Mizuguchi working on Al Gore environmentalism project

politics! I agree with the libs here, in that I think this shouldn't be a political issue... and nor should games in general. However, the american political scene encourages people to buy into a ready-made mindset. If you think welfare is counter-productive, you must be against abortion, and disbelieve global warming. If you favor more money for schools, you must favor gay marriage.

we should all be very afraid of the day that anti-games rhetoric becomes the harp of one side or the other.

I kind of feel sorry for Al Gore... I don't think he has any friends...

Only in America people are still debating whether they should 'believe' global warming is real ... geez!

Global Warming is a real issue.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Instrumental_Temperature_Record.png

See? Global temperatures have gone up ALMOST a whole degree over the last 140 YEARS! We're all going to die! Panic! Chaos! Destruction! The world going to end because the temperature has gone up just .8 degrees Celcuis!

How could we have been so stupid not to worry about this?

And no need to worry about Al Gore flying around the world on his private jet to promote the movie. He's allowed put more C02 into the atmosphere on one flight than the entire average family in the US produces in an entire year becuase he's trying to save the world. He doesn't need to make changes. Just everyone else.

[/sarcasm]

All you fucking idiots need to open your eyes and research some things before openning your mouth. Global Warming has nothing to do with worthless politics. Politics make this country a fucking stupid place to live.

There is proof that the temperature has been rising over the past 140 years. Also the temperature of Sun has been increasing as well. It goes through Solar cycles.

A recent study claims that there are magnetic instabilities in the core of the Sun which cause fluctuations with periods of either 41,000 or 100,000 years. These could provide a better explanation of the ice ages than the Milankovitch cycles.

To put it simple to you fools out there. We did not cause Global Warming. We speeded up the process with all of our gas and chemicel emissions. Global Warming cannot be stopped.

If want to know something scary check out what would happen if the Sun's radiation output increased. We are at the mercy of the Sun. Maybe Globlal Warming is Earths way of cleansing itself. Maybe that cleansing requires all forms of mass destuctive lifeforms to be extinct.

Algore ought to make a game where the player is a sheep. It would play real-time audio from state-run radio (NPR) and could also contain characters like Nancy Pelosi and other members of Al-Queda. They would tell the sheep that war is bad because Al-Queda is not a threat, but that C02 is going to turn the earth into a glowing molten sphere.

I am so sick of this fascist (I use the actual definition of the word "fascist" not the pop culture definition of the word) He's your typical self-proclaimed "liberal" which means he believes the federal government should be in charge of making all your life's decisions. Gore is actually one of the most illiberal people around; would anything that ever come out of his mouth given you more freedom in life? Nope. Gore flies around in his private jet abusing public ignorance on the topic of the environment to push his Marxist viewpoints onto society while, oddly enough, making a fortune in the process.

You kids are all probably shaking your fists at that lawyer and Dr. Phil who are spreading the myth that video games cause violence. Just think of that as karma for mindlessly accepting the agenda of radical envirofascists without questioning their statements.

This does not please the Emperor of the Moon.

Look at the Hungarian Revolution. The Soviet Union tried to ease freedom into the satellite nation and what happened? The people tried to pull more freedom because they understood what it meant and could express it. The left extreme model was stamped on by extreme right. My great uncle was a priest in the movement to free Hungary and he was publicly hanged in the public square. Great hypocrisy that a left model cannot work without the right.

Hypocrisy, religion & greed run this world. Ignorance will kill off intelligence with leaders like Bush & Kim Jong-il calling the shots. They treat us as sheep.

I'm shocked that there actually alot of posts up here made by people with working brains. People who don't buy into the BS the liberal media is cramming down their throats everyday. Do those who say that all scientists agree we are killing the planet, who told you that? PMSNBC? The Communist News Network? Chris Matthews? It's easy to ask 50 like-minded people a question, have them answer the way you want them to, and report that they all agree with complete disregard to those who have a different opinion. I can't help but laugh anymore at these mongoloids that immediately pin everything on the "evil" Bush. That man has done more for this country than any Democrat in the pass 50 years could ever hope to do. That's all the Democrats do. Whine about the Earth, increase taxes, try to destroy Bush, demoralize our troops and give the enemy more and more power over us. I wish I could say that Republicans are doing their job but for the most part they aren't. Most of them are bending over for the libs to keep up their images. Damn, never thought I could get that off my chest on a video game blog.

