Sunday, October 14, 2007

Al Gore Makes History..

The 2007 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to

Albert Arnold Gore, Jr. and to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Think that's odd, do you?

Alfred Nobel was a scientist, inventor, entrepreneur, author and pacifist. He was born in Stockholm in 1833 to an influential Swedish family. His father, Immanuel, was an engineer and inventor, and responsible for the construction of several buildings and bridges in Sweden. His mother was from a wealthy family, although Immanuel Nobel was forced into bankruptcy some years after Alfred's birth. This early financial misfortune, however, did not prevent him from becoming a pioneer of arms manufacture and a designer of steam engines, which in turn, re-established his finances.

In 1842, Immanuel Nobel moved his family to St. Petersburg, where Alfred and his brothers received a first-class education. By the age of 17, Alfred Nobel was fluent in Swedish, Russian, English, German and French. He studied chemistry in several countries, and in Paris met the young Italian chemist (Ascanio Sobrero), who invented nitroglycerin, a highly explosive and unstable liquid.

Alfred and his brother, Emil, were interested in putting the chemical to practical use. After their return to Sweden in 1863, they began experiments using it as an explosive in construction work. Emil and several others were killed in an explosion in 1864, but Alfred was not discouraged from his interest in nitroglycerin. He found that when mixed with diatomaceous earth (kieselguhr), nitroglycerin formed a more stable paste that, when dried, could be formed into rods and used as explosive material. In 1867, he patented the material under the name Dynamite. He also invented the blasting cap used to detonate the dynamite by lighting a fuse.

By 1865, Alfred Nobel's factory near Hamburg, was exporting dynamite to other European countries, America and Australia, and over the years he founded many different companies in over 2o countries. By the time he died in 1896, he held 355 patents.

But he was also very interested in social and peace-related issues, and had a great interest in literature. The Nobel prizes became an extension and fulfillment of his lifetime interests. After his death, his will instructed that his fortune be used for Prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature and Peace.

Albert Einstein once said of Alfred Nobel, that "(he) invented an explosive more powerful than any then known -- an exceedingly effective means of destruction. To atone for this 'accomplishment' and to relieve his conscience, he instituted his award for the promotion of peace."

Whether Alfred Nobel really felt that way, neither we nor Einstein could really know for sure. But the Nobel Foundation has since become a world-renowned organization, and a lasting legacy for all humanity... and Alfred Nobel's fortune has been used ever since, in the advancement of peace and scientific discovery.. a fortune, oddly enough, founded on explosives!

Which brings us to the 2007 Peace Prize winners...

The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to the person(s) who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.



Albert Gore and the IPCC won the prize "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".

They are promoting fraternity between nations on one issue.
Global Warming.

The IPCC has been working on global warming for years, but it took Al Gore's interest in the issue, and his ability to break down their statistics into layman's terms, that their message began filtering to the masses. He has visited countries around the globe, talking about climate change and its effects on Mother Earth (and her inhabitants). His movie, An Inconvenient Truth, has also been seen around the world, and has made quite an impact in our awareness of climate change. After all, knowledge is power, and knowing is a useful catalyst for action.

Al's work, and the work of the IPCC, is that of the urgent messenger.. and the message is what global warming means for our planet... what the future will bring if we don't act now... all of us are affected.. our present.. and our future for generations to come. We are seeing those changes happening before our eyes right now... only now, we have the light of understanding to recognize it.. thanks to the Peace Prize winners.

This Prize will give Al and the IPCC a greater platform from which to continue their work.. even greater than winning the Oscar. The Nobel Committee's choice was a good one.. a thoughtful one.. and an appropriate one.. especially since turning the tide of global warming is the goal.. much like Alfred Nobel's goal.. to do something that benefits all humanity... and I don't think that's odd at all..


1 comment:

Christina | AmiExpat.com said...

Great post, very informative!

Also, in the book Collapse, the author says that most wars are caused by a lack of resources or a breakdown of the environment - both of which will be a result of increasing climate change. So their efforts are towards peace.