This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American
On supporting science journalism
If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.
The UK has its share of climate change skeptics, such as school principle Stewart Dimmock of Kent, who was attempting to use the English courts to have An Inconvenient Truth banned from schools there on the grounds that it contains a number of errors (earlier this year the government sent copies of the film to every school in the UK). The BBC reports that these errors include the assertion that a seal level rise of up to 20 feet would be caused by melting of ice in Antarctica or Greenland "in the near future." (The judge was certainly right on this count. "In the near future," sounds like "ten to fifty years from now" to most reasonable people -- which is not the time-scale over which we're going to see that kind of sea level rise.) Of course, none of this is new territory -- it's been known since the film came out that An Inconvenient Truth contains a few errors - check out this New York Times review of the film in which U. of Washington geochemist acknowledges these errors.
"The small errors don't detract from Gore's main point, which is that we in the United States have the technological and institutional ability to have a significant impact on the future trajectory of climate change."Interestingly, the Germans, who are also apparently fond of showing An Inconvenient Truth in classrooms, are nonplussed by the declarations of the UK judge. 'Inconvenient Truth' To Continue Airing in Schools
The German government has come out in defense of former US Vice President Al Gore, who was named the 2007 Nobel Prize winner for his work on climate change education on Friday. Germany's Environment Ministry says a few errors in the film is no reason not to show it in schools.