Former Vice President Al Gore has issued a stark warning about the potential consequences of climate change, suggesting that inaction could lead to the displacement of up to a billion people.
During a recent interview on CNN, Gore painted a picture of a future where "climate refugees" are forced to cross international borders due to environmental disasters, leading to a surge in "populist authoritarianism and dictatorships."
In a conversation with CNN's Jake Tapper, Gore expressed his concerns about the potential loss of "our capacity for self-governance" if the world fails to respond to the climate crisis. "The scientists who warned us about mega-storms, floods, mudslides, droughts, melting ice, rising sea levels, stronger storms, tropical diseases, and climate migrants were dead right," Gore stated, as reported by Breitbart News. "We need to pay more attention to them now."
Gore emphasized the urgency of the situation, arguing that immediate action is necessary to avert catastrophic outcomes. He warned that if no action is taken, the world could see as many as "1 billion climate refugees crossing international borders in the next several decades." He added, "A few million have contributed to this wave of populist authoritarianism and dictatorships. What would a billion do? We could lose our capacity for self-governance."
The former Vice President also highlighted the already visible impacts of climate change. "We've seen people driven from the places they've always called home, and we're seeing an expansion of areas in the world that are physiologically unlivable now because of the combination of heat and humidity," he said. He warned that if no action is taken, these areas could expand to include "most of India, large parts of Northern and South America, the Philippines, Indonesia, Pakistan."
However, Gore's claims have not been without controversy. He has been criticized for exaggerating the potential impacts of climate change, most notably in his 2006 film An Inconvenient Truth. The film was said to "exaggerate some dire scenarios" in order to "shock the public into action," according to Ted Scambos, a scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center. Despite these criticisms, Gore continues to be a vocal advocate for climate action.
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