Customer Reviews

The Great Global Warming Swindle (DVD)

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

It would be intellectually dishonest not to view this documentary if you have also seen the Al Gore movie. This film reopens a healthy and much needed debate over global warming. Make sure you see both sides of this issue and I think this documentary with a scientific basis, contrasted with the factual errors, glaring omissions and over-the-top hype surrounding Gore's movie may change your view on this issue. It seems a bit disconcerting and far from reassuring when one side doesn't allow any sort of open debate or fact based challenges to their arguments. A must see for those who think they understand this issue.

If you have seen "An Inconvenient Truth", (and assuming you are not a scientist), then you absolutely must see "The Great Global Warming Swindle" in order to gain some perspective and balance. This documentary was produced by the BBC in response to the worldwide hysteria over global warming concerns. Because the average person cannot even solve a quadratic algebraic expression, it mystifies me as to how the same people are "convinced" that humans are destroying the planet. Water and air pollution I can understand, and I actively support programs to limit this kind of environmental damage. But the astounding theory that humans are heating up the planet through CO2 production has always seemed rather farfetched. But even assuming you have accepted this unconditionally after seeing Gore's film, I invite those of you with open minds to see this very well produced film which will take you through the history of the global warming movement and also demonstrate why this theory is simply wrong.

After watching GGWS, I see the debate is not over. There is more science in this presentation than in many of the other pro-global warming dvds, such as "Global Warming, the signs and the science" (which by the way was very painful to watch because Alanis Morissette is so bad.)

In this dvd, I was able to listen to the scientists, and see their research, and understand the research. Much of the data covers centuries of data. So many of the pro-global warming dvds and books are just glitz, and scare tactics with very little science, and shows very little research over long periods of time.

I highly recommend this dvd to anyone with a truly open mind.

Look, I'm not a scientist but I do have some knowledge of history. Whenever someone engages me in a conversation about global warming I ask the following questions: Was it warmer or cooler when the dinosaurs roamed the earth? (correct answer: warmer) Was it warmer or cooler during the Middle Ages? (correct answer: warmer) What was the prevailing weather condition in the year that Washington crossed the Delaware? (correct answer: we were in the middle of The Little Ice Age). Do I believe in climate change? (yes) Do I think humans are responsible for it?(no). If we are, why is the planet Mars experiencing the same climate change as Earth? Seems to me I had an entire section in 5th grade science (in the 60's) opining about the impact of sun spots and solar wind on the climate of the earth.

My point is: this film is a push back from the scientific community that identifies the "global warming" contingent as a political and indeed pseudo religious movement. The premise is pretty interesting. I am already a convert but the data is pretty compelling - take a risk.

The two things I liked best about this most excellent science DVD were:

1. The Japaness professor, world expert on the Artic climate, who said that the TV crews come and ask wide-eyed questions about the ice breaking up, and he says 'That's normal, it is called the 'spring melt'. So they go away disappointed, no crisis, no rubber-necking, no shrouds to wave.

2. The little cartoon that shows how the greenhouse gas effect is vital to life on planet earth to trap enough of the sun's radiation to keep the planet from freezing over. 'Greenhouse gases are bad, bad, bad' is shown to be the sloppy ignoramus thinking common amongst the 'save the planet' pseudo-religionists.

The one thing I thought really should have been said but was not: CO2 is not good, it it VITAL. It is ESSENTIAL. All green plants operate by photosythesis, and photosynthesis requires CO2, the plant gets the CO2 from the ATMOSPHERE. No CO2, no grass. No grass, no cow. No cow, no MaccyDs. No nothing.


But anyway ---

Question: if the science of `global warming' is so wrong, why are there so few scientists saying so?
Answer: the politicians pay the wages of so many scientists who are required to say that it is overheating (government funded universities, government research grants, government regulations, etc). You have to mostly toe the line to be in the science business.

Question: why would the politicians do pay the scientists to do this?
Answer: they want to scare you, then Big Brother State can promise to `do something about it on a global scale', then you are kept in your tax-paying subservient place, they stay in power, your taxes have to go up, they have better offices and good pension, they stay in power...

Question: why are there no realistic, truth-seeking, objective scientists who are not afraid of the government and are speaking out?
Answer: there are, and they are generally very senior in their profession and they have secure tenure in their universities in the USA, Japan, Canada, England, etc so they can afford to speak out but the media want to them stress for the camera about the crisis of ice cracking up, the polar bears facing extinction, the low-lying coastal areas flooding, the hurricanes a-blowing, yada yada. If a scientist says `It is normal for the ice to melt and then return in winter, the polar bears have survived much worse not so many thousand years ago, and it is normal for the weather and climate to change, it would be weird if it DID NOT change, and the Medieval Warm Period was fantastically GOOD for Europe in terms of harvest and prosperity, and in fact the earth warms up THEN CO2 increases, not the other way around, etc, then the media are stumped cos they like shroud-waving scares and adrenalin stories, not be happy ones. Bad news is good news.

