An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It

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An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It

3.73 of 5 stars 3.73 · rating details · 3,690 ratings · 346 reviews

An Inconvenient Truth--Gore's groundbreaking, battle cry of a follow-up to the bestselling Earth in the Balance--is being published to tie in with a documentary film of the same name. Both the book and film were inspired by a series of multimedia presentations on global warming that Gore created and delivers to groups around the world. With this book, Gore, who is one of o...more

Paperback, 328 pages

Published May 24th 2006 by Rodale Books (first published 2006)

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Jan 17, 2011 Malbadeen marked it as books-ill-never-read Recommends it for: rich people that want to feel good

Shelves: nonfiction

I really wish I hadn't used the F word so much last week so I could say, "I can't F-ing believe this" and it would have some umpf to it!
When i see this book i imagine someone grabbing it off the shelf at Borders, paying for it, slipping it into a corn bi-product plastic bag, heading out to their car with it happily swinging from their arm as their free hand cracks open another water bottle.
ugh! ugh! ugh! on the same day Gore was announced to receive is big woopin-to-do award i read an article i...more I really wish I hadn't used the F word so much last week so I could say, "I can't F-ing believe this" and it would have some umpf to it!
When i see this book i imagine someone grabbing it off the shelf at Borders, paying for it, slipping it into a corn bi-product plastic bag, heading out to their car with it happily swinging from their arm as their free hand cracks open another water bottle.
ugh! ugh! ugh! on the same day Gore was announced to receive is big woopin-to-do award i read an article in the paper about a woman and her ecologically friendly house. She was siting there in her living room that was probably big enough to fit my entire house, talking about all her environmentally friendly products, from the place mats that were made from recycled bags, to the cork floors that were made from tennis shoe scraps found on Nike factory floors, to mahogany wood harvested in parts of the rain forest specifically designated for cutting, to her vintage jewelry.
so I'm getting this picture of these little bloated bellied kids running into the Nike factory after their parents have finished their 15 hour shift and they're on their hands and knees picking up all the little scraps so that they can be bundled up and flown to some other factory that can then glue them all together and then fly it to this woman's house where her kids can walk around bare foot (bare food by choice, not necessity) on their lovely, recycled cork floor.
and I'm wondering if they had some super strength birds that flew those mahogany boards to her eco-lovin abode or if maybe, just maybe she utilized a few more resources than would have been necessary if she'd stuck with the wood floors that were already in her house- ?
Possibly my favorite part of the article was where she congratulated herself on not throwing out her plasma t.v. or her stove even though she doesn't cook or watch t.v. because she doesn't want to contribute to land fills. Perfect!!! don't stop purchasing, just don't throw out what you purchase and certainly don't give it to someone else, because while you may be OK with getting all your meals made by someone else you may want to, at some point, drop something out from that Styrofoam container you got your left overs in and heat them up for breakfast.
what does all this have to do with Al Gores book - well when i see his book, i am reminded of him standing up at the Oscars in front of 50 kazillion light bulbs telling us to change our light bulbs and i think him and her would get along fabulously. I think he could take her for a ride in his limo, maybe Mr. DiCaprio could follow in his Prius and he could show her where all his mines used to be and how he's changed his ways and they could swap ideas on how to save the world without actually compromising their lifestyles in any way shape of form.(less)

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Mar 14, 2011 Lindsey rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: info-bios

This is an adaptation of An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It, and is written for "a new generation." This book gives information on global warming, including what it is and what is causing it, proof of global warming for skeptics, implications of global warming (including climate change, major storms, shrinking land size, the effect on animals, spread of disease), the effect of technology on the environment, and concrete examples of what y...more This is an adaptation of An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It, and is written for "a new generation." This book gives information on global warming, including what it is and what is causing it, proof of global warming for skeptics, implications of global warming (including climate change, major storms, shrinking land size, the effect on animals, spread of disease), the effect of technology on the environment, and concrete examples of what you can do to help. The information is presented in a balance of short sections of text, stunning photographs, maps, satellite images,diagrams, graphics, and colorful impactful graphs. The balance of the text and visual features conveys information in a fairly simple way that is visually appealing. The book includes a detailed index.

I would share this book (or portions of the book) with students at a late elementary through high school level. The book is probably meant more for middle and high school, but because of the way the book is laid out, I can definitely see a use for it in upper elementary school classrooms as well. The only potential controversy is the fact that certain groups of people believe that global warming is a fabricated crisis. However, I think the books makes it clear that that is not the case, and that regardless of your viewpoint on the reality of global warming, it would be good to be informed of multiple perspectives.