Joystiq...I love you guys! (Don't listen to those mean guys at Destructoid ;) )

Rush Limbaugh for president!

Global Warming is a good thing. The middle ages were an average of 3-5 degrees warmer than it is today and that period of time was considered the most productive in terms of agriculture. The warm environment was a key reason why feudalism lasted so long. It isn't surprising that most of the key monarchies of Europe collapsed around the same time the Earth's temperature drastically dropped around the middle of the 1700's. The temperature drop directly preceeded a few major political changes on the planet such as the American Revolution and the French Revolution. The drastic temperature drop also ushered in the beginning of the destruction of the lush African agriculture production which led to much of the mass starvation seen there today. The temperature drop also drove the industrial revolution as farmlands became less productive and drove the population to cities, which in turn drove the rapid technological advancement that began in the mid-1700s.

The middle ages were also wetter by comparison, which is why the farming production was so superior. More rain in places that now get little of it. Without the warming of the oceans, the rain cycle will slow. Geological evidence shows that cold periods result in fewer forests and more deserts whereas warmer periods resulted in more forests, grasslands and other productive lands.

Cold is bad, people.

Another issue that is being improperly researched is the exact effect of how an average temperature change will effect the planet. Both sides have the agendas, so we can't trust global warming supporters any more than we can trust global warming dissenters.

Warming supporters are telling us that the polar ice caps have lost 40% of their surface area yet are at a loss (most of them just skirt the question when asked) as to why ocean levels haven't risen, this means overall ice volumes are the same despite the temperature changes, suggesting that the polar regions simply remain colder and longer resulting in deeper ice caps. It also fails to help the argument when polar animal species are currently experiencing a surge in population, suggetsting everything is A-OK. This suggests that average temperature changes do not result in localized temperature changes.

A second flaw in the human environment change camp is how temperature readings are gathered. The central focal point in most temperature studies revolves around major metripolitan areas, which throw off temperature readings. Because of the large concrete surface area and surrounding structures, cities gather more heat than other places on the planet, are hotter and retain that heat longer. This results in abnormally high temperature readings for cities when compared to other areas. A quick look at the Weather Channel supports this when places like Los Angeles are warmer by a degree or two than the rural surroundings. More rural areas are not showing any similar temperature change and since non-urban land makes up the vast majority of land on Earth, we have to come to the conclusion that the temperature changes are no where near as drastic as being reported, probably even so minor our instruments cannot reasonably measure them.

A third issue is the levels of human CO2 production are exaggerated. Many studies show that the Amazon rainforest produce more net CO2 than all human activity combined. This isn't surprising given all the life and that trees really don't produce that much net oxygen. Studies show that roughly .5% of all air pollution is human created and is declining as major regions like North America and Europe become cleaner. Our breathing produces more greenhouse gas than our cars and industry do. As for the volcano guy above, volcanos go off all the time, they're called underwater fissures. Above sea-level volcanoes don't go off all that often because of the distance between the core and the surface, but we still have significant pollutants coming from underwater activity. 90% of all oxygen production in the planet is done by the oceans. We should focus more on ocean dumping than air pollution.

Al Gore doesn't care about the environment, he cares about his political image. His massive, energy sucking house is more than proof he doesn't drink his own Kool Aide and we should also distrust anyone that Leonardo DiCaprio likes. Gore only cares about the status-quo and believes we can have a drastic effect on the envrionment by STOPPING a naturally occurring cycle. This man is a lunatic and should not be let anywhere near policy makers.

