I wasn't in the classroom, but my daugter said we needed to buy hybrid cars because our current vehicles are causing global warming. She didn't come up with this on her own, so I am assuming that someone told her that. Normally if she isn't sure of something, she asks me, but if she is sure, she just flat out tells me. She seemed pretty sure.
My daughter is in middle school also. I bet the same middle school as yours.

Mankind cannot destroy the Earth. Even if we detonated every bomb we have in the same spot for hours and hours and hours all we could do it perhaps shove the axis a little.

What mankind can do is destroy the biosphere such that homo sapiens can no longer survive. But thats not destroying the Earth.

In a few thousand, hundred or maybe even just a few years, life on the planet will go on, as if we were never here. The hubris of trying to convince people that somehow we own a Death Star and we can destroy the planet, unless we let Al Gore be the wise old Yoda, saving us from the evil Darth Vader in our hearts. What rubbish.

Global warming is a hypothesis in scientific terms. There is some scientific evidence, but not enough to attain a theory level. I am surprised that science teachers, who are well aware of scientific principles, don't teach that global warming is only a hypothesis.

For instance, Darwin's theory of evolution was a hypothesis when he presented his work. Subsequent research has accumulated more evidence enough to make it reach a theory level. However, there is not enough evidence accumulated yet for scientists to agree that it has reached the level of a scientific principle.

Anyone preaching global warming as being a scientific truth is not a scientist. Most of the hype I've seen is purely political and speculative with only a little scientific basis. Until the community of scientists can collect enough data and evidence to agree that it can become a theory or even a principle, the rest of us should let them do their work. And some people should stop freakin' out!

I think the point being made by some here is that they don't feel it's proper for the school to represent the Gore Vision as fact. I don't think they mind the concept being taught as long as it isn't touted as absolute fact. Mainly because it is not fact, far from it. I've spent 45 years in a career that forced me to deal with the effects of pollutants, and I have studied the whole spectrum thoroughly.

As Joe stated, this (at least on Al Gore's part) is political, not scientific. He has played treehugger throughout his political career and has been supported in his career by many environmental groups as a result. In truth, he does not practice what he is preaching, I read somewhere that the monthly electric bill on his home is several thousand dollars. Where is the conservation in that? I think that Gore lost his "stage" and celebrity after the 2000 elections, and has now found a new way to get into the public eye.

The real truth is that our planet is a living organism, and she is constantly evolving. Polar regions are changing now as they have for eons. There were no people here when the great glaciers melted, who caused that? I'll bet that was one heck of a global warming event! Earth will heat up, and she will cool down, and she will do it in her own time repeatedly. It is natural for her to do so. We simply get the false idea that we can change or control nature. The fact is that we will be here as a species for only a miniscule time in comparison to the lifespan of Earth....we're temporary, just like every other parasite that clings to life on Earth. We don't own her, we live here by her grace, and at her conveneience. Real estate agents will love that thought!

Earth heals herself, and you are correct about the Ozone hole being non-existent. It is indeed a cyclical thinning and thickening, actually two separate cycles. One cycle is long term, the other is seasonal and they do focus primarily around the polar regions. These are naturally occuring however and no one has yet PROVEN that chloroflourocarbons produced by humans have done any damage to the layer at all. It is pure speculation. There have been studies that suggest the possibility, but none has proven the theory. Ozone (O3)is a molecule that is made up of three oxygen atoms. It is less stable than Oxygen (O2) which is made up of two, and therefore is subject to destruction on a greater scale. It actually decays naturally and rapidly, and in that process it is changed from triatomic molecules to diatomic molecules (oxygen). However, it is also quite plentiful and easily and continually replaced by naturally occuring processes. Our bodies produce Ozone in white blood cells. All plantlife creates Ozone. By means of "corona discharge" Ozone is created by lightning (ever notice a trace of a strange odor during a lightning storm?). Ultraviolet light, the very thing that the Ozone layer protects us from, is the prime generator and stabilizer of Ozone. Bottom line, the Ozone layer is doing exactly what it has been doing since the dawn of time. It's just that nobody was looking until a few decades ago. Did you know that breathing Ozone damages your respiratory system?

I am all for sensible conservation and preservation, and I think these things are important for our children to learn. I do however oppose the teaching of radical propaganda, and that is exactly what these posts are discussing. Gore's Oscar winning movie is a fairytail wrapped around a splinter of truth, and nothing more. His notion isn't inconvenient as the movie title would suggest, it's illogical. It got him back on center stage and even generated some talk of him returning to politics.
Gee, not political?

. . . this is what the Envronmentalists are holding out as the Gold Standard - seriously - go read this article:

http://www.energy-daily.com/reports/Brazil_India_have_greenest_consumers_US_trails_study_999.html

They want to fundamentally change the United States.

The 'praise' the Brazil, China and India lifestyles, since they do not use: "ere more likely to live in smaller homes, use green products and own relatively few appliances or electronic gadgets. They also were more likely to walk, cycle, use public transportation and live close to their most frequent destinations."

I'd be willing to bet that every single citizen of Brazil and India would sell their left kidney to come to the United States and start consuming our:

Larger Homes - with heat and air conditioning,
Non-green products that actually kill bugs that cause Malaria, Yellow Fever, and other insect borne illnesses;
Have appliances to do the wash instead of standing in a stream polluted by God knows what;
Watch the big screen TV;
Have the dishes washed twice, once by the women of the house before they put them in the dishwasher and then again by the dishwasher;
Own 2 or 3 cars of their very own;
Go where they want, when they want;
and live whereever the heck they want to.

Are these people really serious? Do they think that by holding out the Indians, Chinese, Mexican and Brazilian lifestyles that we are going to be shamed into living like that?

Mexico is such a GREAT place to live, their citizens come to Beaufort by the thousands to tell us all about it. They are having such a great time telling us about how great Mexico is that they are staying longer to tell us more.

These people are truly nuts.