEI worldwide, glaciers are retreating. tcsdaily.com, and www.spiegel.de/international/.

40 • January/February 2007 • Southwest Hydrology