Unit 9
Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech
Al Gore
Delivered on 10 December, 2007
Additional Background Information
Al Gore
Albert Arnold Gore, Jr.(1948- ) rved as the 45thVice President of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election. Gore is an environmental activist and author.
He reprented Tenne in the U.S. Hou of Reprentatives from 1977 to 1985, and later in the U.S. Senate from 1985 to 1993, finally becoming Vice President in 1993. In the 2000 presidential election, Gore won the popular vote, but he ultimately lost the Electoral College to George W. Bush.
Gore‟s father was a former U.S. Senator. He had a great influence on his son. During the school years, Gore lived with his family in The Fairfax Hotel in Washington D.C., and during the summer months, he worked on the family farm in Carthage, Tenne, where the Gores grew tobacco and hay and raid cattle. His life moved between city and countryside, and this unique experience enabled him to learn to appreciate nature and provided him with an insightful view about the relationships between human beings and nature.
夸奖的近义词In 1965, Gore enrolled in Harvard University. In his nior year, he took a class with oceanographer and global warming theorist Roger Revelle. In his book An Inconvenient Truth, Gore calls Professor Revelle a “scientific hero” becau he was “the first person to propo measuring CO₂in the e arth‟s atmosphere.” Professor Revelle sparked Gore‟s interest in global warming and other environmental issues.
After graduation from Harvard, Gore rved in the Army from 1969 to 1971. From 1971 to 1972, he attended V anderbilt University Divinity School. He began to work the night shift for The Tennesan as an investigative reporter in 1971.His investigations of corruption among members of Nashville‟s Metro Council resulted in the arrest and procution of two councilmen for parate offens. He took a leave of abnce from The Tennesan to attend V anderbilt University Law School in 1974.
As a freshman congressman, he held the first congressional hearings on climate change, and co-sponsored hearings on toxic waste and global warming. In 1990, Senator Gore presided over a three-day conference which sought to create a Global Marshall Plan, “under which industrial nations would help less developed countries grow economically while still protecting the
environment”; legislators from over 42 countries attended. He was involved with a number of other programs and activities that revolved around the environment and climate change. On Earth Day, 1995, he launched the GLOBE program, who aim it was to promote the learning of science among young students and to enhance environmental literacy and stewardship. In the late 1990s, Gore strongly pushed for the passage of the Kyoto Protocol, which called for reduction in greenhou gas emissions, but he was oppod by the Senate.
Gore rved as V ice President during the Clinton Administration. He was initially hesitant to accept the position as Bill Clinton‟s running mate in the 1992 presidential election, but after clashing with the George W. Bush Administration over global warming issues, he decided to accept the offer. He led the Clinton-Gore Administration‟s efforts to protect the environment in a way that would also strengthen the economy.
Since then, Gore has founded veral non-profit organizations, including the Alliance for Climate Protection and the Climate Reality Project. He has traveled around the world conducting rearch and giving countless lectures on global warming. He cofounded and was chairman of Current TV, an independently owned cable and satellite television network for young people bad on viewer-created content and citizen journalism. A member of the Board of Directors of Apple Computer, Inc. and a Senior Advisor to Google, Inc., Gore has also rved as Visiting Professor at a number of American universities.
Gore wrote three books. His first was Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit (1992). In 2006, he wrote An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do about It, on the threat of and solutions to global warming. It was published in conjunction with the relea of a documentary film by the same title and elaborated on the points made in the film. The film and the book were both bad on a slide show he developed and prented to accompany the lectures on his worldwide tours. The film has had a great impact on viewers‟ attitude toward global warming. According to the producers of the film, Participant Media, the proportion of Americans who thought global warming was a real issue before the movie‟s relea was 30%, and after it was 87%. Gore‟s most recent book is The Future: Six Drivers of Global Change (2013).
Gore has received a number of awards including the Nobel Peace Prize (joint award with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) (2007), the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film(2007) for An Inconvenient Truth, and a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album (2009) for his book An Inconvenient Truth.
