Blogprompt 2: "An Inconvenient Truth"

Al Gore (and the IPCC) won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 largely for the production of the film 'An Inconvenient Truth'. The committee cited "their efforts to build up and disseminate (spread) knowledge about man-made climate change". To what extent do you think this was deserved? Having watched this film in class did you feel that your opinion (or perhaps the opinion of others) to the issue of climate change could be positively influenced? What did you think of this film? Was it effective?

Having watched the film, I believe that many people's (including my own) opinion of climate changed will have been influenced. At first, I thought that he was joking around about the rate at which ice caps are melting and how the CO2 emissions will increase so dramatically because the numbers seemed so unreal. Everyone knew that climate change was a problem, we just didn't know that it was so big. Even the skeptics will have a hard time finding something that suggests hat we (humankind) don't play any role in what is happening. I think that the movie will have spurred people into trying to think more sustainably even if their overall effect on the world's problem is miniscule.

The Nobel Peace Prize was deserved by both Al Gore and the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) as they have shown Climate Change for the dangerous future that it will be unless something drastic is done about it now, even then the temperature will still rise but not as drastically. Many would believe that the IPCC deserved the Prize but not Al Gore as he didn't "really do anything", however I believe if anyone else had stood up on that stage and delivered a speech/presentation on climate change, they would be ignored because all of their ideas and data would have been heard before. However, Al Gore's data was unseen and his images showed the effect we are having right now compared to our past as well as some images that showed our most likely future and because of his political past, his theories were not just ignored, especially since he was backed by the IPCC.

"An Inconvenient Truth" was displayed in an unusual manner (based around a powerpoint), however this made it stand out more than the average documentary and Al Gore presented it in a fun way, full of small jokes with lots of emotive images and thought-sturring quotes. Overall it was a very effective way of presenting the findings in a way that made them stand out rather than in a long-winded speech.

The SKEPTICS VIEW in media: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8299079.stm

IPCC Website: http://www.ipcc.ch/

Blogprompt 1 - Sustainablity of your lifestyle

What actions could you (in theory) undertake that would improve the 'sustainability' of your lifestyle? What might be preventing you from doing these?

Like many people in the world, i want to lower my carbon footprint, help the environment and become more sustainable however i have found that i am held back by costs and general lazyness.
- The obvious thing i would do is recycle as much of my waste as possible, which is becoming easier as more products are becoming more recyclable. Despite this, some products still can not be recycled easily as they are a mix of materials and this would mean sorting out my rubbish which takes time.
- I would leave products on standby when they are not in use however i find myself to lazy to do this. Plus if i do, i have noticed that may settings are reset and i do not have the time to keep changing them back. Similarily, i would remember to turn lights off when i am not in that room however a mixture of lazyness and a bad memory stop me from doing this simple task.
- I would buy products that are more environmentally friendly and/or the materials come from a sustainable resource, however this could become expensive. I have noticed that some of these "sustainable" products do not have the same satisfactory levels of the regular products i am used to purchasing. I find myself wondering if i should have purchased my usual product which is more econmically sound on my bank account rather than a sustainable product , even though it is more environmentally friendly.
- I could find a job and help my parents by more sustainable products, however i would rather spend my time at home on the computer or reading a book rather than working shifts in a shop. I could also offer to help out more around the house, doing jobs and saving my parents from extra petrol costs but once again i am stopped by my laziness.

I have tried to mend my lazy ways. I now walk to Avenue campus from my home (a journey of approximately 2 miles) and shuttle bus to Park, repeating this process to get back home. I try to by products that i actually need rather than want (as we throw away approx. 1/3 of our food a year, at least 340,000 tonnes still in date www.wrap.org.uk) and products that are environmetally friendly and come from a sustainable source, however this is only achieved if the price is right. By realising my mistakes, i have began to take action and i can only hope that everyone else realises this soon so that we can begin to save our environment.