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The "Gore Effect" is a phrase, often used in a humorous way by global warming skeptics, and the scientific community suggesting a relationship between cold weather and appearances of former U.S. Vice President and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Al Gore at global warming associated events.

The Toronto based national newspaper Globe and Mail defined the term in 2007 quoting Bill Calvin's submission to the online Urban Dictionary website as "the phenomenon that leads to unseasonably cold temperatures, driving rain, hail, or snow whenever Al Gore visits an area to discuss global warming." According to an article at the Politico website: "The so-called Gore Effect happens when a global warming-related event, or appearance by the former vice president and climate change crusader, Al Gore, is marked by exceedingly cold weather or unseasonably winter weather." The "Politico" article notes that skeptics of global warming use the term "half-seriously". "In the weather community, we kind of joke about it", Bob Marciano, a CNN weather forecaster, said in January 2010. "It's just a bad timing. Every time there's some big weather climate conference, there seems to be a cold outbreak. But, globally, we are still warming." "Gore Effect" phenomena are "chalked up as coincidence", according to Joe Joyce, a weather forecaster and environmental reporter.

Appearance and background

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The use of the term "Gore Effect" in relation to cold weather coinciding with Gore's travel dates back at least to 2006 in newspapers, earlier appearances are restricted to the blogosphere and various web pages.

The alleged Gore Effect is often communicated in form of lists of weather events related to Global warming venues. Several start with a Speech of Al Gore on a global warming rally held in New York City on a what was described as on of the coldest days in the city`s history.

Some other events which have been described using the phrase include:

• In reference to a visit to Australia by Gore in November 2006, an opinion column in the Ottawa Citizen stated "Mr. Gore arrived in the late antipodean spring, together with a remarkable cold front and a late-season boon for the ski resorts."
• A blogger at rockstarsagainstliveearth.com described low attendance at the Live Earth concert in Johannesburg as being related to unexpected cold weather.
• When Gore was going to testify before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on global climate change a Winter Weather Advisory was issued
• In May 2008, according to the Ottawa Citizen, Lima, Peru experienced a cold spell during a climate change-related conference.
• Gore's lecture at Harvard University in October 2008 was described by a Washington Times editorial as coinciding "with low temperatures that challenged 125-year records."
• The last days of the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference, held December 7-18, coincided with snowfalls in Copenhagen as well in various parts of the US. The forecasters were promising the first white Christmas in Copenhagen in 14 years.
• An ice storm accompanied Gore's testimony about global warming before a Senate committee in January, 2009 which resulted in a snow day for the local schools.
• A snowstorm caused House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to cancel an appearance at a global warming rally on the Capitol grounds in March, 2009.

The Gore Effect has also been humorously invoked at several climate rallies.

Reception

Curtis Brainard of the Columbia Journalism Review has called coverage of the Gore Effect vacuous and "asinine," noting the distinction between short-term weather and long-term climate. Michael Daly criticized this as a mere delight in noting coincidences between events relating to Gore's favorite subject and severe winter weather." Steve Benen of the Washington Monthly called focus on the claim "insulting", and environmentalist A. Siegel has called the jokes a "shallow observation" from "those who don't get that weather isn't climate".

The Washington Times editorial staff has said, "If nothing else, the Gore Effect proves that God has a sense of humor," and a Competitive Enterprise Institute spokesperson has expressed a similar view. The coincidences are without basis in science and mentioning them "doesn’t contribute much to the actual making of policy", according to Lisa Miller, Republican spokeswoman for the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee, but it "can be fun". Yet some climate skeptics use the coincidences as a humorous way to make the point that global warming isn't happening as fast as they say some climate experts are claiming. Climate skeptic scientist and meteorologist Joseph D’Aleo said: "We used to kid in forecasting that whenever we were very certain about a major forecast, it would wind up being so dead wrong that we’d be embarrassed. It certainly makes you think."

A Gloss of Harald Martenstein in the German weekly Die Zeit describes the effect as Gore's personal climate disaster. According Martensteins ironic description of various alleged occurences of the effect, it seems either to be based on a scientifically proven local cooling occuring in Gore's neighborhood or as well based on nature or God having humour. The general use of the expression is, according Martenstein only half ironic, since the purported coincidences happen too often to be left out.

Other use of the phrase

The "Gore Effect" is a phrase that has been used in different ways in relation to U.S. Vice President and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Al Gore. In one sense the phrase has been used to describe Gore's impact in raising global warming as a public issue, particularly following his 2006 documentary An Inconvenient Truth.

In the New York Times in September 2006, Heidi Mitchell wrote of new investment in environmentally-conscious industry as reflecting an "Al Gore Effect." The term appeared in the Times of India in June 2007, described as "the relentless campaign to alert the world to the issue by the man Bush did not win against." In 2009 the Canadian Press wrote of the Gore Effect that industry experts credited Gore with helping "to accelerate interest in green and socially responsible investing."

The term has occasionally been used with other meanings.

