Gore-trained speaker calls for changes

On Wednesday night, the same day Al Gore testified before Congress that “the planet has a fever,” Jeff Riegel presented “Earth’s New Reality: Truth and Consequences,” his personal slide show based on Gore’s multi-Oscar winning documentary “An Inconvenient Truth,” at the Indiana Memorial Union to an audience of about 100 students and community members.\nThe event, co-sponsored by Union Board and INPIRG brought Riegel, an environmentalist from the Bloomington area and one of 50 people personally trained by Gore to make the presentation, and his warning about global warming to the college setting.\n“I feel that this gives a chance for students to gain knowledge about the ‘Inconvenient Truth’ through a different outlet than the movie itself,” said Franc Perrelle, Union Board director of seminars and events. \nRiegel, a forest research analyst at Purdue, made it clear he is not a politician and that global warming is not a political issue.\n“(Global warming) is a global problem,” Riegel said, showing pictures of the Earth. “When you put all the evidence together there is no other conclusion that makes sense. None.”\nRiegel provided evidence of the existence of global warming, including the fact that the 12 hottest years recorded have occurred since 1990. He blamed global warming on the alarmingly high rates of carbon dioxide emissions throughout the world, but especially in the United States. He suggested one way to address this problem could be for the U.S. to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, an agreement by 160 nations to reduce greenhouse gases.\n“In the history of the world, never have CO2 (carbon dioxide) levels reached 300 parts per million,” Riegel said. “Here we are today,” he said, pointing toward a spot on his graph just above 300 parts per million. He added that without change, these numbers would only get worse.\nRiegel explained the possible problems that could occur from a rise in the Earth’s average temperature including the melting of major ice shelves in Antarctica and Greenland.\n“We are going into unknown territory, but we know … it’s not good,” he said.\nThe melting of these ice shelves would create a rise in sea level of 18 to 20 feet, displacing an estimated 120 million people.\nRiegel stated that there is no disagreement among scientists that the problem of global warming is real, blaming the globe’s current population explosion, the scientific technology revolution and the current mode of thinking of the world’s population for the problem. \nThe burden of solving global warming rests on the shoulders of the United States, Riegel suggested.\n“America has taken on huge problems before,” he said. “Now we must solve global warming.”\nIn the end, the many audience members thanked Riegel for bringing the message about the dangers of global warming to Bloomington and he left them with a challenge to find more efficient-energy sources in order to save the planet.