I read this book around the same time I read Bodies From the Ice, and there are a lot of parallels. Both books discuss glaciers melting and some of the implications of that, along with ideas of what you can do to stop global warming. Bodies from the Ice focuses more on what is found in the ice, and An Inconvenient Truth focuses more on the global warming crisis, but these books would be great for students to read together. This book could also be read along with Understanding Global Warming with Max Axiom, Super Scientist, or The North Pole Was Here, or around Earth Day, or along with any study of the environment, pollution, or global warming. (less)

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Sep 09, 2008 Kathrynn rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: All Human Beings

Shelves: nonfiction-general, 2008, reviewed, own

I enjoyed reading Mr. Gore's slide show about global warming, the causes, and seeing the before and after pictures of various parts of the world was truly amazing. I would like to have seen a month with the years that the pictures were taken, though. I thought the information was presented in a clear, concise manner. I learned a lot more about global warming. The presentation clearly shows "we" have a problem and if "we" don't wake up real quick and do something about the planet "we" will be lea...more

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Jun 18, 2007 Ali rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: the illiterate.

Shelves: picturebooks

I've just finished reading Al Gore's book on climate change, and I have to say that I was not particularly impressed. I hadn't expected a great piece of literature, and I wasn't wrong. But I'm not going to pick holes Gore's turgid prose style (though I do wonder if the text was even looked at by an editor). My problem is with Gore's representation of the scientific data on global warming.

It's clear that the temperature of the earth has been increasing in recent decades. And it's also clear that...more I've just finished reading Al Gore's book on climate change, and I have to say that I was not particularly impressed. I hadn't expected a great piece of literature, and I wasn't wrong. But I'm not going to pick holes Gore's turgid prose style (though I do wonder if the text was even looked at by an editor). My problem is with Gore's representation of the scientific data on global warming.

It's clear that the temperature of the earth has been increasing in recent decades. And it's also clear that human activities, in particular the production of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, have contributed to this increase in temperature. It is not entirely clear how much of this change in temperature can be attributed to human activity. Gore however, never mentions that natural, non-anthropogenic factors may contributing to climate change. He leaves the reader with the impression that the increase in global temperature is entirely anthropogenic (see pages 66 and 67, for example).

This is not the scientific consensus. The scientific consensus, as cited in Naomi Oreskes survey study (mentioned approvingly by Gore), is:

"Human activities ... are modifying the concentration of atmospheric constituents ... that absorb or scatter radiant energy. ... [M]ost of the observed warming over the last 50 years is likely to have been due to the increase in greenhouse gas concentrations."

So, not "all" but "most" climate change is attributable to human causes. A substantial portion may well be due to natural causes. That's not entirely surprising given that there were substantial shifts in global climate well before the appearance of mammals, let alone Homo sapiens. I think this is an important distinction, and one that Gore should not have omitted.

Don't get me wrong, I'm generally in agreement with taking steps to ameliorate climate change. People who buy Porsche SUVs are not especially bright (tasteless idiots -- who drives off the lot with a Cayenne rather than a Boxster?). Counter-climatic air-conditioning (the thermostat set to "Fires of Hell" in winter and "Everest Base Camp" in summer) is a massive waste of energy. Quite apart from their effects on climate change these types of wasteful energy use offend my sense of frugality, and also result in old-fashioned environmental pollution.

But I do think that if we are ever to take significant steps toward ending or slowing climate change an honest accounting of the scientific evidence is necessary. And I don't think An Inconvenient Truth provides that.

Finally, a quick note to Al: New Zealand isn't part of Australia -- can you fix up page 251 in the second edition? Thanks.(less)

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Oct 17, 2007 Books Ring Mah Bell rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

so is global warming a hoax? is it just a natural fluctation of the Earth's climate? hmmm. Food for thought. Here's my take. If you lock yourself in a garage with a running vehicle, you die. It's ignorant to think we are not creating health problems (asthma, cancers, autism) and environmental issues (3 headed frogs and "confused" bees) with pollution. It's ignorant to politicize the whole thing instead of working together, making things better for everyone. That's all from your tree loving, otte...more

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Mar 21, 2009 Jenny rated it 4 of 5 stars

While I don't consider myself ultra liberal, I do like to consider myself fairly eco-conscious and someone who is trying to watch the environment. I was fairly surprised to know that there are a good number of people who believe that global warming is just a myth. This book is more a series of charts, graphs and visuals that show the effects that have been taking place on the earth over periods of time. Obviously, the message of the book is a bit skewed to one side, (I think there was a point wh...more

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Sep 08, 2007 Jim rated it 1 of 5 stars

UGH! Not much more to say. If you like situation ethics, flawed logic and reading, and quasi-science... this is your read....