At the end of his famous film Gore says, “Each one of us is a cau of global warming, but each one of us can make choices to change that with the things we buy, the electricity we u, 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.”
Basic Knowledge about Global W arming/Climate Change
与时缠绵
Undisturbed by human action, the earth‟s atmosphere has been able to maintain a delicate balance for thousands of years. The radiation from sunlight (solar energy) penetrates the atmosphere, a thin layer that encompass the earth. Carbon dioxide (CO₂) and other gas trap some of this energy, which makes the earth warm and habitable. The atmosphere of the earth rves as a kind of greenhou that us some of the heat from the sun to warm the planet. The remainder of the solar energy bounces back into space. The heat that remains has sustained life as we know it. However, t
he Industrial Revolution, which saw the u of fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) in huge and ever-growing quantities, has been largely responsible for changing this delicate balance. When burned—in factories, hous, automobiles, generating stations, etc.—fossil fuels emit CO₂ and certain other gas (called greenhou gas) into the atmosphere. The, in turn, trap more solar energy than is needed. The accumulated CO₂and other greenhou gas have incread by 40% since pre-industrial times, enough to cau rious warming of the planet, uptting the balance.
The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the world‟s most authoritative voice on global warming/climate change. It engages the rvices of thousands of scientists worldwide to review vast amounts of scientific information on the subject. Their 2013 “Fifth Asssment Report” points out that the concentrations of CO₂ and other greenhou gas in the atmosphere have incread to levels unprecedented in at least the last 800,000 years. Since the early 20th century, the earth‟s average surface temperature has incread by 0.8° C, with most of the increa occurring in the last three decades. This does not sound like very much, but the warming is not uniform in all parts of the planet. It is much greater in the Polar Regions.
Over the last two decades, the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have been losing mass, and Arctic a ice and Northern Hemisphere spring snow cover have been decreasing to a significant ext
ent. Ice and snow keep the Polar Regions cool and help moderate the climate worldwide. They have a bright surface so that most of the sunlight that strikes them is reflected back into space. As ice and snow melt in the summer, the dark ocean and land surfaces absorb most of the solar energy, with the result that the polar temperature ris. A small temperature increa at the poles means that less snow and ice will form and they will melt more quickly. A cycle is created: as the ice and snow melt, the a and land absorb an increasing amount of heat, causing even more melting, leading to still greater warming over time, and making the poles the most nsitive regions to climate change on earth. Scientific measurements show that both the thickness and extent of summer a ice in the Arctic have declined dramatically over the past thirty years, with huge chunks of polar ice caps breaking off.
In addition to accelerating global warming, the loss of great amounts of ice and snow also results in rising a levels. This is already creating vere and frequent flooding in some South Pacific islands. The situation has reached rious enough proportions to force people to migrate to Australia and other areas. The prediction is that, in the abnce of an immediate and large-scale
reduction in greenhou gas, there will be a great deal more rising of a levels, such that very large parts of low-lying countries like the Netherlands, and coastal cities like New Y ork, Calcutta, Sh
anghai, Bangkok, Jakarta, Buenos Aires, and dozens of others will be under water.
Glaciers all around the world are also melting. With huge quantities of snow and ice melting rapidly, we can expect first too much water, and then not enough, leading to floods and droughts, which are already becoming more commonplace. As most of us have noticed, in addition to floods and droughts, we are also experienc ing other forms of extreme weather to an extent greater than ever before. The IPCC report states that the warmest 30-year period of the last 1400 years was from 1983 to 2012. Thus, heat waves have become common in many parts of the world. Warm ocean water fuels typhoons (also known as cyclones or hurricanes in different parts of the world). The result is that, as the ocean water warms, there are more of the storms, they are fiercer, and they occur in coastal areas that hitherto had been protected from them by the cold temperatures of the surrounding ocean water. Other extreme events in nature, such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are also being linked to global warming. Some geologists say that as glaciers, which are very thick and extremely heavy, melt and the earth is thus relieved of their great weight, pressures beneath the earth‟s crust are reduced, which can cau shifts. The shifts can potentially lead to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, and when the occur underwater, they can cau tsunamis.
