Pathos In Al Gore's Argument For Global Warming

Global warming is one of the most terrifying dangers that determines the future of life on Planet Earth. This gradual warming of planet Earth is due to excessive Carbon Dioxide which makes the Ozone layer thinner. The ozone layer is a thin layer located in the Stratosphere which reduces solar radiation to enter the earth (Owen). Al Gore, the 45th Vice President of the US, won a Nobel Prize on December 1, 2007 for raising awareness for climate change. His winning prize, $1.6 million went towards a new non-profit organization, Climate Reality Project, whose sole purpose is to take action on climate change (Biography.com Editors). He mentions his upcoming strategies for reducing CO2(Carbon Dioxide) emissions in his Global Warming is an Immediate

Crisis Speech. Al Gore’s purpose is to persuade the audience, citizens of the US, that climate change will impact them negatively, so by taking action today they will save their future and create a tranquil society for future generations.

Mr. Gore’s speech was given in New York University on September 18, 2006 to bring awareness to the issue. Al Gore uses scientific background and research to persuade the audience by appealing to pathos, logos, and ethos used by his esoteric diction that contributes to the consequential tone to create an effective argument for global warming.

Pathos in Al Gore’s speech is used to express his empathy towards the problem as well as persuade the audience that Global Warming can ruin their future. Throughout his speech, he expands on the impact Global Warming can make on the future of the next generations and the audience. Al Gore begins by acknowledging the danger that Global Warming could have on the

principles of science, leading to mass destruction. Al Gore said, “...human activities are responsible for the dramatic warming of sea surface temperatures in the areas of the ocean where hurricanes form.” Using a word like dramatic makes the audience feel like they are responsible for the deaths and destruction occurring in their nation. The outpour of emotion from the scientists makes the audience rethink their decisions of polluting, usage of technology, and everyday life. Mr. Gore repeats words like“ emergency” to bring emphasis on the urgency of the situation. He appeals to the future by foreshadowing a nation where they have “better jobs, a cleaner environment, a more secure nation, and a safer world. (Gore)” He hypothesizes how a human attempt to end Global Warming could determine the future for the world. Al Gore juxtaposed hyperboles and politics to argue that politicians, like himself, are trying their best to eliminate the threat. He supports that claim by saying, “When the politicians are paralyzed in the face of a great threat, our nation needs a popular movement…” By establishing his concern for a patriotic movement he provokes inspiration in people to stand up for their nation. Overall, Al Gore uses contrast between pathos and logos to effectively use both the emotion and facts to persuade the audience.
Adding to his persuasive speech Al Gore appeals to logos, with his eternal facts and statistics about how Global Warming is increasing and future procedures to end it.

“At present, the global system for carbon emissions trading is embodied in the Kyoto Treaty,” said Al Gore, which points out that Global Warming is not a national problem, but global problem. The Kyoto Treaty states that parties involved will reduce greenhouse emissions in their nation (United Nations). These facts introduce the idea of transforming this perilous world into an innocuous one. It supports his claim for having a preferable future for all, where there will be no droughts, devastations, deaths, or poverties due to global warming. His repetition of the word “reduce” engages the audience of having a solution to climate change. Mr. Gore continues with his ideas to reduce Global Warming by saying, “...Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CSS)...will play a significant...role as one of the major blocks of a solution to climate crisis.” This fact is an example of a paradox as before this statement he mentioned that CSS, a method to capture the CO2 burned from the burning coal, is an expensive method which most companies resist from using. His use of paradoxes throughout his speech makes the audience rethink their opinions. These statistics are part of many other logically statements that Mr. Gore used to support his claim. Some of these logical procedures include; electronic cars, reduction of renewable

resources, solar energy, reduction of fossil fuels in architecture, and more. The details and facts that build up his argument are from credible sources that impress the reader to engage in this lucrative argument.
Throughout his speech, Mr. Gore uses many strong sources to reinforce his credibility by appealing to ethos. Some of these sources include, “T.S Eliot,” “ Carbon Neutral Mortgage Association, “ “Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CSS),” “Scientific American,” as well as companies like “Ford,” “Wal-Mart,” and more. Citing his sources enhances Mr. Gore’s speech making him sound credible. He also continuously includes examples from his political life in the White House, which included how political decisions are taken on this topic. Mr. Gore mentions that once in awhile the citizens have to take a stand for what they believe in. In addition, he referred to laws like “Moore’s Law” and “Kyoto Treaty” to support how international countries have taken a stand to reduce CO2 emission. Furthermore, this created an intellectual image for Mr. Gore which shifted the mood of the audience from being perplexed to enlightened about the situation. However, when he began to address some of the scientific facts about hurricanes or earthquakes that occurred due to the impact of climate change, Mr. Gore does not give credit to those specific people, instead he just mentions them as “scientists” or “another group of scientists.” Mr’ Gore’s image in the beginning doesn’t look credible, but through his essay he builds up on his image to make a plausible argument on how climate change affects the environment.
Throughout Mr. Gore’s speech, he effectively addresses his purpose of bringing awareness to global warming as well as his prospective plans to reduce CO2 emissions. The audience could both argue and analyze his speech where he appeals to pathos, logos, and ethos to persuade them by using esoteric diction that contributes to the censorious tone. Mr. Gore appeals to pathos by sympathizing with the audiences emotions and illustrating the impact that climate change could have on their future. To support his future visions for the nation he uses scientific results and his personal political experience which are from credible sources like himself and other cooperations. Although global warming is an immediate threat to the protection of the planet, Mr. Gore is able to effectively connect with the audience and creates an effective argument that persuades the audience to take action in order to resolve this issue.