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Jan 21, 2008 Jared rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Absolutely nobody.

Recommended to Jared by: My liberal-weenie friends

Gore does a fantastic job at coming in so far beyond what even the closest UN, private industry, and government studies do that one must laughingly dismiss his arguments almost outright. Take for example his argument on CFL (compact fluorescent lightbulbs) and how much polution can be saved. Australia has just completed a law that mandates all citizens and businesses must have CFL's installed by 2010. This law is supposed to save Australia some 800,000 cubic tons of CO2 over the next several yea...more Gore does a fantastic job at coming in so far beyond what even the closest UN, private industry, and government studies do that one must laughingly dismiss his arguments almost outright. Take for example his argument on CFL (compact fluorescent lightbulbs) and how much polution can be saved. Australia has just completed a law that mandates all citizens and businesses must have CFL's installed by 2010. This law is supposed to save Australia some 800,000 cubic tons of CO2 over the next several years. That number is huge but it leaves out the fact that it only changes Australia's output of CO2 by .2 percent. Forcing millions of people to do what others demand for that type of gain is not efficient.

I myself do use CFL's because in the long run they save money and put less lead and mercury in landfills. Would I mandate that others do the same? Nope.

Another of Al's happy little daydreams is ocean level increases in days to come. Al shows in the movie that ocean levels will increase by 240 inches. Sounds amazing. Suppose I should buy more property in Lancaster, CA or Bakersfield, CA. Both should be worth millions and millions once the water reaches their city borders.

What Gore and so many sheep don't do is compare this to other studies that are out there. Al is 17 times higher in his predictions than the UN International Panel on Climate Control. He is many times higher than other scientists that claim that the UN study is too conservative.

So even the liberal estimates from scientists that dispute the UN study are 4-5 times lower than Al's representation of the figures.

What is his fascination with CO2 when there are other greenhouse gases that are much worse for the environment? The cattle industry worldwide puts out much more greenhouse pollution than the entire transportation sector does. But Al conveniently leaves that out as well.

I agree that there are things that we can do to help with environmental issues. Lying about them to get political and monetary gain is not one of them. Yes, I am accusing Gore of lying about this to give a worst case scenario to activate so many sheep out of fear.

All this coming from a man that has done almost nothing to change his lifestyle to conform with his preaching. Why does he fly a personal jet when he does speaking engagements? Why does he live in a mansion that consumes the energy needed to provide for 20 middle class homes? Why does he go anywhere by limo? Why doesn't he become a Vegan to reduce cattle demand and therefore reduce methane emissions? Why doesn't he do instead of complain?

Once again we have a egotistical politician that wants to do anything to stay in a position of power at the cost of labor and sacrifice done by the average American. (less)

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Nov 20, 2007 Ryan rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everyone

Fantastic book. I haven't seen the film yet, but I loved the book.

Gore does a wonderful job of presenting the data beside interesting diagrams which really help illustrate his point. Whether you believe global warming is a problem or not, you'll probably find this book interesting.

Towards the end, is a list of things each person can do to help limit their carbon footprint. Simple things like changing lightbulbs to CFL's can significantly reduce the amount of pollution. Or, turning your thormost...more

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Jan 17, 2011 Kerry Johanson rated it 1 of 5 stars

My first degree was in science and I continue to have an abiding interest in it. I regularly read articles and books related to the sciences. My biggest problem with this book is that the "science" is embarassingly absent. Subtracting politics and just looking at the so-called science this book bases its premises on have been found to be either meritless or skewed.
I soldily believe we DO need to care for this planet but please lets base our discussions on facts, not computer models that aren't...more

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Jul 17, 2008 Joseph rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: sophomore-3

i really dont know if the book came b4 the movie or vice versa. all i know is that everything al gore said on screen was similar if not little compared to the book. though the movie was much more louder because of the animations, the book was good too becase it had the stuff that al gore might have went through too fast, or i dint catch a lot of stuff.

