Live Earth

and

Global

Warming

Virtual

Thinkers

Global

Warming

Global Warming is the rise in temperature of the earth caused by gases such as water vapor

and carbon dioxide.

Main causes

One of the first things scientists

learned is that there are several

greenhouse gases responsible for

warming, and humans emit them in a

variety of ways. Most come from the

combustion of fossil fuels in cars,

factories and electricity production.

The gas responsible for the most

warming is carbon dioxide, also called

CO2. Other contributors include

methane released from landfills and

agriculture (especially from the

digestive systems of grazing animals),

nitrous oxide from fertilizers, gases

used for refrigeration and industrial

processes, and the loss of forests that

would otherwise store CO2.

Effects (Present)

Some impacts from increasing temperatures are already happening:

Ice is melting worldwide, especially at the Earth’s poles. This includes mountain

glaciers, ice sheets covering West Antarctica and Greenland, and Arctic sea ice.

Researcher Bill Fraser has tracked the decline of the Adélie penguins on Antarctica,

where their numbers have fallen from 32,000 breeding pairs to 11,000 in 30 years.

Sea level rise became faster over the last century.

Precipitation (rain and snowfall) has increased across the globe, on average.

Effects

(Near future)

Other effects could happen later this

century, if warming continues:

Sea levels are expected to rise between 18

and 59 centimeter) by the end of the century.

Hurricanes and other storms are likely to

become stronger.

Species that depend on one another may

become out of sync.

Floods and droughts will become more

common.

Less fresh water will be available. Some

diseases will spread, such as malaria carried

by mosquitoes.

Ecosystems will change—some species will

move farther north or become more

successful; others won’t be able to move and

could become extinct.

Solutions

Evidence that humans are causing global

warming is strong, but the question of what to

do about it remains controversial. There is no

single solution to global warming; in fact

many simple changes in our lifestyle can save

our planet and the future generations. Simple

changes can make the difference!

Do not leave appliances on standby

Take a shower instead of a bath

Use less hot water

Use a clothesline instead of a dryer whenever

possible

Be sure you’re separating your home trash

Reuse your shopping bags

Reduce waste

Plant a tree

Seek out and support local farmers markets

Eat less meat

Reduce the number of miles you use the car

as a mean of transport

Go to school on foot or by bike.

Protect and conserve forest worldwide

Make sure your voice is heard!

Live Earth was founded by Emmy-winning

producer Kevin Wall, in partnership with

former Vice President Al Gore. It was built

upon the belief that entertainment has the

power to transcend social and cultural

barriers to bring the world community to

action. A for-profit company, Live Earth seeks

to leverage the power of entertainment

through integrated events, media and the live

experience to awaken a global movement

aimed at solving the most critical

environmental issues of our times.

It was an 24 hours event of music concerts

held on 7 July 2007 in eight countries in

seven continents, with the goal of raising

public awareness for global warming.

Live Earth brought together 150 music

artists and some 2 billion people

conducted several concerts in all 6

continents of the world with 9

participating cities. It Had the support of

companies like MSN, Smart and Pepsi.

7-07-2007

Live Earth was a monumental music event that brought together a global audience on July 7,

2007 to combat the climate crisis. Live Earth staged concerts in New York, London, Sydney,

Tokyo, Shanghai, Rio de Janeiro and Johannesburg- as well as special broadcast events in

Antarctica, Kyoto and Washington, DC - and featured feature more than 150 of the world's

best music acts - a mix of both legendary music acts like The Police, Genesis, Bon Jovi and

Madonna with the latest headliners like Kanye West, Black Eyed Peas and Jack Johnson.

The Dow Live Earth Run for Water

took place April 18, 2010 and

consisted of a series of 6 km

run/walks taking place over the

course of 24 hours in countries

around the world, featuring

concerts and water education

activities aimed at igniting a

tipping point to help solve the

water crisis. Jessica Biel,

Alexandra Cousteau, Pete Wentz,

Angélique Kidjo and Jenny

Fletcher were due to lend their

names and their time in support.

The song of Madonna

Madonna and the producer Pharrell Williams wrote the song "Hey You" especially for the

collection of Live Earth. Microsoft has agreed to donate 25 cents for Alliance for Climate

protectio for every free download of the song. Madonna performed "Hey You" live at

Wembley Stadium during London's Live Earth concert.

