Time’s Up on Al Gore’s Failed Climate Prediction

Science fiction writers know there’s a trick to keeping futuristic stories viable for a long time: simply set the future date outside your own lifetime. Of course, many don’t, which is how we get the little pleasures of last year, comparing the reality of 2015 to the imaginary version depicted in Back to the Future II. But of course, sci-fi writers and directors only want to maintain the integrity of their story; the writers of Back to the Future weren’t trying to tell Americans This is how it’s going to be!

Unlike a certain former vice president.

Ten years ago to the week, Al Gore was out promoting his documentary, An Inconvenient Truth. The movie, which features Gore giving a slide-show presentation on the dangers of climate change, was ultimately awarded with an Oscar. Besides simply warning Americans about those dangers, Gore made a prediction. If the world did not take drastic steps to limit greenhouse gases in the next decade, he said, the Earth would no longer be salvageable.

Well, time’s up. And it appears that Gore’s climate predictions can safely be thrown onto the same barbecue of hilarity as the Hoverboard. The real Hoverboard, by the way, not this exploding doohickey in the news.

Not only is the world continuing to spin all these years later, but there are signs that the climate is actually reversing. Take the polar ice sheets. Gore thought that we could see sea levels rise up to 20 feet as ice sheets in the Antarctic melted due to a hotter climate. Instead, we’re seeing just the opposite. Antarctic ice is growing, not melting, and increases in global sea levels are not accelerating the way Gore and the doomsday crowd predicted they would.

Many of the articles written about Gore’s failed predictions have been snarky and humorous. Maybe that’s all this story deserves. But it’s hard to laugh too much when you realize how much of our global standard of living we’re willing to sacrifice in the name of this liberal hoax. The full ramifications of the Paris climate treaty won’t be known for years. Some called it the biggest transfer of wealth in the history of the world, and the scientists who promote global warming theories say that even that won’t be enough to stave off the worst of the problems. So we’re destroying the free market…for nothing?

Obviously, there’s nothing wrong with finding alternative sources of energy. But we must do so without lowering the quality of life made possible by aggressive use of fossil fuels. If we can avoid the ridiculous predictions of high-profile celebrities and politicians, that shouldn’t be a tough compromise.