Gore's global warming fears

2007-05-14 10:58

Buenos Aires - Former US vice president Al Gore on Friday warned that global warming presented the most severe crisis ever faced by humans but said the planet could be saved if the right steps are taken.

Speaking in the Argentine capital at the first-ever biofuels congress, Gore described the gradual increase of the earth's temperature as the "most dangerous crisis we have ever faced as a civilisation".

The failed 2000 presidential candidate showed images of melting glaciers and presented scientific evidence of the trend, as seen in his traveling slideshow which was transformed into the Oscar-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth.

"Global warming is not a political issue. It's a moral issue, an ethical issue, a survival issue," Gore told the conference, which focused on finding efficient ways of promoting grain-based and plant-based fuels.

Gore explained that 2005 was the planet's hottest year on record and that the polar ice caps were already melting, a phenomenon that risks creating a sudden rise in sea level.

An increase of one metre could create 100 million refugees worldwide, while an increase of six metres could create four times that number, he said.

"If we allow that to happen, it would be the most unethical and immoral decision by any kind in the whole of human history," he said.

"Are we going to say to our children that we were too busy to pay attention?" Gore asked.

"No, it's not too late," he said, emphasising that political will was needed to create more environmentally friendly ways of fueling modern society.

The World Economic Forum said in a report last month that Latin America was "well positioned to become the global leader in biofuels and renewable energy," citing especially refining sugarcane into fuel in Brazil and soybeans in Argentina.

Despite government incentives to reduce greenhouse gases, critics are concerned that promotion of plant-based fuels could cause food prices to rise in Argentina, where more than 30% of the population lives below the poverty line.

- AFP