See also

• Al Gore and the environment
• Availability heuristic
• Global warming controversy
• Mierscheid Law
• Pauli effect
• Synchronicity
• Ting Hai effect
• Cherry picking
• Confirmation bias

References

1. ^ Lovely, Erika (2008-11-25). "Tracking 'The Gore Effect'". politico.com. Politico. Archived from the original on 2010-06-13. Retrieved 2010-06-13. For several years now, skeptics have amusedly eyed a phenomenon known as "The Gore Effect" to half-seriously argue their case against global warming. The so-called Gore Effect happens when a global warming-related event, or appearance by the former vice president and climate change crusader, Al Gore, is marked by exceedingly cold weather or unseasonably winter weather. While there's no scientific proof that The Gore Effect is anything more than a humorous coincidence, some climate skeptics say it may offer a snapshot of proof that the planet isn't warming as quickly as some climate change advocates say.
2. ^ "EDITORIAL: The Gore Effect". The Washington Times. March 4, 2009.
3. Waller, Martin (26 December 2009). "The year of living precariously". The Times. United Kingdom: News Corporation. Retrieved 2010-06-10.
4. Peckham, 2007, p.126
5. ^ Brainard, Curtis (November 26, 2008). "Global Cooling, Confused Coverage". Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved 2010-06-08.
6. ^ Scowen, Peter, "AL GORE EFFECT, THE", definition in "The New Climate Almanac", February 17, 2007, The Globe and Mail, quoting from Calvin, Bill, "The Gore Effect", entry, "Urban Dictionary" website, both retrieved June 13, 2010
7. Transcript, "American Morning" program, January 5, 2010, CNN, retrieved June 13, 2010
8. ^ Joyce, Joe, "Fun Stories That Make You Go…”Hmmm.”, March 4, 2009, New England News Channel website, for Joyce's identification of post with WBZ-TV, see Web page titled "Bios/Weather/Joe Joyce", both Web pages retrieved June 13, 2010
9. ^ Bolt, Andrew (2006-11-17). "Al Gore rains on his party". Herald Sun. Melbourne.
10. ^ Warren, David (2008-11-02). "Save us, please, from those who would save the earth". Ottawa Citizen. p. A.14.
11. ^ Daly, Michael (December 20, 2009). "The Gore Effect brings snow to New York City". Daily News. New York.
12. Harshaw, Tobin (July 9, 2007). "Live Earth Litany". New York Times. The New York Times Company. p. 1. Retrieved 12 June 2010.
13. Gavin, Patrick W. (2009-01-27). "If it's Al Gore, it's cold". Washington Examiner. p. 1. Retrieved 2010-06-12. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
14. McCrann, Terry (December 08, 2009). "Climate hysteria just warming up". Herald Sun. Herald and Weekly Times. p. 1. Retrieved 8 June 2010. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
15. Harris, Tom (January 1, 2010). "Climate conference organizers asked for trouble in Copenhagen". Canada Free Press. Retrieved 10 June 2010.
16. Smith, Ron (January 8, 2010). "Temperatures drop, alarmism heats up". Baltimore Sun. The Baltimore Sun. p. 1. Retrieved 8 June 2010.
17. Benen, Steve (2008-11-25). "Political Animal: 'The Gore Effect'". The Washington Monthly. Retrieved 2010-06-08. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
18. Siegel, A. (2009-03-02). "Fire and Ice..." The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2009-01-10.
19. Dufour, Jeff (January 27, 2009). "Yeas & Nays: If it's Al Gore, it's cold". The Washington Examiner. Retrieved 2010-01-08. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthor= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
20. Kältetote in Peru Unser Kolumnist enthüllt Al Gores persönliche Klimakatastrophe, by Harald Martenstein, Die Zeit, March 13 2009
21. Sayre, Carolyn (2007-02-19). "Measuring the Al Gore Effect". time.com. Time (magazine). p. 169.8: p20. Archived from the original on 2010-06-14. Retrieved 2010-06-14.
22. Howard, Cori, "Green peace of mind", The Globe and Mail. Toronto, Ont.: Jun 21, 2007. pg. L.5.
23. ^ Global Warning Chidanand Rajghatta, 5 June 2007, The Times of India "Hurricane Katrina and other climatic aberrations as the Al Gore effect — the relentless campaign to alert the world to the issue by the man Bush did not win against."
24. ^ Easy Being Green September 24, 2006 By HEIDI S. MITCHELL. NYT
25. Learning to make money from going green Published On Mon Dec 17 2007 Lisa Wright Toronto Star.
26. ACCOMMODATIONS HOTELS HOP ON THE 'GREEN'BANDWAGON St. Paul Pioneer Press (MN) - August 26, 2007
27. Trading Wall Street's greenbacks for B.C.'s green conscience ADRIANA BARTON VANCOUVER — From Globe and Mail Published on Monday, May. 14, 2007
28. ^ Gore effect spawns green investing Ross Marowits New Brunswick Business Journal Nov. 2 2009
29. On the Gore Effect: The Nobel and the Politics, NYT October 16, 2007 Eric Chivian, M.D. director of the Center for Health and the Global Environment, Harvard Medical School.
30. Barrels offered to save water By Christian Schiavone GateHouse News Service Apr 23, 2008
31. Ledental milieuorganisaties daalt 21 dec 2008 Nederlandse Omroep Stichting " Ook zou het Al-Gore effect zijn uitgewerkt. Door de film 'An Inconvenient Truth' nam vorig jaar de aandacht voor milieuproblemen sterk toe." rough translation "Also the Al Gore effect may have been developed. Last year, the film "An Inconvenient Truth" strongly increased the attention to environment problems."
32. Climate change concerns spawning interest in socially responsible investing Oct 29, 2009 Oil Week Magazine)
33. The New Kerry The Nation: Kerry Makes Up His Mind About The 2008 Election Jessica Vrazilek, 15 May 2006, CBS News, "Call it the Al Gore Effect. At the end of a presidential campaign, losing candidates either retreat, keep up the good fight or attempt the arduous task of redefining themselves. Kerry's both fighting and redefining these days. "
34. The Biden Factor, Salena Zitom, 2 July 2006, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review "But the Al Gore effect was still resonating,"
36. CNN.com

Literature

• Peckham, Aaron (2007). Mo' Urban Dictionary: Ridonkulous Street Slang Defined. Kansas City, Missouri: Andrews McMeel Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7407-6875-0.

• Al Gore
• Environmental controversies
• Global warming
• Political satire