however, running through this book actually made me think about things again. because the first time i heard it, i was like yeah i know this, and...more

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Feb 14, 2009 Lara rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a point/counterpoint essay I wrote on global warming for my energy & the environment class:

I read the Inconvenient Truth and watched the documentary when they first came out a few years ago, and I have been very concerned about climate change since then. I’ve calculated my carbon footprint and taken steps to reduce and I encourage others to do the same. At first glance, I thought that this assignment might be similar to the evolution vs. creationism/intelligent design debates. On the...more This is a point/counterpoint essay I wrote on global warming for my energy & the environment class:

I read the Inconvenient Truth and watched the documentary when they first came out a few years ago, and I have been very concerned about climate change since then. I’ve calculated my carbon footprint and taken steps to reduce and I encourage others to do the same. At first glance, I thought that this assignment might be similar to the evolution vs. creationism/intelligent design debates. On the one side you have overwhelming scientific evidence and consensus across the scientific community, while on the other side you have merely human conjecture, speculation, and religious conviction as “evidence.” The argument that they should both be given equal weight and time in science classes in our public education system is absurd. However, when I watched the Global Warming Swindle, I was surprised at how many holes it managed to poke into my previous certainties about the causes of global warming. After doing more research on the Internet though, I think I’ve managed to patch up those holes. But I’m even more concerned now that there are other people out there who are looking for a reason to dismiss the urgency of global warming and that this film will give them an excuse to continue their complacency. Don’t get me wrong—I would love to believe that global warming doesn’t exist or at least that there is no human factor in the equation. We could just continue to guzzle fossil fuels at even faster rates and dump pollutants indiscriminately because it would really make no difference one way or the other on our environment. But the fact of the matter is what we do does make a difference because it does have an impact on our planet, our health, and even the future of our species.

The first topic of disagreement between the videos that caused me to do more research on my own was the role of the sun in the warming of our planet. The Inconvenient Truth didn’t mention the idea that the sun’s activities might be a cause for varying temperature on earth, but the Swindle video suggests that changing solar activity is much more closely correlated with the earth’s changing temperature than carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. From the charts in the video, that would appear to be so, but in my later research I found out that the Swindle video had blurred out the data from 1980 on, because from that point on the two greatly diverge. The earth’s temperature continues to rise while solar activity remains relatively stable. In fact, the scientists who did that study concluded that the sun can’t be causing global warming because solar activity and the earth’s temperature have not correlated with each other for the last 30 years! The fact that the Swindle video would deliberately withhold this data because it doesn’t prove that particular theory (in fact it disproves it) is itself a fraud and a swindle. That point alone did a lot to discredit the video for me.

The second point that the two videos disagreed on was whether the recent warming trend is a natural part of the earth’s temperature fluctuations or whether human activity has had an influence on this trend. Europe was warmer in the middle ages and there was a “Little Ice Age” in the 17th and 18th centuries. This was kind of a “no duh!” point to me: I realize that the climate on our planet has varied over the hundreds of millions of years it has been around. However, the question is what is causing the current warming trend now—is it the usual natural causes of climate warming (solar activity, volcanoes, etc.) or is there something else coming into play? The research indicates that none of the usual suspects of nature climate warming are to blame for the current warming trend. But there is a situation on the earth right now that has never happened before—specifically 6 billion little earthly inhabitants who pull carbon out of the earth at increasingly faster rates and dump it into the atmosphere. The Swindle makers say it’s arrogant of us to think that tiny little insignificant people could have an effect on a huge thing like the earth’s climate. Perhaps we are tiny and insignificant individually, but collectively we are a force to be reckoned with. And I think it’s naive to think nothing we do could ever have an impact on this planet.

The third topic of disagreement was the amount of consensus among the scientific community on whether recent warming trends could be attributed to human activity. Al Gore cited Dr. Oreskes’ study of the peer-reviewed science journal articles on global warming from the previous 10 years. Of the 928 articles that were sampled, 0% were in doubt as to the cause of global warming. The Swindle video seemed to suggest that there was much more variation in the scientific community and that it is even difficult to get funding for a study unless you can somehow tie it to the global warming bandwagon. I had a hard time swallowing the idea that so many scientists in independent, peer-reviewed studies could have been duped into the same faulty conclusions. The dissenting scientists on Swindle did seem to be credible and had stated that they never got a cent from big oil or big coal for raising doubt, I found some pretty damning evidence against several of the spokespersons in Swindle on a web site that debunked the video. It turns out that nearly all of them have received payments from fairly large energy companies—especially those that are anti-environmental organizations. And many of the Swindle scientists have not been published in peer-reviewed journals in several years. It appears they are not as credible as they might seem.

