The other day I saw the Al Gore movie An Inconvenient Truth. Let’s get beyond, for a moment, the issue of how likeable Gore is (certainly more animated and witty now that his campaign handlers are gone) or what his chances are as a presidential draftee for 2008 (denies any thirst for a rematch, but then again, so did Nixon). The film is worth seeing on its own merits. It’s the clearest presentation I’ve ever seen of the science of global warming, and the most convincing analysis I’ve heard of what the future likely holds if we fail to act soon. Forget duct tape. Maybe we should be more worried about the sea level rising up to engulf Lower Manhattan and the panhandle of Florida, not to mention large swaths of vulnerable coastland around the world. That’s just one of the disturbing scenarios that the film contemplates.

It’s remarkable that some of the important developments on the environmental front are completely lost on many Americans. I consider myself fairly informed (some readers of this blog may disagree), and yet I had no idea about the progress that has already been made in fighting ozone depletion. Remember the holes in the ozone layer that so alarmed everyone about a decade or so ago? Thanks to global cooperation in enforcing bans on chlorofluorocarbons, there is evidence that the depletion rate is finally slowing. On the flip side, I also had little understanding of just how much the planet’s temperature has been rising in recent years, relative to normal fluctuations, and what the consequences of this unprecedented climate shift are. We watch the TV meteorologists talk every day about record temperatures and record numbers of hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods, but no one talks about the connection between the two. We read news articles that present the White House talking points (provided courtesy of the energy lobby) that global warming is not manmade, but merely a naturally occurring up-tick in the planet’s thermostat — as if this were a legitimate scientific position.

As the film makes clear, the international scientific community believes, with certainty and unanimity, that human beings are responsible for the vast majority of global warming. And the danger of this trend could not be more obvious. It is already a reality for those people who live in the path of rising water levels, strengthened hurricanes and tornadoes, and disease-carrying insects that thrive in heat. Yet few politicians talk about doing anything substantive to address the problem. When we start redrawing our maps to take into account the world’s shrinking land mass, it will probably too late then to do much about it.

It’s a climate shift that may be compared to a seismic shift in the way it will — sooner or later, but probably sooner than we realize — transform the optimism we hold about the future and the appreciation we have for our ultra-convenient modern lives. If we’re smart, it may also influence the politics we support and the lifestyles we lead. If not, the Earth may have other corrective measures planned. Like tectonic plates slowly moving underground, the change may seem imperceptible — a degree or two here, a few more there — until a tipping point is reached. And when the reckoning comes, we may open our eyes too late to see a landscape irrevocably changed, and irreparably disfigured.

Victor Tan Chen Victor Tan Chen is In The Fray's editor in chief and the author of Cut Loose: Jobless and Hopeless in an Unfair Economy. Site: victortanchen.com | Facebook | Twitter: @victortanchen