Question: are some of these senior scientists who have secured their reputations and are not afraid to speak out on this DVD? And do they sometimes also get to state the facts on national talk radio, as well as in the hard-to-read scientific journals?
Answer: they are, and yes, tune in to something not-left wing.

Question: are there political environmental activist organisations who are lets-go-back-to-the-good-old-days Luddites, who understand no economics and care less, and like to patronise the greedy Western culture materialists (who provide them with cars and trains and boats and planes so they can go to eco-rallies the world over and go on holiday to Cuba before all the charming quaint poor communistas disappear into history, soon please) because it makes them feel tall on their righteous soapbox, and these organisations are havens for communists and socialistas who are in need of a cause to focus their lives now because the USSR, GDR, China, India, and uncle Tom-Cobbledy-and-All have abandoned socialism en masse?
Answer: yes

Question: can I see all this proved beyond reasonable doubt on this DVD?
Answer: please, don't believe me, see for yourself. Please.

. . The title and intro to this documentary can be a put off for those whom you might want to watch it, but the tone of the body of it is reasonable and informative. It includes the political history of the global warming movement, which began in Great Britain.
. . Some of the people interviewed do express exasperation and frustration at times, but considering their experiences and the situations they are talking about, that too is understandable; one of those is a co-founder of Green Peace.
. . It is definitely worth watching.

Considering the Fact that Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" has been required viewing for children in a number of European countries, it is essential that an Easy-to-Digest counterpoint be available. This film fills that role quite effectively, especially on the essential topic of the chicken-egg question of warming and Co2. Gore is so wrong on this point and this film is so right that other wrinkles and inconsistencies are far less important.

But for those who want to go further, I strongly suggest investigating natural variability (The Sun, Earth Axis Wobbles, Tectonic Plate Shifting and other factors). Climate Scientists do not fully understand these factors and have no easy way of weighing them against the influence of man.

And until we understand nature's influence, we have no way of weighing our influence against nature.

This is a product of the United Kingdom so with it comes cheezy seventyish music and the content is technical but presented such that the layman can easily understand it. Anyone who claims to be open minded and is concerned with "Global Warming" or "Climate Change" should see this DVD. Anyone who has seen Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" also should see this DVD. This film will, if nothing else, drive home the point that the science is clearly not settled with regard to "Anthropogenic Global Warming".

I just wrote this because someone needed to write a three star review.

Seriously, I was suprised at the high production values in this documentary compared to many I've seen. High quality sound, photography, and editing, and a soundtrack. Can't take those for granted these days.

And, a lot of professionals in the climate area expressing their "heretic" points of view concerning global warming. If you don't just decided that global warming skeptics "aren't scientists" or they're just "funded by big oil" then you'll have at least something to ponder. My favorite was the co-founder of Greenpeace who described how different the organization is now compared to what he founded. That alone is almost worth the price of admission to see this movie.

My problem with this documentary is that It seemed just a little unfocused. The documentary movie is about an hour long, and then there are many special features that almost comprise a second documentary in and of themselves. I wish it had all been edited together, but I suppose it was originally created to fit a TV broadcast time slot.

A segment that I thought particularly weak (and sad) was when the African mother and her little one were shown building a fire in their hut and watching the smoke fill the hut, along with a description of all the death this practice causes. Supposedly it's the "solar and windmills only for Africa" people to blame for this, but really all the hut (and millions more I assume) needed was a chimney. You know, cut a hole in the roof and build a column of bricks (the same material the hut was made with, whatever that was) with an opening in the bottom? Then cook under the chimney. Western civilization discovered that little trick centuries ago, so what is the deal in some other parts of the world?

Anyway, if you're interested in climate change issues, this is certainly worth a watch. Then of course there's the controversy following the release of this documentary, which could almost be worthy of a documentary in and of itself.

I have been involved in amateur astronomy/solar research for 25 plus years and a natural born weather watcher. The mystery of just WHAT drives our weather patterns seems to spark the curiosity that ignites the interest in knowing...MORE. Which is just what you will experience after viewing THE GREAT GLOBAL WARMING SWINDLE (DVD).

This documentary has a quite pleasing format with musical scores, camera angles, and picture/contrast qualities that effectively compliment the methodological dismantling of the CO2 climate driver theory. After viewing (GGWS) several times with others...from BOTH sides of this issue...all have vowed of their amazement and yearn-to-learn more.

After a recent meeting with Al Gore, Mr. Obama claimed ..."the debate is over" concerning man made global warming. WOW !!! How Democratic is that?
I must have missed this "debate". If anyone happened to catch it...PLEASE
inform us !!!

Other sources; (Books)- RED HOT LIES by:Christopher Horner
THE CHILLING STARS by:Svensmark/Calder
GREEN INC. by:Macdonald
ECO-FREAKS by:Berlau