The last topic of disagreement that I would like to address is the correlation of carbon dioxide measurements in the earth’s atmosphere with the temperature of the earth. In the Inconvenient Truth video, it seems quite evident that they are closely correlated. In the Swindle video, it says carbon dioxide measurements actually lag behind temperature rise measurements—that it would appear it’s the rise in temperature that causes increases in carbon dioxide, not the other way around. It’s difficult for me to understand the exact science behind it, but from what I learned it is not one way or the other. They are both true—carbon dioxide both lags and amplifies temperature. One thing I read that helped me understand was that chickens both hatch from and lay eggs—showing one does not disprove the other.

There are two other things about the Swindle video that I would like to address here: one that I strongly agreed with and one that I strongly disagreed with. It was maddening to watch as the United Nations people fly into poverty-stricken, third-world areas and tell people what kind of energy they need to use. The doctor at the one run-down village health clinic described how he could not use the light and the refrigerator at the same time with the energy from the solar panel that they had. It’s ridiculous to think that developing nations are ever going to get anywhere with energy sources that are too expensive and too difficult for developed nations to implement themselves! I firmly believe that developed nations have to take the lead in renewable energy sources and shoulder the burden of the cost for implementing them. Poor countries need to use the cheapest and most available energy sources available to them. It is their right. We will never convince other people to do what we can’t (or won’t) do for ourselves.

That being said, I also strongly take issue with the portrait of all environmentalists as fundamentalists who (since the fall of our beloved communism?!?) have needed something to yell and scream about, hence we latched onto the global warming scam. There may be a strand of environmentalism that goes to extremes and gives everyone in the movement a bad name. I consider myself to be an environmentalist, but all I want is to have clean air and water for myself, my children, and people 500 years from now. I see a connection between the health of the environment and the health of human beings. I don’t think that means we have to go back to horse and buggy or churn our own butter. I rather enjoy new technologies and the modern conveniences of life. But I think we need to enjoy the earth’s resources in a responsible and sustainable way and come up with innovative ways to reduce the strain of our ever-growing population on our environment. I’m not one to think we have to save the planet—this planet has been around a long time and will continue to be around in whatever form we leave it in. Whether we as a species continue to be around and thrive on this planet is the question that remains to be answered.
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Feb 01, 2013 Valerie rated it 5 of 5 stars

A questionable horizon.

During a recent relaxing, rejuvenating vacation, I read the book An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore for the first time. Being born in the 90’s, much of my early childhood and downright entire life, I have been exposed to the issue of global warming through cinematic media, periodical sources, and the infinite Internet. I have found this particular topic to be endearingly concerning. I strive to encompass a sense of consciousness with my every decision. I use CFL light bulbs....more

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Nov 29, 2012 Erin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

This book will certainly appeal to teen readers although they are not the specific intended audience, and I enjoyed reading it. One major aspect that teens will like is that it is full of color graphics and images which are used to explain and detail different aspects involved with climate change and the effects it has had (and will presumably have) in the future on our planet. The majority of the book is in a slideshow-like format with full-page spreads which feature corresponding captions/dial...more

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Jan 19, 2012 Abeer Hoque rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: i-recommend

I listened to "An Inconvenient Truth" by Al Gore on audio book. It was short, to the point, and heart stopping. Interleaved with Mr. Gore's personal life - his son's near fatal accident, his sister's death due to cigarette smoking, his wish to leave the world a better place for his children and grandchildren - is the result of decades of research and careful thought about global warming and climate change.

Fact after devastating fact about our rain forest killing, landfill making, air/soil pollu...more

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Dec 21, 2011 Eli rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: activism, nonfiction, science, environment

After taking an environmental chemistry course, I picked this up for some light review. Emphasis on "light"...

