An Inconvenient Truth: Global Warming Is Real

Al Gore's documentary An Inconvenient Truth is a very effective, compellingly argued film which educates, entertains and ultimately, energizes the viewer.

I saw it at the stylish Fleur Cinema in Des Moines, Iowa during one of the most extreme heat waves of recent years. Despite self-serving statements to the contrary, there are lots more people all over the country who are now believers in global warming thanks to the recent extreme weather that they personally experienced in recent weeks.

In California, an estimated 139 people have died as a direct result of the heat wave in the state. This is a higher death toll than any other natural disaster to hit California in over a decade. All sorts of temperature records were reached during the two week period which ended Saturday the 29th of July. Exactly one week before, I played two sets of tennis in record 112 degree heat in Burbank between 2-4pm . It felt like a sauna! The sun was brutal and the humidity was surprisingly high.

Now another heat wave is going to be hitting the East Coast this week. New York City will feel like 115 degrees (temperatures over 96 degrees with humidity approaching 90%). Unfortunately, unless policymakers in Washington D.C. lose their air conditioning they will not be able to appreciate the full impact of the weather. Hopefully their constituents can impress upon them the necessity of reducing greenhouse gases.