I was happy when I heard the news today that half of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize was won by former US Vice President, Al Gore. The other co-winner was the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
According to the press release, the award was given to them:
for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change.
On Al Gore:
Al Gore has for a long time been one of the world’s leading environmentalist politicians. He became aware at an early stage of the climatic challenges the world is facing. His strong commitment, reflected in political activity, lectures, films and books, has strengthened the struggle against climate change. He is probably the single individual who has done most to create greater worldwide understanding of the measures that need to be adopted.
On IPCC
Through the scientific reports it has issued over the past two decades, the IPCC has created an ever-broader informed consensus about the connection between human activities and global warming. Thousands of scientists and officials from over one hundred countries have collaborated to achieve greater certainty as to the scale of the warming. Whereas in the 1980s global warming seemed to be merely an interesting hypothesis, the 1990s produced firmer evidence in its support. In the last few years, the connections have become even clearer and the consequences still more apparent.
According to the Norwegian based Nobel Committee, by awarding this years prize to two staunch champions who voice out the need to combat climate change, they are hoping to contribute to a sharper focus on the processes and decisions that are necessary to protect the world’s future climate which in effect will reduce the threat to the security of mankind. They further stated that immediate action is required before climate change moves beyond man’s control.
In a way this is vindication for Al Gore. For all his detractors and those who laughed at him for trumpeting the cause against climate change. Aside from helping to Combat Global Warming by raising awareness of it, us netizens owe a lot to Al Gore, primarily for his bill that opened up the once private Internet to the public. He might have not won the US presidency (by a margin of a few votes in Florida) but he got the bigger prize, the acclaimation by the general public for his acts that benefit and leave a positive impact on mankind.
Watching the breaking news at CNN, Al Gore and his wife Tipper announced that they would be donating the prize money to the cause against climate change.
[source]
Category: Misc, Global Warming