Impact of Live Earth

After the concert Live Earth, the British media and Americans point out the contradiction

between the message and the acts of the rock stars that throughout the world, through music,

they did get the message that we need to save the planet. Madonna, for example, is

responsible for a share of carbon dioxide emissions a hundred times greater than the

average share of a British citizen. The representatives of Madonna defend themselves: "Your

participation in Live Earth is a step forward in the approach she wants to do the

environmental cause."

Al Gore

Al Gore was born on the 31st of March,

1948, in Washington, D.C.. Curiously, in

his 2000 presidential campaign, Gore

won the popular vote, but eventually

conceded defeat to Republican George

W. Bush. In 1971, he worked as a

reporter at the Tennessean. In 1988,

Gore made a bid for the Democratic

nomination for the presidency. In 1992,

the presidential candidate Bill

Clinton chose him as his running mate.

They were elected into office that year

and re-elected in 1996. During his

tenure, he worked to cut back on

government bureaucracy.

On the December 10th, 2007, Gore

accepted a Nobel Prize for work on

global warming. In accepting the prize,

he urged the world's biggest carbon

emitters, China and the U.S., to “make

the boldest moves on climate change”.

Gore shared the prize with the

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate

Change (IPCC) for sounding the alarm

over global warming and spreading

awareness on how to counteract it.

We have a

planetary

emergency. We

have to find a

way to create, in

the generation of

those alive today,

a sense of

generational

mission.

Directed by Davis Guggenheim

Produced by Lawrence Bender

Written by Al Gore

Starring Al Gore

Music by Michael Brook

Edited by Jay Cassidy

Distributed by Paramount Classics

Release date 24th May, 2006

Running time 94 minutes

Language English

Synopsis aninconvenienttruth

An Inconvenient Truth focuses on Al Gore

and on his travels in support of his efforts to

educate the public about the climate crisis.

He opens the film introducing himself as the

man who used to be the next president of

the USA. Then, he begins his slide show on

climate change; a comprehensive

presentation replete with detailed graphs

and pictures. Following this, Gore also

shares the moments of his life that led to his

investigation towards Global Warming, as

his sister's death from lung cancer and his

young son's near-fatal car accident. He also

refers to his loss to George W. Bush in

the 2000 United States presidential

election as a “hard blow” that “brought into

clear focus, the mission [he] had been

pursuing for all these years”. Throughout

the movie, Gore discusses the scientific

opinion on climate change, as well as the

present and future effects of global

warming. The documentary ends with Gore

arguing that if appropriate actions are taken

soon, the effects of global warming can be

successfully reversed. Global Warming is,

in fact, an inconvenient truth.

Global Warming

An Inconvenient Truth

The film includes segments intended to refute critics who say that global warming is

unproven or that warming will be insignificant. For example, Gore discusses the

possibility of the collapse of a major ice sheet in Greenland or in West Antarctica, either

of which could raise global sea levels, flooding coastal areas and producing 100 million

refugees. It also contains various short animated projections of what could happen to

different animals more vulnerable to climate change.

Since its release in 2005, the film has helped to galvanize governments, leaders,

organizations and individuals worldwide to take action on global warming. More than a

billion people are now aware of the issue and have been motivated to act. This movie won

2 Academy Awards for Best Documentary Feature and Best Original Song.

“Each one of us is a cause of global warming, but each one of us can make choices to change that with the

things we buy, the electricity we use, the cars we drive; we can make choices to bring our individual carbon

emissions to zero. The solutions are in our hands, we just have to have the determination to make it happen.”

Al Gore

References

Texts:

SLIDE 2 - Global Warming. (2003) Retrieved on the 5th January 2013: http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/environment/global-warming-environment/global-warming-101/

SLIDE 13 - Al Gore (2004) Retrieved on the 3th January 2013: http://www.algore.com/about.html

SLIDE 13 - Bio. true story (2013) Retrieved on the 4th January 2013: Http://www.biography.com/people/al-gore-9316028

SLIDE 2 to 7 - National Geographic. (2007) Retrieved on the 7th January 20013:http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/

SLIDE 8 to 12 - Live Earth. (2010) Retrieved on the 5th January 2013: http://liveearth.org/

SLIDE 5 AND 6 - GONÇALVES, Maria Emília and TORRES, Angelina (2011). “What is global warming?”. Log in 11.

Images:

http://meerkat21.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/global-warming-2.jpg

http://blog.guerillapps.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Al_Gore_sayin_in.jpg

http://assets.inhabitat.com/wp-content/uploads/live-earth.jpg

http://www.climatechangejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/globe-in-hands.jpg

Virtual Thinkers http://virtualthinkers.webnode.pt/

José Eduardo