“Can human survive on Earth in the next Century?”
The Nobel Peace Prize 2007 was awarded jointly to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the ex-Vice President of the USA Albert Arnold (Al) Gore Jr. "for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change." Al Gore is the leading public advocator of the “man-made” climate crisis and has been endeavouring in convincing and urging various government institutions, politicians and private sectors, locally and internationally, to take immediate actions to reduce the release of anthropogenic green house gases which are proven to be the major cause triggering the global warming crisis. His campaigns take many forms, including the production of the Academy Award-winning documentary film named “An Inconvenient Truth” and a book of the same title. In his book, he provides a definitive account of how we have come to the understanding of the fundamental issues behind global warming as well as its impacts to human lives. He pictures in the book the future of the Earth planet would look like should human continues to ignore the warning signs and refuses to take mitigating measures. He also points out in the book how the crisis is related to the ethical problem, namely, Climate Injustice, over the world and call for international efforts to save the countries under threats.
This book could help readers reflect and react from global perspective on our own responsibilities and call for our actions to take care of the current state of our living environment, how we should live in peace with the nature sustainably. Students who read the book not only would learn about the facts and figures of the situation, but also connect the issues with their daily lives, reflect on their own living styles, renew their worldviews, values and visions on human’s existence on the Earth for the benefits of the current and the next generations to come.
“人類還能在地球上生存至下個世紀嗎？”
2007 年諾貝爾和平獎授予《聯合國政府間氣候變化委員會(IPCC)》 和美國前副總統小阿爾伯特·戈爾，以「表彰他們為建立和傳播更多關於人類造成的氣候變化的知識所做的努力，並為應對這種變化所需的措施奠定了基礎” 戈爾是「人為」氣候危機的主要公共倡導者，一直致力於說服和敦促本地和國際上的各個政府機構、政治家和私營部門立即採取行動，減少人為溫室氣體的排放。溫室氣體已被證明是引發全球暖化危機的主要原因。 他的活動採取多種形式，包括製作榮獲奧斯卡金像獎的紀錄片《難以面對的真相》和同名書籍（這本書）。 在他的書中，他明確闡述了我們如何理解全球暖化背後的基本問題及其對人類生活的影響。 他在書中描繪了如果人類繼續忽視大自然發出的警告徵兆，並拒絕採取緩解措施，地球的未來將會是什麼樣子。 他也在書中也指出這場危機與全球的道德問題（即《氣候不公義》）有何關係，並呼籲國際社會努力拯救受到威脅的國家。
這本書可以幫助讀者從全球的角度反思和反應我們自己的責任，並呼籲我們採取行動關顧我們的生存環境的現狀、我們應該如何與自然和平共處、如何達致可持續發展。 學生閱讀本書不僅可以了解現狀，還可以將該問題與日常生活聯繫起來，反思自己的生活方式、更新世界觀、價值觀和人類在地球上生存的願景，期盼可以造福這一代和未來世代。
-- Dr. LI Ping Wah 李炳華, Department of Physics