An Inconvenient Truth is a quick, slick read clearly targeted at a lay audience unfamiliar with environmental science or environmental politics, but anyone who has any familiarity with those issues will probably finish the book before they have a chance to get bored. The pages have the layout and graphic appeal of a magazine: lots of photos, graphs, and slogans, with little text. The bef...more

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Aug 30, 2011 Nate Irvin rated it 2 of 5 stars

When I was in 9th grade, our civics teacher had us write poems about the future, and then we all went out on the school lawn and read them to each other. At the time we were discussing the environment, so the poems, while ostensibly just about the future, had a deliberate ecological overtone to them. There were about 25 of us in that class, and I think I was the only one who did not predict a world too polluted to be worth living in. (Well Ben predicted we'd all have our own mall, so I guess tha...more When I was in 9th grade, our civics teacher had us write poems about the future, and then we all went out on the school lawn and read them to each other. At the time we were discussing the environment, so the poems, while ostensibly just about the future, had a deliberate ecological overtone to them. There were about 25 of us in that class, and I think I was the only one who did not predict a world too polluted to be worth living in. (Well Ben predicted we'd all have our own mall, so I guess that would have been okay, but still...) My poem said more or less that life would be mostly as it is now, and that the environment was not actually in trouble.

This is an idea I've had for a very long time - I remember feeling that I was tired of this discussion even back then in 1998. It's an attitude I've largely derived from my father, who's been active in environmentalism/conversation as long as Gore himself. So I freely admit that I went into reading "An Inconvenient Truth" with less than an open mind - I wanted Al Gore to be wrong. I tried very hard to be nonprejudicial (yet sharply analytical) while reading. I don't know how well I succeeded.

I remain somewhat unconvinced by Gore's arguments. Gore speaks of hoping to get us to have an "ah ha" moment (more like an "oh shit" moment) while reading. This did not happen for me. Some of the images in the book are compelling, but most of the data and graphs are not. I also felt that some of the conclusions he reached were arrived at by somewhat dubious logic. I am not a scientist - I do not know how to evaluate the methodology and the data itself. But in terms of the argument ringing true, I never felt that.

The book is certainly not wholly without merit, not at all. As with everything else in the environmental movement, there's good to be had. The most valuable part of the book, I feel, is the suggestions near the end about how to reduce the environmental impact of our daily lives. There were a few things in there that I raised my eyebrow at, but all in all I think they were things worth doing.

Gore makes a point in the book to say that global warming/climate change/environmentalism is a moral, not a political, matter. Yet he does take the time to single out specific Republicans and how their politics are damaging the environment. I don't have any party allegiances to offend, but I found it telling that Gore always tied specific examples of environmental irresponsibility to politics, regardless of his repeated assertion that politics had nothing to do with it.

I feel the decision to make this more of a picture/coffee-table book both helps and hurts its message. It's good because it's accessible - one can peruse the data and the arguments without a significant time investment. At the same time, a coffee-table book is more to entertain, and to treat a subject lightly, and that seems the wrong approach. I would have liked it better if Gore had spent more time diving into the science and arguments, instead of just pitching his view.

My mind is not made up about global warming, but this book is worth the read if only to understand why everyone keeps talking about it.
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Jun 26, 2011 James rated it 3 of 5 stars

Let’s face it. Al Gore is a boring, boring man. Without getting political at all, he was definitely the wrong person to deliver this message. And yes, there is a message here. Wading through the endless amount of bullshit (from both sides) that this presentation has provoked, this was/is important to our culture.

It doesn’t matter how accurate this is; it made the issue something that many people are now aware of. And for that, it is worth a read. It’s important because it was the catalyst for s...more

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May 10, 2011 Iskreads rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 7th-sims

An Inconvenient Truth
By Al Gore
Reviewed by Michael, P

Have you heard of global warming? If you haven’t, then Al Gore will explain it to you in a way you will never be able to forget it in An Inconvenient Truth. I think you should definitely read this compelling book which explains how the world is in danger and we are the only ones who can help it.

One of the many ways I enjoyed this book was the fact that Al Gore has put very good pictures and charts on almost every page. These pictures get acr...more

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Mar 31, 2011 Catherine M rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: finished-irp-books

