Gore: 'Time to accept the reality' of global warming
by LISA A. JOHNSON Lancaster/Depew Editor

Jessica Usborne, a University at Buffalo junior from Oneida, N.Y., shouts for joy at the conclusion of Friday evening's program after asking Al Gore to run for president. Usborne was the last of several persons allowed to ask questions from the audience at Alumni Arena. Photo by David F. Sherman Purchase color photos at www.BeeNews.com

Former Vice President Al Gore brought a strong but simple message to Amherst on Friday: We must stop global warming before it's too late, and we must start now.

Gore delivered his "An Inconvenient Truth" presentation in Alumni Arena on the University at Buffalo's North Campus as part of the university's 20th Annual Distinguished Speaker Series.

The demand for tickets was so high that an afternoon presentation was added and free tickets were given to the nearly 3,500 area students - representing about 80 high schools - who wanted to attend.

Gore entered the stage to a standing ovation and eased into his lecture by saying, "I'm Al Gore, and I used to be the next president of the United States of America." After a minute of applause and laughter, he continued, "I don't find that particularly funny."

Former Vice President Al Gore is welcomed to the University at Buffalo Friday afternoon by UB President John B. Simpson and New York State Lt. Gov. David A. Paterson. Photo by Jim Smerecak Purchase color photos at www.BeeNews.com

He told his audiences the inconvenience in realizing the threat behind global warming is that the nation's government and business leaders fear correcting the problem would cost billions of dollars and harm the economy.

The main problem is that the use of fossil fuels to manufacture goods, heat homes and power automobiles causes more carbon dioxide to escape into the atmosphere. The more carbon dioxide, the more of the sun's heat stays trapped in the atmosphere, causing global warming and climate changes, he said.

The United States, he said, uses more fossil fuels and contributes more to global warming than any other nation in the world.

"Carbon dioxide and temperature go up and down together," he said. "We need to turn the thermostat down on the planet."

Gore backed up his speech with dozens of slides, photographs and charts that depicted how carbon emissions affect the Earth, from creating stronger storms to causing the polar ice caps to melt to killing off thousands of species while allowing those that carry diseases to thrive.

While explaining the science of global warming, Gore also addressed his critics, who say the phenomenon is cyclical. One graphic Gore presented showed the Earth's average temperature relative to the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere over the past 600,000 years. While the chart depicted a natural increase and decrease in both, it also showed that the amount of carbon dioxide never went above 300 parts per million units of atmosphere until the past 100 years, when it reached 400 parts per million.

Gore said if the use of fossil fuels continues at its current rate, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will reach 600 parts per million in about 49 years, which will lead to an increase in the Earth's average temperature.

As for his critics: "That's a group that's diminishing more quickly than the glaciers. … It's time to accept the reality of this."

Gore added that higher temperatures and changing climate patterns would cause devastation worldwide. Melting ice shelves on Antarctica or Greenland would raise sea levels enough to displace hundreds of millions of people around the globe, creating what Gore called "climate refugees."

Changing wind and ocean currents also would be enough to bring droughts to areas that once were rich in precipitation and flooding to otherwise drier areas, he said. Warmer ocean waters also would fuel storms stronger than Hurricane Katrina, causing more devastation and deaths.

"(Global warming) is not a political issue, it's a moral issue," he said. "We can't afford to ignore the effects of these warnings."

Gore illustrated how global warming already is affecting the Buffalo area. He used the surprise October snowstorm as an example of extreme weather conditions that will become more frequent if greenhouse gases aren't reduced. He added that projections show that by 2010, the Buffalo area will see more dry days than normal, but when precipitation does fall, it will be more intense - rain and snow - if the amount of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere isn't decreased.

While the outlook seems grim, Gore said Buffalo is one of 472 cities nationwide that have accepted the Kyoto Treaty - a global document created in 1997, during the Clinton administration, to promote the stabilization of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere - even though the U.S. government hasn't yet. The United States and Australia are the only two industrialized nations left to sign the agreement.

Gore encouraged students to get involved by posing environmental questions to adults.

He related the idea that when he was their age, he asked adults why black people didn't have the same rights as white people before the Civil Rights Movement began.

"Young people, you have the opportunity to be the conscience of the country," he said.

"I hope to convince you to help to solve it; I hope to convince you to become activists."

To further promote the removal of carbon dioxide in the air, each school in attendance for the afternoon speech received a free presidential tree to plant on campus.

Gore wrapped up his presentation by telling the audience that officials have all the information and means to make the changes necessary to slow or stop global warming, but the political will isn't present.

"In a democracy, political will is a renewable resource," he said.

UB's goal in setting up the high school presentation was to encourage students' involvement in science and environmental conservation by exposing them to Gore's message about global warming and climate change, UB President John B. Simpson said before the event.

"The incredible response we received from area high schools really speaks volumes about the growing interest in environmental issues and the future of our planet," he said.

Simpson, New York Lt. Gov. David Paterson and UB student Kelly Miller introduced Gore to the students.

"He has made such a difference," Paterson said of Gore. "He has singly led us to embrace our environment."

"Most of us here are part of the next generation that will lead into the future," she said. "What's stopping us from being Generation Green?"