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The phrase "Gore Effect" has been used in a number of ways in relation to former U.S. Vice President and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Al Gore.

Originally, the term "Gore Effect" or "Al Gore Effect" was used to describe the impact of Gore's 2006 film, An Inconvenient Truth, on the climate change debate.

Later, it was sometimes used as a satirical construct suggesting a relationship between severe cold weather phenomena and Gore's appearances at global warming associated events. "he fact that short-term changes in are irrelevant to long-term trends in ," led Curtis Brainard of the Columbia Journalism Review to call coverage of the "Gore Effect" vacuous and "asinine".

Use in relation to weather events

The use of the term "Gore Effect" in relation to specific extreme weather events coinciding with Gore's travel dates back at least to 2006, at least in newspapers. Because of Gore's prominence as an advocate of the dangers of global warming, "His detractors delight in noting coincidences between events relating to his favorite subject and severe winter weather." Although 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."

Published opinion on the "Gore Effect" concept has ranged from Steve Benen of the Washington Monthly who called the focus on such coincidences "insulting", and environmentalist A. Siegel who called the jokes a "shallow observation" from "those who don't get that weather isn't climate" to The Washington Times editorial staff which said, "If nothing else, the Gore Effect proves that God has a sense of humor," and a Competitive Enterprise Institute spokesperson who expressed a similar view. Harald Martenstein described the alleged effect in the German weekly Die Zeit as 'Gores personal Climate Disaster'.

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

Events described as instances of the Gore Effect

The relevance of particular information in (or previously in) this article or section is disputed. The information may have been removed or included by an editor as a result. Please see discussion on the talk page considering whether its inclusion is warranted. (June 2010)

The following is a partial list of the events described in various media sources as instances of the Gore Effect:

• January 15, 2004 – A global warming rally was held in New York City on a cold day.
• November 2006 – Al Gore visited Australia to speak about global warming two weeks before summer began, and it snowed.
• March 2008 – A congressional media briefing on the Bingaman/Specter Climate Bill was purportedly canceled due to a cold snap.
• May 2008 - Gore delivers a speech at a climate change conference in Lima, Peru at the same time the city experienced a cold spell.
• October 2008 – Snow fell in London while the House of Commons debated the Climate Change Bill.
• October 2008 – Gore appeared at Harvard University on a cold day.
• March 2009 – Driving snow caused problems at an event billed as "the biggest global warming protest in history" in Washington.
• October 2009 - Gore gives a speech in Wisconsin amidst frost and low temperatures.
• December 2009 – Over four inches of snow fell in Copenhagen during the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference as temperatures dipped to below 25°F, not including wind chill.
• May 2010 – One day after Al Gore tweeted about how April had the lowest snow cover on record Colorado was hit with heavy snowfall.

See also

• Al Gore and the environment
• Global warming controversy
• Confirmation bias
• Availability heuristic
• Cherry picking

References

1. Marowits, Ross (Nov 2, 2009). "Gore effect spawns green investing". New Brunswick Business Journal. Retrieved 2010-06-11.
2. Sayre, Carolyn (Feb 08, 2007). "Measuring the Al Gore Effect". Time. Retrieved 2010-06-11. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
3. Howard, Cori (Jun 21, 2007). "Green peace of mind". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2010-06-11.
4. Waller, Martin (26 December 2009). "The year of living precariously". The Times (in English). United Kingdom: News Corporation. Retrieved 10 June 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
5. ^ Lovely, Erika, "Tracking the 'Gore Effect'", November 25, 2008, Politico, retrieved June 9, 2010
6. Peckham, Aaron (2007). Mo' Urban Dictionary: Ridonkulous Street Slang Defined. Kansas City, Missouri: Andrews McMeel Publishing. p. 126. ISBN 978-0-7407-6875-0.
7. ^ Brainard, Curtis (November 26, 2008). "Global Cooling, Confused Coverage". Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved 8 June 2010.
8. ^ Bolt, Andrew (November 17, 2006). "Al Gore rains on his party". Herald Sun. Melbourne.
9. ^ Daly, Michael (December 20, 2009). "The Gore Effect brings snow to New York City". Daily News. New York.
10. Benen, Steve (November 25, 2008). "Political Animal: 'The Gore Effect'". The Washington Monthly. Retrieved 2010-01-12. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
11. Siegel, A. (March 2, 2009). "Fire and Ice..." The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2009-01-10.
12. ^ "EDITORIAL: The Gore Effect". The Washington Times. March 4, 2009.
13. 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)
14. Kältetote in Peru Unser Kolumnist enthüllt Al Gores persönliche Klimakatastrophe, (Frozen Corpses in Peru - Our columnist uncovers Al Gores personal climate disaster) by Harald Martenstein, Die Zeit, March 13, 2009
15. Smith, Ron (January 8, 2010). "Temperatures drop, alarmism heats up". Baltimore Sun. The Baltimore Sun. p. 1. Retrieved 8 June 2010.
16. ^ Warren, David (2 November 2008). "Save us, please, from those who would save the earth". Ottawa Citizen. p. A.14..
17. Waller, Martin, "I am indebted to David ; City Diary", The Times, 15 Oct. 2009: 52.
18. McCrann, Terry (June 9, 2010). "Climate hysteria just warming up". Herald Sun. Herald and Weekly Times. p. 1. Retrieved 8 June 2010.
19. Harris, Tom (January 1, 2010). "Climate conference organizers asked for trouble in Copenhagen". Canada Free Press. Retrieved 10 June 2010.
20. Pollowitz, Greg (May 12, 2010). "The Gore Effect Hits Denver". National Review Online. Retrieved 10 June 2010.

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