Imagine the world if sea levels were to rise 18 - 20 feet; Miami, Florida would be completely submerged and Amsterdam would vanish completely. Bangladesh and the city of Calcutta, containing roughly 60 million people, would both be gone, causing all of those 60 million people to be uprooted. If Greenland's ice dome or the West Antarctic ice shelf were to melt or break up into the sea, then the prospect of these alarmingly high sea levels would be a major obstacle and possibility for future gener...more Imagine the world if sea levels were to rise 18 - 20 feet; Miami, Florida would be completely submerged and Amsterdam would vanish completely. Bangladesh and the city of Calcutta, containing roughly 60 million people, would both be gone, causing all of those 60 million people to be uprooted. If Greenland's ice dome or the West Antarctic ice shelf were to melt or break up into the sea, then the prospect of these alarmingly high sea levels would be a major obstacle and possibility for future generations. Due to the retreat of the polar ice caps the polar bears are drowning. They are becoming exhausted as they swim in search of ice floes and drowning before they reach them. Mosquitoes spread various diseases that are extremely dangerous to humans. Previously, mosquitoes had stayed in the lower elevations since they breed an live in warm climates. Now, with global warming, mosquitoes are moving to new locations in higher elevations, jeopardizing the health of even more people. The cause of all these problems? Our atmosphere is very thin, and thats not necessarily a good thing. Since our atmosphere is so thin it's extremely easy for us to do damage to it, which, we are. The rise of greenhouse gases is causing our atmosphere to be filled by them, trapping infrared radiation, causing our atmosphere and oceans to get warmer.

This book was alright. Upon choosing this book i'd already seen the documentary three times, meaning, I had a good idea of what the book was about. Reading the book, however, was different than watching the movie. By reading the book I was able to pick up on the use of persuasive methods and the techniques that Al Gore used. It was obvious that Gore was trying to place a negative note over the US, and that he was trying to point out our environmental faults. The book wasn't my favorite, it wasn't very interesting. It wasn't a story, it was a book based off of a documentary which means that it's loaded with facts and information. I would only recommend this book to certain people.

I would give this book a 3 on a scale of 1 - 5. I've given it a 3 because I didn't think the book was that great. It wasn't bad or anything, it just wasn't that interesting. An Inconvenient Truth: The planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It was well written, it was straight and too the point, which is always a good thing. Though, I wish the author had included more about what else will happen to our planet after 20 or so years of global warming, the book was still good. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone, I'd only recommend this book to people who are interested in the environment, or those who are oblivious to the problems of our environment. (less)

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Mar 06, 2011 L11Beverly Kennett rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: info-bios

This book is packed with information, photographs and charts about the crisis of global warming. It is all organized in short concise sections that include a great deal of evidence to support the facts given. I read the young adult version of Al Gore's book and I learned a great deal, even though I am not a YOUNG adult. The photographs and charts clearly helped demonstrate the declining state of our environment, yet the book also describes steps that are being taken to slow or stop the process....more

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Feb 27, 2011 PlatKat rated it 4 of 5 stars

Turning a powerpoint presentation into a half-way interesting book is no easy task, particularly for politicians who'd much rather yap us to death than put it all in writing. However, Al Gore managed to do just that in the wake of a lost presidential campaign, and I think the world is better for it. This quick read is rife with visual aides, somewhat topical anecdotes, and easily digestible information that is suitable for audiences ranging from environmental novices, scientific experts, and glo...more

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Dec 16, 2010 Alex M rated it 4 of 5 stars

Imagine a world where people are destroying the atmosphere, melting continents (north, south pole) and glaciers, and are unnaturally rising the temperature, now stop imagining, that’s the world we live in now.
In the Book An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore it talks about global warming and how we are effecting and damaging the Earth. In this book it gives specific examples about what we are doing that is wrong and what we need to do to try to stop it. An example that the book talks about is fossil...more

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Jun 27, 2010 Paul Varner rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Not supposed to be a literary masterpiece, but it contains logical arguments on how we are affecting the planet's climate in a negative way. The co2 levels in the atmosphere have been steadily climbing since the industrial revolution and climbing much faster during the last few decades. No scientist argues about this co2 rise as far as I know. Co2 is a greenhouse gas and "we" add about 9 Billion tons of it to the atmosphere (out of 200 B tons added total by fires, volcanos, etc)

Slight rise in te...more

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Dec 03, 2009 Kyla rated it 4 of 5 stars

For explaining global warming to the layperson, this book does a great job. I wish it went into the kind of depth my environmental professors went into, but for the intended audience, this book is great, not to mention visually beautiful. There were a couple instances where I thought Gore might be confusing correlation with causation, but in general, the science is sound and honestly represented, just not in-depth. Unfortunately, many people simply refuse to look at the real science behind globa...more

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Aug 15, 2009 Walter_nogay rated it 4 of 5 stars

On my honor, I pledge that I have neither given nor recieved any unauthorized help on this assignment, nor have I presented someone else's work as my own.

