Greek schoolchildren will be given copies of former US vice president Al Gore's book and DVD «An Inconvenient Truth» to learn about global warming, Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis said yesterday, as Gore told audiences in Athens that humans only have 10 years left to save the planet.
«We have to overcome history and ourselves and make the youth of Greece and the world allies in the titanic struggle to save the planet,» said Karamanlis.
He pledged that a copy of Gore's best-selling 2006 book and documentary would be placed in every Greek school.
«We are in need of well-informed citizens who will take the time and effort to push policy forward,» said the prime minister.
Gore was in Athens to deliver a presentation at the Athens Concert Hall yesterday evening detailing the impact of human activity on global warming.
«This is a planetary emergency,» Gore said. «There is nothing in our history or our experience as a species that equips us to realize exactly what the magnitude of this crisis is.»
Karamanlis said that the government is preparing a plan to make 30 percent of the energy used in Greece come from renewable sources by 2020. It is currently at 11 percent.
In his documentary, Gore presents evidence to support the theory that man has dramatically increased the amount of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere and that temperatures are consistently rising.
Gore claims that «the evidence is overwhelming and undeniable» and that we are already seeing changes, such as glaciers melting and plants and animals forced from their habitats, while the number of severe storms and droughts is increasing.
«We have to act now,» Gore told his audience at the Athens Concert Hall. «Grandfathers owe it to their grandchildren and parents to their children and all of the generations that will follow.
«We have 10 years to save the world, after that we will have lost the chance,» said Gore, emphasizing that individuals had as much a responsibility to change their habits as businesses and governments.
(Kathimerini, 14/6/07)