Times disses Al film as convenient stretch of truth
By Herald staff
Tuesday, March 13, 2007 - Updated: 01:37 AM EST
The New York Times fires a shot today at Al Gore and his Academy Award-winning global warming film, “An Inconvenient Truth,” saying it involves “hype” and shoddy science.
“Hollywood has a thing for Al Gore and his three-alarm film . . . So do many environmentalists, who praise him as a visionary, and many scientists, who laud him for raising public awareness,” the Times reports. “But part of his scientific audience is uneasy . . . these scientists argue that some of Mr. Gore’s central points are exaggerated and erroneous.”
The Times quotes geologist Don J. Easterbrook, addressing the Geological Society of America: “I don’t want to pick on Al Gore. But there are a lot of inaccuracies . . . we have to temper that with real data.”
James E. Hansen of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, a Gore adviser, told the Times, “Al does an exceptionally good job of seeing the forest for the trees,” but his work has “imperfections.” He singled out Gore’s dire prediction of more, deadlier hurricanes as exaggerated.
The Times cites a recent U.N. report’s prediction of a maximum 23-inch ocean rise this century, while Gore claims the ocean will rise 20 feet over an unspecified time, flooding entire cities.
Gore told The Times his movie made “the most important and salient points” about climate change,” but not necessarily “some nuances and distinctions.”
Some scientists recently have been publicly questioning the greenhouse-gas theory, saying evidence points to natural heating and cooling cycles. Gore has been demanding political action to cut emissions, but scientists also are divided on whether that would actually alter the warming trend.
Last week, Britain’s Channel 4 announced “The Great Global Warming Swindle,” a counter-documentary in which scientists dispute manmade global-warming theories and discuss professional pressures to go along with them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What's an exaggeration or imperfection here and there as long as you get the 'nuances' that lead to an Oscar? |
