An Inconvenient Truth

I finally had the opportunity to watch An Inconvenient Truth. If it doesn’t serve as a warning of global warming, I don’t know what does. What other proof is needed? Surely the recent floods that hit England, Pakistan and China, the current floods in India and Bangladesh and the extreme summer temperatures in Greece, Hungary and Romania are glaring examples already. Oh, and let’s not forget Hurricane Katrina.

Are we still to remain ignorant and/or blissfully uncaring? Or are we going to do something about it and start playing our part no matter how small? Or will we only realise it when it’s too late?

Well, it is An Inconvenient Truth to deal with after all. So understandably, some may feel uncomfortable talking about it, some may be disbelieving and sceptical [despite the many catastrophes conveniently labelled as Act of God], while some may just be indifferent. In fact, some may even be unaware because of economic circumstances – when one is fighting for one’s daily survival in some Third World country, I guess global warming is the last thing on his mind [although those at an economic disadvantage are among the major contributors to global warming: think forest clearing and open burning by natives and dependence on resources such as coal for energy, just to name a couple of examples].

In the 1930s, Winston Churchill wrote of those leaders who refused to acknowledge the then clear and present danger. His words then are as relevant today as they were before: ‘The era of procrastination, of half-measures, of soothing and baffling expedients, of delays, is coming to a close. In its place we are entering a period of consequence.’ So let’s think about it and do our part. Each of us contributes to global warming one way or another. But we can do something about it. To see how you can take action and do your part, have a dekko at either this or this.

Remember, what we take for granted now may not always remain. And we wouldn’t want our children to blame us for our failure to do our part today.