Rhetorical Analysis Of An Inconvenient Truth

In An Inconvenient Truth, former Vice President Al Gore discusses the recent trend of environmental destruction not only in our country, but across the globe. He discusses the importance of us uniting together as a single race to change the future of our only home. Gore points out the seriousness of how extreme the conditions are now and that within fifty years, many of the aspects we take for granted, such as our lakes and glaciers, will be nothing but a distant memory.

Gore’s deductive reasoning helps conveys his passion for changing our environment for the better to his audience. He lists many facts to support why we need to take a stand including the rising levels of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere, the rising sea levels, ice breaking

off in Antarctica and Greenland, and finally the rise in severity of natural disasters. Structurally, Gore’s argument is sound; he leads his audience through his each of his premises, reinforcing the necessity for us as a society to change our environment while also supporting all of his statements with real, actual scientific evidence.
One thing this documentary has in surplus is evidence to support Gore’s claims. He not only quotes professors, but scientists who have been watching trends and hypothesizing the causes for decades. Gore discusses the rising carbon dioxide levels, but also gives reasoning to why each year the levels not only go up, but also slightly drop due to the change in the Earth’s seasons and axis rotation. He points out how our atmosphere is extremely thin, yet because of our pollution levels the atmosphere is thickening; thus contributing to more greenhouse gases and ultraviolet waves being trapped within the atmosphere and resulting in global warming. Gore also uses reliable statistics to support his premises, for example he discusses how over forty percent of the Earth’s people receive water from the water tributaries in the mountains of Nepal, yet in less than half a century those tributaries won’t be able to provide for anyone. Gore appropriately utilizes these facts in order to demonstrate the severity of the issue to his audience. He also points out many criticisms of global warming, including the fact that many people claim to be confused about what to believe because they hear that global warming is both important and not a thing at all. Gore displayed a study of all the scientific publishings within the last decade or so about global issues and not one had any dispute about the validity of global warming; however, when you look at all public publishings you see skeptics declaring the invalidity of global warming when they have no credibility and sometimes are not even experts in a field that even parallels environmental science.
Gore’s credibility does not fall short, either.

Not only is he the former vice president, he has gone on to write a book and speak to congress about the current environmental issues. Gore was monumentally involved with the passing of multiple bills that regulate the amount of emissions businesses can produce. Al Gore has been involved in politics for many, many years; all the while having environmental issues as the main issue he chose to change. He ran for president, and even though he lost, he supported Bush and still kept pushing for changes in government regarding the current legislature dealing with environmental concerns. His appeal to ethos doesn’t stop there; Gore also stems off the credibility of others to support his premises. For example, Gore’s college professor, Roger Revelle was the first person to notice the trend of rising carbon dioxide levels and to hypothesize the root cause. Gore also utilizes highly credible scientific communities for many of his statistics during his presentation, providing additional integrity. Finally, Gore employs the most significant form of ethos when he discusses his family; how not only did he grow up on a farm and raise black angus cattle, his father passed on his knowledge about the land, Gore himself even points out he “comes from the land” (citation needed). By applying ethos in this fashion, Gore affectively gives multiple reasons for his audience to listen to what he says and understand the need for

change.
Finally, Gore enlists pathos to appeal to his audience, especially those with children. While he doesn’t inappropriately utilize this appeal, he does heavily rely on it. From opening the documentary with beautiful scenic views and a vivid description of nature, to describing the accident where he almost lost his son, to showing images of where the water would cover land if the sea levels continue to rise; Gore employs this emotional appeal to grab his audience’s attention and have them sitting on the edges of their seats. He appeals to Americans specifically when discussing the rising sea levels in New York by showing the site of the World Trade Center Memorial followed by an image showing how in only a few short years, that site could be underwater. Gore then follows it up by saying we need to understand “terrorism is not” the only threat we could encounter (citation needed).
Gore accurately utilizes logos, ethos, and pathos in order to form a sound argument throughout his documentary. His evidence combined with both his personal credibility and the credibility of the scientists he has worked with, prove his passion for environmental change is not misplaced. Gore’s use of pathos grabs the audience and shows them that while it may not affect them directly, their children and grandchildren will severely miss out on these wonderful aspects our planet has provided us.