'Mother Nature's joined the debate:' Al Gore returns with An Inconvenient Sequel

Torrential downpours, unbridled wildfires, massive storm surges, deadly droughts — dangerous, extreme weather events becoming commonplace are a wake-up call from Mother Nature, says Al Gore.

"Mother Nature's joined the debate and all these extreme events related to climate have really awakened a lot of people [to climate change]," the former U.S. vice-president told CBC News host Andrew Chang in Toronto on Friday.

In 2006's An Inconvenient Truth, Gore hit the road to show both lawmakers and the general public the devastating effects of climate change. Directed by Davis Guggenheim, the conversation-starting doc was a critical hit, a rare nonfiction success at the box office and ultimately won two Oscars. 

Now, 11 years later, comes An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power, directed by Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk, with Guggenheim serving as executive producer.  The new film revisits global warming and its ongoing threat to the planet, Gore's continued campaigning for the cause and how the historic 2015 Paris Agreement — the worldwide pact to fight climate change — came together.

• 5 key points in Paris Agreement on climate change

A sequel was needed because, for those resistant to the reality of climate change, "the truth about the climate crisis is still inconvenient," said Gore.

Tradition of attacking the messenger

"There is a long tradition of people who dislike a message wanting to attack the messenger."

Gore won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize (sharing the honour with the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), but also received criticism of his activism. In the course of the past decade, he said, some of the critiques of An Inconvenient Truth have been completely overturned.

For instance, one of the original doc's most disparaged scenes was the animated sequence showing Manhattan's 9/11 Memorial site flooding due to rising sea levels and surging storms —a prediction that became reality with 2012's deadly and destructive Hurricane Sandy.

In addition to flooding the 9/11 Memorial along with New York streets, tunnels and subway lines, the superstorm caused damage of about $75 billion US in the United States alone, making it the second-costliest hurricane in the country's history, and ultimately resulted in more than 200 deaths across the U.S. and the Caribbean.

"During my previous lifetime in politics, I developed a pretty thick skin," Gore said of continuing to face critics and climate change deniers.

"And when you're doing what you know is right, when the cause you're supporting is as important as this one is, criticism doesn't matter."

Action 'in spite of Donald Trump'

An Inconvenient Sequel was well received when it kicked off the Sundance Film Festival in January, debuting the day before U.S. President Donald Trump's inauguration. However, in June, the filmmakers were forced to make last-minute edits after Trump announced he was pulling the U.S. from the Paris climate accord celebrated in the doc.

Though Gore has met with the current president to discuss climate change, "I personally am not going to waste any more time on him. He's surrounded himself with a rogue's gallery of deniers."

World leaders and American businesses, citizens and other politicians have vowed to take action to fight climate change "in spite of Donald Trump," Gore said.

For instance, an abundance of renewable energy solutions that are viable alternatives to burning fossil fuels — one of the main causes of global warming — have emerged in the past decade, he pointed out.

They're "here now and they're affordable and they're spreading rapidly. I'm convinced we're going to win this and I'm filled with hope about it." 

Winning the conversation

Gore also looks to social media as a powerful modern political tool to rouse citizens to action. An Inconvenient Sequel, for instance, is being promoted online with the hashtag #BeInconvenient.

• WATCH | Al Gore takes questions from CBC News viewers on Facebook Live

Each person can make a difference in the fight against global warming, he said during a CBC News Facebook Live question and answer session on Friday.

"When you learn about it, use that knowledge to win the conversation on climate change," he said, adding that he saw how discussions between friends and colleagues helped shift attitudes during the civil rights movement. 

"If you win the conversation, then the laws and policies change."