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Play a part in Al Gore's sustainability solution

Published: Tue 18 Jul 2006 05:14 PM
NZ summit to play a part in Al Gore's sustainability solution
New Zealand International Film Festival audiences challenged by Al Gore's film An Inconvenient Truth can take heart that another Gore initiative is addressing issues of climate change and sustainability in this country.
The International Society of Digital Earth (ISDE), of which the former United States Vice-President is an executive member, is hosting a Summit on Sustainability in Auckland this August.
Richard Simpson, Chairman of the ISDE in New Zealand, says An Inconvenient Truth is a film that all New Zealanders must see.
"Like Gore's film, the Digital Earth Summit on Sustainability won't just be talk about issues like global warming; it will scope scenarios for practical action and model solutions that are already available in this country and around the world."
Gore's documentary on climate change premiered in Auckland last Sunday and will play to festival audiences all over New Zealand this winter. The film is based on a presentation that Gore has been giving since 1989 citing overwhelming evidence for global warming based on hard scientific data, and predicts dire consequences for humankind unless action is taken.
Al Gore originally launched the vision of a 'Digital Earth' in a speech given at the California Science Center in 1998. In that speech, Gore made the following comments:
"We have an unparalleled opportunity to turn a flood of raw data into understandable information about our society and our planet. This data will include not only high-resolution satellite imagery of the planet, digital maps, and economic, social, and demographic information. If we are successful, it will have broad societal and commercial benefits in areas such as education, decision-making for a sustainable future, land-use planning, agricultural, and crisis management. The Digital Earth project could allow us to respond to manmade or natural disasters - or to collaborate on the long-term environmental challenges we face."
World-leading thinkers in technology and sustainability will speak at the Aotea Centre from August 27 - 30 to share their knowledge about achieving sustainability with the help of emerging technology.
Among the guest speakers are influential climate change expert Dr Bob Corell, urban planning advocate James Kunstler, and Professor Tetsuya Sato, Director General of the Earth Simulator Centre in Japan.
Registrations for the Summit are now being accepted through the Digital Earth New Zealand web site. For more information, visit: http://www.digitalearth.org.nz
For screening times for An Inconvenient Truth around New Zealand, visit: http://www.enzedff.co.nz

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