Dissenters are also screwed in the head in saying nothing is happening. They've magically ignored the fact that it is happening. They've also ignored the impacts of human polluting.

While polluting doesn't materially add to the greenhouse effect, it does have more immediate impacts. Increased cancer rates, birth defect rates, murcury poisoning of fish and other problems are those we should be concerned about instead of the myth of human-driven global temperature changes.

This population also discounts the importance of developing cleaner and more efficient fuels. Cleaner, efficient fuels are also cheaper fuels. Wood is less effective and more expensive than coal. Coal is less effective and more expensive than oil. Oil is less effective and more expensive than atomic energy. As energy progresses, the cost of utilizing it declines. The cleaner the source is, the less waste there is. When there is less waste, more of it goes into productive energy use and we have to use less, thus driving down the costs.

There are bigger things to worry about than this specter of human-driven global temperature changes and Al Gore's insane rantings. We can't do a damned thing about global warming. It will still happen if we dismantle all of our technology and go back to being hunter-gatherers and it will still happen at the same rate. It is more important to keep our living space clean for personal health reasons and food production reasons than for trying to predict a huge cataclysm in the long future when we can't accurately predict the path of a hurricane or even the weather tomorrow.

All we can do is adapt. Evidence suggest we don't have to do much adapting as global warming will be a benefit to mankind, not a hindrance.

"Evidence suggest we don't have to do much adapting as global warming will be a benefit to mankind, not a hindrance."

No sir. How can the raise in temperature and melting of the poles be benificial? Getting rid of the coast states and contries is benificial? I think not. Evidence shows the sun goes though Solar Cycles that can immediately affect the Earths climate.

Jack -

Read the whole thing, the caps aren't melting. The middle ages were 5 degrees warmer and Long Island wasn't flooded then. Pay attention before responding just to dissent.

Environmentalism has replaced Communism as the biggest threat to freedom in the world.

-Czech President.

I'll listen to Al Gore when his own personal mansion (and guest house/ heated pool) stop consuming 10x more gas and electricity than the average american family (and the average american family still wastes too much energy on big cars, incandescent lighting, etc).

This debate shouldn't depend on what Al Gore does or doesn't do. It should depend on science. Al Gore is just presenting the work that scientists have done, and there is a consensus within the scientific community that global warming exists, and that humans are contributing to it. What else is there to say?

That global warming is good and we shouldn't hurt the environment.

Basing your argument against global warming on Al Gore's beliefs or actions is illogical and makes you look stupid. It's an attack on a political figure you dislike and nothing more. Leave Al Gore out of this. Instead, look at the science. As the temperature increases, all the wind and water currents on the planet change drastically to adapt to the new temperature. So warm areas become cold and cold areas become warm. People are not ready for this. Remember that heat wave just 2 or 3 years ago that hit Europe and thousands of old people just keeled over from the heat? Things like that and Katrina are going to become bigger and more frequent. That's all there is to it. If you hate Al Gore so much that you've decided it's OK for people worldwide to die of thirst as their freshwater rivers dry up, then you're a crazyhead.

Are you guys americans?
I really have to show this to some people from IUP.

3 pages

http://www.pik-potsdam.de/~stefan/Publications/Journals/rahmstorf_etal_eos_2004.pdf

AL GORE and GLOBAL WARMING;

If GLOBE-AL warming is really happening and AL GORE is so unhappy about it, why is he just blaming the US. We (the United States) are not the only country. There are a whole lot of other countries out there that have NO EPA, or AL GORE. In other words we are not the only culprits. Plus, if AL is so worried,
FLY COMMERICAL

It doesn't matter if global warming is actually happening or even if its our fault.

Why it the hell would we not try to reduce emissions and use renewable resources. Fossil fuels will run out. There are giant holes in the ozone. What disadvantage is there to trying to save the planet?

Even if none of it helps, we will at least have saved a few species from extinction. I don't understand why those against global warming can't see past political agendas and just look at our planet and think that we may have an impact, since we are by far the most intelligent beings with the most power.