Global Warming: A Short Introduction

(A Film Review of “Global Warming: The Sign and The Science”)

It is not humanitarian problem that face the world nowadays. While we are stirred by armed conflicts, peace, or liberation movement, this world is haunted by a very serious hazard. It is global warming who challenge us, an extreme climate change called by Al Gore as “inconvenient truth”. This phenomenon became both threat and challenge for world’s population; creating a new anxiety for those who care on this world’s fate.

In order to respond this phenomenon, A group of people who care with the future of their environment and life release a documentary film, “Global Warming: The Sign and The Science”. Narrated by Alanis Morrisette, a well-known artist, this film tries to persuade the audience to give a small amount of awareness with the environment. This film has some similarities to Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth”, which shows us some dangerous facts about global warming and its unbelieavable implications.

Global Warming has arisen, not only as a natural phenomenon, but also as an early sign of earth’s destruction. Global warming indeed is a very complicated problem; We can read it both as sign and also science according to the film. Global warming implies many kind of disaster in all over the world and made many kind of disease in rural-pheriperal areas like Africa and a little Asia.

It is true that global warming has contribute many parts of this world’s unfinished disasters. Global Warming has taken part in Hurricane Katrina, Flood in Java and Kalimantan, or the raising of temperature in Darfur, Sudan, killed many Sudanese refugees as a result. Tragedy of New Orleans will be a real evidence for US President that global warming is not a scientific imagination.

This film also informed us that global warming made some new tropical diseases; a dramatic change of childhood respiratory illnesses; and the discovery of more than 30 diseases in the last three decades, learned by some scientists. Immediate actions should be taken; It is now a big duty for great powers in designing some fluential works to prevent the emergence of more negative impacts

In the other hand, Al Gore with his documentary film, “An Inconvenient Truth” reviews the collapse of ice sheet in Greenland and West Antartica, then its dangerous implication (the raising of global sea level) became one of a few Al Gore’s focus of presentation in the film. Gore views this phenomenon by relating the collapse of ice sheet with the raising of global sea level by approximately 20 feet, the flood in some coastal areas, and the low salinity of sea level near Greenland which is predicted by Al Gore as a signal of disaster in East Europe. Thus, the global warming can produce many new problems if it is unhandled by world’s leaders.

Al Gore or Alanis Morrisette may be true; global warming has contribute many parts of this world’s unfinished disasters. Global Warming has taken part in Hurricane Katrina, Flood in Java and Kalimantan, or the raising of temperature in Darfur, Sudan, killed many Sudanese refugees as a result. An immediate action should be taken; It is now a duty for great powers in designing a work to prevent more impacts caused by global warming.

Nevertheless, We cannot forget that global warming is caused by a very massive industrialization in developed countries and some developing countries. We cannot overrule the colaboration of corporation and government in increasing deforestation, emission, or industrial disposal which are accumulated year by year. Agenda to prevent this world from destruction should contain also political approach.

Thus, Alanis Morrisette’s “Global Warming: The Sign and The Science” may offers us knowledge and evidence that global warming itself is a very dangerous phenomenon. But do not forget, the responsibility to do some actions in order to prevent this world from destruction is left on our hand. Without actions or immediate responses from world’s key leaders, and our consciousness to take care the earth, this “convenient fault” may terrorize the human race in the next generation.

(This is an essay for Seminar on The Environment, a movie review. I take this full-english class this semester)