Article Contributed on: 10/5/2007 12:15:17 PM
On Oct. 2,
Al Gore brought his now famous slideshow to the Wells Fargo Theater in Denver. His documentary project "An Inconvenient Truth" was based directly off these slides and went on to win two academy awards among many others. With such a large venue it was anticipated that a significant crowd would be in attendance. However, this was not the case as many audience members traded their original seats for ones closer to stage. This small number may have been a combination of high-ticket prices and the lack of publicity this event had been given in the Denver community.
His arrival on stage prompted an instant standing ovation and he did not lose the support throughout the night. Those in attendance received a presentation of the classic lecture as well as updated developments and local progress.
He opened the lecture with some humor, and told personal stories and even included his notorious quote from the film, "I'm Al Gore, I used to be the next president of the United States of America." Gore then proceeded to recite the lecture by heart as he told the tale of the earth and the damage that is being inflicted upon it. While explaining the harmful effects of green house gases and the way the planet reacted, he began to emphasize his position on this issue. He wished to serve as the advocate for the earth who can not give its consent or verbalize the damage years of industrialization has done. Gore accomplishes that task by presenting the information similar to a professor who is teaching a class to a group of students. One of the latest and most alarming developments he added to the slide show included the melting sea ice in Antarctica.
Just this past summer the ice caps in Antarctica shrank by 1 million square feet, shocking many scientists. When ice melts at such an intense rate the rising of sea levels may result, thus putting many costal cities at risk. Whether this phenomenon is due directly to global warming or if it is a mixture of natural causes is still under investigation. However, it raises an important awareness that our planet is beginning to experience severe changes that must not go unnoticed.
Perhaps that was Gore's most influential message Tuesday night. He stresses that in a nation that cares more about
Britney Spears' custody battle and
O.J. Simpson's new arrest, it is crucial not to forget more serious matters that will one day impact us and our children. The presentation ended with a series of audience questions. The questions varied between what policies should be enacted to help the environment to more off topic matters such as how he would have handled September 11 th differently. Although the slideshow did not provide any concrete ways to take immediate action, it did help spark awareness in the crowd to issues beyond entertainment media.