October 12, 2007

A Prize to Help the Environment

Al Gore and the UN group for climate change win the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize

By Claudia Atticot

Former Vice President Al Gore and the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have been awarded this year's Nobel Peace Prize, one of the world's highest honors.

JOHN MCCONNICO—AP Arctic icebergs like this one, off Ammassalik Island in Eastern Greenland, are melting at alarming rates.

They were credited for their efforts in spreading the message of climate change and global warming. "I am deeply honored to receive the Nobel Peace Prize," Gore said after the announcement. The prize committee referred to Gore as "probably the single individual who has done most to create greater worldwide understanding of the measures that need to be adopted."

Working For a Change

Since 1989, Gore has devoted much of his time to working on issues that involve the environment. "We face a true planetary emergency. It is a moral and spiritual challenge for all of humanity," said Gore.

In 2006, his documentary film, An Inconvenient Truth won an Academy Award. The film, which has had an international impact, described the frightening environmental effects of global warming.

Last July, Gore played a key role in organizing a series of benefit concerts called Live Earth to raise awareness about climate change. The 24-hour, seven-continent musical call for action brought people from 130 different countries together. It was the largest entertainment special event ever held.

The Nobel Prize committee cited the IPCC, the shared winner of the Peace Prize, for creating "an ever-broader informed consensus about the connection between human activities and global warming." The IPCC is a joint project between the United Nations Environment Program and the World Meteorological Organization. Thousands of scientists and officials have been working as part of the IPCC to better understand climate change since 1988.

This year, the group released its fourth report since 1990. The report looked at what scientists predict will happen to our planet if global warming continues and urged world leaders to work harder to develop solutions.

The IPCC and Al Gore will receive a gold medal, a diploma and will share the $1.5 million cash award. Gore plans to donate the money to the Alliance for Climate Change Protection, a group that works to find solutions to the climate crisis. Gore is the group's chairman.

History of the Prize

Since 1901, scientists and scholars have been awarded Nobel Prizes for their outstanding achievements in science, literature, and peace.

The Nobel Prize was named for Swedish dynamite inventor Alfred Nobel. He left almost all of his wealth to help establish the prizes. In his will, Nobel said that he wanted the prizes to be awarded to those who have had the "greatest benefit to mankind." Former U. S. President Jimmy Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 in recognition of the many years he spent working for peace all over the world.

The prize committee hopes that this year's award will draw attention to the worsening environmental crisis. "Action is necessary now, before climate change moves beyond man's control," said Nobel Prize committee chairman Ole Danbolt Mjoes.

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