My first thought when I attended the Turkish premiere of the documentary featuring Al Gore, “An Inconvenient Truth,” organized by World Wildlife Foundation Turkey and Garanti Bank, was that the world might be a very different place today if Gore, a man of substance, had succeeded in his bid for the US presidency back in 2000. It is difficult to imagine him launching US troops into Iraq with all guns blazing. But perhaps President Gore would have succumbed to the polluted environment of politics at the top, where lobbies exert a powerful influence. As vice-president in the Clinton administration, he “symbolically” signed the Kyoto Treaty, but the agreement was never submitted to the US Senate for approval, which would have made it binding.
What is not in doubt is that Al Gore, often described as wooden and distant during his presidential campaign, has now come into his own as an environmental campaigner. A passionate speaker, he successfully gets his powerful message across with the help of graphs and photos that make it easier to grasp the impact of global warming. He warns of impending doom yet managed to instill a degree of hope.
“An Inconvenient Truth,” which opens in Turkish cinemas on Feb. 2, jolts viewers out of their complacency. To those of us who are confused about the mixed effects of the phenomenon, it clarifies scientific evidence and brings the message home, loud and clear. It’s hard to argue with 650,000 years worth of data stored deep in the Antarctic ice cap! There are, of course, still some hard-core skeptics who challenge the notion of climate change, such as US Senator James Inhofe who famously suggested in 2003 that “man-made global warming is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people.” But a relentless stream of new scientific reports, containing ever more damning evidence, continues to bolster the environmentalists’ claim.
All of us living on this planet will to some extent be affected by climate change. To Turkey, which was once a water-rich country, global warming brings the threat of drought and increased desertification, which would affect food production. In other parts of the globe, however, rising seas could swallow coastal areas.
It is easy to feel powerless in the face of such potential catastrophes, but “An Inconvenient Truth” demonstrates that each of us can contribute to a better future. Governments and local authorities, obviously, have a key role to play: we have all seen, for instance, how the introduction of natural gas in Istanbul has already improved the air in the city, which used to be covered by a thick blanket of smog throughout most of the winter. Aside from putting pressure on our politicians, as individuals, we can make changes in our daily life: use energy-saving light bulbs, switch off electrical appliances when not in use or lower the heat. As consumers, we can also influence industrial production by buying more environment-friendly products: companies are, after all, guided not just by legislation but also by demand from the market.
It may be too late to respect the plea, often posted in public areas, to “leave the place as you have found it.” Rampant consumption and uncontrolled development have already taken their toll on the earth’s resources. But the message of “An Inconvenient Truth” is that it is not too late to clean up our act. The Blue Planet is, after all, only on loan to us before being passed on to our children.
