 Speech given by Al Gore
(cont'd from Page 1)
A hundred years ago, Upton Sinclair wrote, 'It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon
him not understanding.' Here's what I think we here understand about Hurricane Katrina and global warming. Yes, it is true
that no single hurricane can be blamed on global warming. Hurricanes have come for a long time, and will continue to
come in the future. Yes, it is true that the science does not definitively tell us that global warming increases the
frequency of hurricanes - because yes, it is true there is a multi-decadal cycle, twenty to forty years that profoundly
affects the number of hurricanes that come in any single hurricane season. But it is also true that the science is
extremely clear now, that warmer oceans make the average hurricane stronger, not only makes the winds stronger, but
dramatically increases the moisture from the oceans evaporating into the storm - thus magnifying its destructive
power - makes the duration, as well as the intensity of the hurricane, stronger.
Last year we had a lot of hurricanes. Last year, Japan set an all-time record for typhoons: ten, the previous record was
seven. Last year the science textbooks had to be re-written. They said, 'It's impossible to have a hurricane in the south
Atlantic.' We had the first one last year, in Brazil. We had an all-time record last year for tornadoes in the United
States, 1,717 - largely because hurricanes spawned tornadoes. Last year we had record temperatures in many cities. This year
200 cities in the Western United States broke all-time records. Reno, 39 days consecutively above 100 degrees.
The scientists are telling us that what the science tells them is that this - unless we act quickly and dramatically - that
Tucson tied its all-time record for consecutive days above 100 degrees. This, in Churchill's phrase, is only the first sip of
a bitter cup which will be proffered to us year by year until there is a supreme recover of moral health. We have to rise
with this occasion. We have to connect the dots. Surges from the ocean threaten the coastal cities more. When
there is no effort to restrain the global warming pollution gasses then global warming gets worse, with all of the
consequences that the scientific community has warned us about.
My friends, the truth is that our circumstances are not only new; they are completely different than they have ever been in
all of human history. The relationship between humankind and the earth has been utterly transformed in the last hundred
years. We have quadrupled the population of our planet known to you, but here is what I want to close with:
 This is a moral moment. This is not ultimately about any scientific debate or political dialogue. Ultimately it is
about who we are as human beings. It is about our capacity to transcend our own limitations. To rise to this new occasion.
To see with our hearts, as well as our heads, the unprecedented response that is now called for. To disenthrall
ourselves, to shed the illusions that have been our accomplices in ignoring the warnings that were clearly given,
and hearing the ones that are clearly given now. Where there is no vision, the people perish.
There is another side to this moral challenge. Where there is vision, the people prosper and flourish, and the natural world
recovers, and our communities recover. The good news is we know what to do. The good news is, we have everything we need
now to respond to the challenge of global warming. We have all the technologies we need, more are being developed, and as
they become available and become more affordable when produced in scale, they will make it easier to respond. But we should
not wait, we cannot wait, we must not wait. We have every thing we need - save perhaps political will. And in our
democracy, political will is a renewable resource. In time we will prepare. This time we will rise to the occasion. And
we will prevail. Thank you. Good luck to you, God bless you.
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