Al Gore spoke before about 550 people at Wayne State University, 13 October 2011. The former Vice President and Nobel Peace Prize winner was unbowed and unrepentant in blaming recent storms, droughts, and wildfires on climate change. freep.com

BY TINA LAM, DETROIT FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
14 October 2011  Reacting to a cool-off in concern over global warming, former Vice President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore was unbowed and unrepentant in blaming recent storms, droughts and wildfires on climate change. Gore, speaking Thursday in Detroit, reeled off statistics about huge downpours in Pakistan and Colombia, wildfires in Australia and drought in Texas the past year that he said are clear evidence of the looming climate crisis. “This is what is happening now all over the world,” he said. “We’ve had 10 of the hottest years ever measured in the last 13 years.” Speaking before about 550 people at Wayne State University, Gore compared the rejection by many people of scientists’ predictions about climate change to bankers’ ignoring signs of a mortgage crisis in the years leading up the 2008 recession. Warmer air holds more water vapor, which has caused larger and more widespread heavy storms, he said. For example, the scale that measures the strength of hurricanes and tropical storms goes through 5, but scientists are considering adopting a 6 to accommodate fiercer storms, he said. Gore said 98% of scientists actively researching climate agree that the science is sound. Polls in the past year show fewer believe global warming is a problem than in 2007 when Gore and the International Panel on Climate Change won the Nobel Peace Prize for their work on the issue. […]

Recent weather proves climate crisis, Gore says at Wayne State