Deforestation also contributes to climate change, although to a lesr extent than the heavy u of f
ossil fuels. Trees, like soil and oceans, are carbon sinks, meaning that they absorb more CO₂ than they relea. While forest fires are natural, global warming disrupts their natural rhythm. Increas in heat and decreas in precipitation create the perfect combination for a great increa in wildfires, and hence more deforestation. Deforestation, in turn, often contributes to erosion and dertification.
澳门小到什么地步As carbon sinks, oceans have a certain capacity to absorb carbon. However, with so much carbon being emitted, more of it is going into the oceans than they can absorb without affecting their normal chemical balance. Thus, oceans are becoming increasingly acidic, which undermines their capacity to sustain marine life. It is no surpri, then, that life in the a, as well as on the land, is threatened by the massive anthropogenic (humanly caud) generation of greenhou gas. A great many species of animals have already become extinct or migrated to other regions where they have a better chance of survival, and innumerable other species are in danger of extinction.
Finally, the 2013 IPCC report reiterates a number of critical points: the warming of the climate system is unequivocal; many of the changes are unprecedented; and human influence on the climate system is clear. It is generally agreed that 2°C is the maximum average global temperature ri that we can afford if we are to avoid the most disastrous effects of global warming. The report warns that continued emissions of greenhou gas will cau further warming and changes to all
aspects of the climate, and emphasizes that limiting climate change
will require both substantial and sustained reductions of greenhou gas emissions. Thus, if humankind does not work fast to curb global warming, billions of people will likely be very riously affected.
Structure of the Text
I.In the beginning paragraphs, Al Gore states that he has a purpo in coming to give his游惠山记
Nobel speech. Seven years ago, he read his own political obituary in a harsh judgment, but that unwelcome verdict brought an opportunity for him to arch for new ways to rve his purpo. (Paras. 2-6)
II.In the first half of his speech the speaker stress the threat and urgency of climate change and gives numerous facts to support his view.(Paras. 7-24)
海贼王壁纸电脑1.Scientists of climate change have laid before us a choice between two different futures of our
planet: a choice of life or death. We, human beings, are confronting a planetary emergency, but we h
ave the ability to solve this crisis if we act boldly, decisively and quickly. (Paras. 7-8) 2.However, too many of the world‟s leaders ignore the crisis and have decided to be undecided
in the face of the challenge. As a result, the global temperature is rising becau of incread emission of global warming pollutants. (Paras 9-11)
3.Human beings are responsible for the climate crisis and must act to solve it. (Para. 12)
4.The speaker gives evidence to prove that climate change is real. (Paras. 13-14)
5.Although we never intended to cau all this destruction, burning massive quantities of coal,
oil and natural gas has led to this climate crisis. Y et, many people refu to e this truth.
(Paras. 15-19)
6.Over the past hundred plus years, the relationship between humankind and the earth has been
changed in the basic ways. We have begun to wage war on the earth itlf. (Paras. 20-24) III.In the cond half of his speech Gore calls for action to solve the climate crisis. (Para. 25-
57)
1.It is time to make peace with the planet. (Para. 25)
2.The threat of climate crisis is real, rising, imminent and universal. This is the truth, and we
should not remain imprisoned by a dangerous illusion. (Paras. 26-31)
3.In fighting against the climate crisis we must share responsibility and take collective action.
彩纸手工灯笼(Paras. 32-36)
4.When we unite for a moral purpo, the spiritual energy unleashed can transform us. (Paras.
37-40)
我的科学梦作文5.We, the whole world, have to together make saving the environment of the entire planet our
first priority. The outcome of our effect will be greatly influenced by the United States and China, the world‟s two largest CO₂emitters. (Paras. 41-49)
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