What can I do to help the problem?

Something that is simple but is often overlooked is using less electricity. If everyone in America used less electricity, less coal would be needed to produce electricity. This doesn’t mean that you can never use electricity. If people turned the lights off when a room was unoccupied, this would drastically reduce the amount of electricity that was used. Other simple things like energy efficient fixtures would also decrease the amount of electricity that we need.

Why are alternative energy sources so expensive?

Alternative energy hasn’t been used much because this technology is fairly new. New technology is usually expensive for a while after it is produced. As these technologies are used more, the cost to use them will decrease. This should cause an even more widespread use of alternative energy.

Why aren’t people worried about this problem?

I think that many people are unaware of the problems that could arise from the depletion of coal. There haven’t been too many warnings published to inform people of this problem. I think that more forms of risk communication need to be published in order to inform the public. This problem could arise much sooner than we think, so something needs to be done before its too late. Informing the public of this problem could help to save our coal resources.

Al Gore used visual aides in many ways to emphasize points in his presentation. Some of these visuals were humorous while others were very serious. Overall, I thought that these visuals were used very appropriately and were a good way to keep the audiences attention. They were also a good way to make points clear for people who didn’t know much about global warming.

One of the visuals that I remembered was the graph where Gore used the mechanical lift to reach the top of the chart. This graph was used to show carbon dioxide concentrations versus time. Gore said that many people believe that the earth goes through cycles of increasing carbon dioxide and then it decreases again. These people also say that we are simply in a time of increasing CO2. Gore used this graph to show that the present carbon dioxide concentrations are higher than they’ve ever been. He doesn’t believe that we are just in a cycle of increasing CO2. He thinks that this insanely high amount of carbon dioxide is enhancing global warming.

Another set of visuals that were used were the pictures of various landmarks around the world. He showed pictures of what these landmarks looked like in years past, and what they look like today. These pictures showed drastic changes, whether it was a melting glacier or a dried up lake or river. One of these pictures showed a picture of a lake that was almost dried up. This lake was previously used for drinking water for the areas around it.

Gore also used another set of visuals to show what could possibly happen to our planet if global warming continues at the current rate. These pictures showed how much ocean levels would rise if glaciers continue to melt. If all of this ice melts, ocean levels are going to rise drastically. This could possibly put part of Florida and New York City under water. This could drive people out of their homes all around the coastlines. One of the most affected areas would be Western Asia. Rising water levels would force millions of people to find a new home. Consequently, areas that aren’t under water would be even more populated, causing even more problems.

All of these visual aides were used to better emphasize a point. For me, they made the problem, of global warming, more clear. I never realized how widespread this problem is. I think that this presentation was much better by using visuals than using words. Using words can sometimes lose people’s attention, but these pictures kept my attention during the whole movie.

(Google Images)

This image shows all of the environmental effects of coal mining. Nearly everything in the environment is affected by mining, whether it be underground or surface mining. This image could be used to show people all of the negative effects of coal mining and another reason that we need to start using alternative energy sources. I think this image would be more powerful if it showed homes that were destroyed by coal mining. People would pay more attention if this problem directly affected them. I think it would also be better if it showed all of the animals that are harmed or killed by coal mining.

(Google Images)

This image shows all of the different steps that are needed for coal to form. The only variable that isn’t on this picture, although a very important one, is time. It can take thousands of years for to form. This picture could be used to emphasize the amount of time that it takes for coal to form, and that once it runs out, it will take a very long time for coal to be used again. I think that this image would be more effective if it showed the amount of time that it takes for coal to form. People do not realize that if this resource is depleted, we probably will never see it again.

(U.S Department of Energy)

This graphic shows the components of a windmill. This is a very simple concept. A windmill is made of a few gears and shafts, a generator, blades, and a metal structure. This could be used to show the public that wind energy is a very cheap form of electricity. Since wind energy is so cheap, it should be used much more than it is currently being used. If it was used more, we could save money and also reduce the amount of pollution that is emitted each year from coal fired power plants. I think that this image would be good to use to show the simplicity of wind energy.

After watching the movie, An Inconvenient Truth, I have a much better understanding of global warming and its effects. Before watching this, I had heard everything that everyone else has heard. I never realized how big this problem is until now. Global warming isn’t just affecting the United States, but the whole world.

One thing that I noticed in this movie was the use of visual aides. Al Gore used these in many ways to get his point across, that global warming is a problem, to many different audiences. Even if you weren’t an expert on global warming, you could still get his point about the problem. One of the visuals that I liked was the one with the frog in boiling water. This was used to show that many people do not recognize the problem of global warming because it has been gradually increasing. If the temperature of the earth would have suddenly jumped up five degrees, people would notice the problem. The temperature of the earth has been gradually increasing over the years because we have been gradually putting more carbon dioxide and other pollutants into the atmosphere.

I thought that Gore also did a good job of establishing credibility. There were many instances where he talked about going places all over the world and talking to experts on global warming. He also showed various scenes of himself walking through an airport or sitting at home, trying to show the audience that he is just like us.

Overall, I thought this was a very effective piece of risk communication. The facts were presented in a manner so that anybody could understand the problem with global warming, not just the experts. Gore also gave many different ways for everyday people to help alleviate this problem before it jeopardizes our future.