What the Hell Does This Have to do with Peace?

I suppose the Nobel has had better days. This is pretty much proof that it no longer actually can figure out what Peace is or what its relevance is to reality.

The former US Vice-President Al Gore has won the Nobel Peace Prize for raising awareness of the risks and challenges of global warming.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee said that Mr Gore would share the $1.5 million (£750,000) prize with the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the UN expert panel which has been at the forefront of environmental science.

Maybe they should rename this award to "Nobel Sanctioning Political Correctness Award."

How this promotes or extends peace is beyond me. But they do make an attempt:

The Norwegian committee, which awards only the peace prize, said that it would be shared by Mr Gore and the IPCC "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".

The citation added: "Indications of changes in the earth's future climate must be treated with the utmost seriousness, and with the precautionary principle uppermost in our minds.

"Extensive climate changes may alter and threaten the living conditions of much of mankind. They may induce large-scale migration and lead to greater competition for the earth's resources. Such changes will place particularly heavy burdens on the world's most vulnerable countries. There may be increased danger of violent conflicts and wars, within and between states."

What horse-shit. I'd love to see the report showing that this is a supportable conclusion.

By the standard they set only politicians should get these awards due the direct proportion of the noise they make on any issue. I still don't see Algore as being anything more than a mouthpiece for a factually challenged movie. In fact there have been internet discussions and articles, pointing out the errors in that bit of propaganda. I wonder how Algore let his internet be used against him that way.

What's even more humorous is the finding by a London court yesterday:

LONDON - Al Gore’s Academy Award-winning documentary on global warming, “An Inconvenient Truth,” is a biased and inaccurate political work that can’t be shown in British schools without special guidance, a British judge ruled yesterday.

The decision by High Court judge Michael Burton followed a complaint by Stewart Dimmock, a father of two schoolchildren, that the film is one-sided and full of inaccuracies. Burton agreed, citing numerous exaggerations and false claims in the film.

The government had intended to distribute 3,500 copies of the film in British schools. Burton said, under British rules barring “political indoctrination” in schools, the film can only be shown in public schools if its inaccuracies and bias are noted.

I'd say the judges point is more sustainable than Algore's facts.

This article even enumerates the problems. I love the last line.

"Al Gore's movie, An Inconvenient Truth, represents 'partisan political views' and must be treated as such by teachers in British schools, a British High Court judge has indicated.

"The British court was swayed by numerous factual inaccuracies portrayed in the movie. Among them:

-- The film claims global warming is responsible for the gradual retreat of the alpine glacier atop Africa's Mount Kilimanjaro. Scientists have conclusively demonstrated no such link exists.

-- The film presents graphs indicating that fluctuating carbon dioxide levels have always preceded and caused global temperature fluctuations. In fact, temperature changes have always preceded carbon dioxide changes.

-- The film suggests global warming caused Hurricane Katrina. Few hurricane experts believe this, and substantial scientific evidence indicates global warming is having no impact on hurricane frequency or intensity.

-- The film asserts global warming is causing Central Africa's Lake Chad to dry up. In fact, land use practices are causing the drying up of Lake Chad, and Central Africa is in an unusual and prolonged wet period.

-- The film asserts global warming is leading to polar bear deaths by drowning. Yet the only documented drowning deaths occurred due to a freak storm, and polar bear numbers are growing substantially.

-- The film claims global warming threatens to halt the Gulf Stream and initiate a new ice age. The vast majority of scientists who have studied the issue have determined such a scenario is implausible.

-- The film asserts global warming is causing the destruction of coral reefs through bleaching. Scientists have identified other causes for coral bleaching and have additionally noted bleaching is a natural process by which coral continually selects ideal symbiotic algae.

-- The film asserts Greenland is in danger of rapid ice melt that will raise sea levels by 20 feet or more. The scientific consensus is that any foreseeable Greenland ice melt will be gradual and will take centuries to substantially raise sea levels.

-- The film asserts the Antarctic ice shelf is melting. In fact, only a small portion of Antarctica is getting warmer and losing ice mass, while the vast majority of Antarctica is in a prolonged cold spell and is accumulating ice mass.

"Also highlighted in court arguments was Al Gore's admission in Grist Magazine that 'I believe it is appropriate to have an over-representation of factual presentations on how dangerous it [global warming] is.'

Heh. That is good. Also clearly indicative of propaganda.

Well, I'm sure Norway will give Algore some solace and money for being a distorter of truth.