Author: Al Gore
Title: An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do

Setting (Time and Place): This does not really apply for this book since it is non fiction. The time the book was written was 2005, so it could be said that the time is the present. The place is Earth.

Characters: Again, since this is a non f...more On my honor, I pledge that I have neither given nor recieved any unauthorized help on this assignment, nor have I presented someone else's work as my own.

Author: Al Gore
Title: An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do

Setting (Time and Place): This does not really apply for this book since it is non fiction. The time the book was written was 2005, so it could be said that the time is the present. The place is Earth.

Characters: Again, since this is a non fiction book there really are not any characters. In his book, Al Gore mentions various people that affected his understanding of global warming and dealing with moral issues. These people include his sister Nancy, his wife Tipper, his father Al Gore, Sr., and many scientists and professors.

Plot Summary: The book describes in detail all aspects of the global warming issue. Al Gore shows the effects global warming has had on the environment through many vivid pictures. He describes how the effects have come to be and why those effects are mostly our fault. Also, he explains why the naysayers of global warming are wrong and why the say that global warming is false. Thoughout the book, Al Gore explains why he is so set on working to fix global warming through stories from his life. Al Gore finishes the book by showing the reader how they can do their part to help fix global warming.

Review: Overall, I found the book both informative and interesting. The pictures did not contain the slightest bit of ambiguity. I also enjoyed Al Gore's explanation of the various data he provided. He shared his insight which he gained from being in American politics and that insight really showed me why so many people seem to be against global warming. The one part of the book that was dull at times were his stories of his own life. Some, such as the story about his sister, were quite moving and related to the book. Others, such as his son's near death accident, seemed to be repeated too many times and had too little relevancy. I would recommend this book to all as global warming is gravely important to everyone. (less)

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Apr 06, 2012 Matt rated it 4 of 5 stars

An interesting reading. I knew going in which side of this debate that the author wanted me to see. Of course Al's slant was toward global warming. I found some of the statistics interesting and some of them inaccurate. I didn't realize that today's science was being left up to personal opinion.

Fact is the globe is warming and CO2 is rising. That fact was well presented. Of course it's open to debate as to the cause of it. I guess both sides of this "political" argument will have their opinions....more

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Mar 17, 2010 Jenn Hailley rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book is written by a man who seems to be extremely knowledgeable about the reasons for and possible effects of global warming. The book is full of beautiful photographs and inspiring graphical data representations, and it covers the most important information any lay person likely needs/wants to know about global warming. It is written in a very easy to understand manner, and (just barely) does what it sets out to do, convince the reader that this issue is real, and becoming a crisis. Unfor...more

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Apr 05, 2008 Dick rated it 1 of 5 stars

I believe that climate change is occurring, and it's likely that industrial age human activities have played some part in that process. However, I didn't like the book. Supporting data was omitted, cause and effect relationships not well developed and supported, scientific data poorly presented, e.g. axis labels and units missing from graphics... Me hace la barfa. No publishing company would have touched this if Al Gore hadn't been the author.

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Jul 29, 2010 Christine rated it 2 of 5 stars

I had intended to "read" this book for a while, and finally got around to it. I had no expectations as to how he had presented the information in the book and was surprised that it was a series of pictures and graphs , not much reading involved. The problem with this book is that he makes it seem very simple and straightforward, as he lays out his cause and affect. But global climate is anything but simple and straightforward, and I wonder if there truly is this cause and affect that he lays out...more

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About Al Gore

Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. was the forty-fifth Vice President of the United States, serving from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore also served in the U. S. House of Representatives (1977–85) and the U. S. Senate (1985–93), representing Tennessee. Gore was the Democratic nominee for president in the 2000 election, ultimately losing to the Republican candidate George W. Bush in spite...more

More about Al Gore...

Books by Al Gore

Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit

Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis

The Future: Six Drivers of Global Change

An Inconvenient Truth: The Crisis of Global Warming: Teen Edition

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“As many know, the Chinese expression for "crisis" consists of two characters side by side. The first is the symbol for "danger," the second the symbol for "opportunity."
” — 11 people liked it

“Global warming, along with the cutting and burning of forests and other critical habitats, is causing the loss of living species at a level comparable to the extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. That event was believed to have been caused by a giant asteroid. This time it is not an asteroid colliding with the Earth and wreaking havoc: it is us.” — 6 people liked it

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