62 pages • 2 hours read
Al GoreAn Inconvenient Truth
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2006A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
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BetaSections 6-7Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Section 6 Summary
Gore states that “[w]e are witnessing an unprecedented and massive collision between our civilization and the Earth” (214). Fundamental relationships are being transformed, and the population explosion is one major factor. This puts pressure on our vulnerable resources, including the rainforests, making “the way we treat forests” (222) a political issue. As an example, he juxtaposes images of the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic, showing that the Haitian side is almost treeless and bare. The Amazon is also suffering devastation from burning for subsistence agriculture and cooking fires, which leads to wildfires. Gore says that “the same pattern is found” (229) on every continent.
The second factor in the changing relationship humans have with the Earth, says Gore, is “the scientific and technological revolution” (232). While science has brought us improvements in communications and medicine, it has also brought side effects because we don’t necessarily know how to use new technology intelligently yet. Take the example of nuclear weapons, which, in 1945, altered the way war works. Another example is how today “we have a much more profound ability to transform the surface of the planet” (238). In fact, diversion of water for irrigation has caused the Aral Sea to disappear and has made humans “a force of nature” (249).
Policy matters, Gore points out. The author compares carbon emissions from different countries, showing that the US, at 30.3%, remains by far the largest culprit. China’s role is growing, as is Europe’s. A text box in this section looks at the carbon exchange market, an experiment which has potential to help reduce CO2 levels by creating a marketplace where, as emissions are reduced, participating companies can sell carbon credits to make a profit. If companies don’t reduce enough, they must buy credits instead. This gives countries an incentive to be environmental stewards.
Section 7 Summary
Gore says that a third factor in climate change is our fundamental way of thinking about the climate problem. He uses the analogy of the frog sitting in in a pot of water that keeps getting hotter, not noticing that it’s being brought to a boil. He also calls this third factor the first problem in the way we think about climate change.
He follows this observation with another personal anecdote about his sister, who started smoking at age 13 and eventually died of cancer. He not only talks about how she influenced him, saying she was his “constant booster” and crediting her with one of his political victories (256), but also moves into the political realm by pointing out how cigarette companies misled consumers for years while evidence mounted about the dangers of smoking.
Gore believes the second problem about how we think about climate change is that there are two cultures within society: “science thrives on uncertainty and politics is paralyzed by it” (260). Thus, there is a misconception about how accepted the idea of global warming is, when the vast majority of scientists agree about it. He quotes Science magazine’s Donald Kennedy, who says, “Consensus as strong as the one [on climate change][…] is rare in science” (260).
He then looks at special interest politics, which he blames for fostering the misconception that global warming is an illusion. Here, he attacks Phillip Cooney, a lobbyist for the Bush-Cheney administration who strategized ways to cast doubt on the concept. In this section, Gore stresses how much support from around the world global warming has garnered, despite naysayers trying to turn the narrative.
The third problem in our way of thinking, Gore says, is that we believe there’s conflict between a healthy economy and a healthy environment. He claims this is a false choice. It affects issues such as auto mileage standards, and is based on faulty thinking about the actual relationships involved. In a text box, Gore expresses ways we can use market capitalism in tandem with helping the environment. This involves the impetus to “price in” (270) the costs of environment, community impact, and employee longevity for a more realistic longer-term view. Today, more and more businesses are leading us in the right direction.
The fourth problem in our way of thinking is that, even if climate change is a big threat, we can’t do anything about it: “We have everything we need to begin solving the climate crisis–save, perhaps, political will, but, in America, political will is a renewable resource” (278). He informs the reader about wind power as a resource we should tap, as it is a mature and cost-effective technology that many utilities are investing in. He also looks at the effects if we start reducing pollution now, followed by the Kyoto Treaty.
Sections 6-7 Analysis
Gore now turns to the relationship between human civilization and the ecology of the planet. He continues with dire warnings about issues like overpopulation, using his maps, charts, and images to convince readers about the importance of the subject. But here, he also begins to look at the belief systems that govern human society and how they prevent certain segments of the population to deny and discredit the evidence of climate change. Specifically, he discusses why it’s so hard for people to accept the truth about the crisis.
As a result, one might argue that this is where it gets political. His personal anecdote about his sister is an example of this theme, because he uses the information about her death to remind readers of how the tobacco industry manipulated the public by hiding information, leading to negative public health outcomes. He goes on to attack the Bush-Cheney administration specifically, a polarizing tactic that allows him to frame the conflict in a way that presents one political party as heroes and the other as villains. This sort of binary may make the subject of climate change more palatable for a public used to similar narratives.
During this period, Gore and his family were criticized for hypocrisy in accepting money from tobacco companies for political campaigns. He also mentions in the section about his sister that he was baffled by the response to his talking about her in public—that he was upset by allegations that he was using her memory for political gain. Again, how one views this particular aspect of the book may center upon one’s personal opinion of the writer.
Gore spends some time in these sections debunking climate change detractors. He is convincing here, and many of his assertions are backed up by scientists. But in addition to science, he provides some information on human psychology to explain why so many still don’t believe in climate change, or don’t believe that anything can be done about it. Here, readers can recognize that Gore is not a scientist himself and instead is acting as a distributor of information.
