Former Vice President Al Gore on Climate Change

AMANPOUR: A strange confluence is sort of happening in the United States because you see poll numbers moving that suggest majorities in the U.S. now, of all parties, actually believe this to be a very, very significant issue. For instance, 51 percent say they are extremely or very sure that global warming is happening, that’s up from 37 percent just a few years ago in 2015. 72 percent say climate change is an issue that’s very, very important to them, that’s up from 56 percent in 2015. So, in that regard, are you optimistic that those people can put enough pressure on politics particularly, politics at the top?

GORE: Yes, I am. And I’m optimistic overall, Christiane. Although, I have to present caveat. We’re running out of time, and the emissions have started going up again. We’re putting 110 million tons of manmade heat trapping global warming pollution into the sky every day as if it’s an open sewer. And the accumulated amount now traps as much extra heat energy in the earth’s system every day as would be released 550,000 Hiroshima class atomic bombs exploding on the earth’s surface every 24 hours. It’s a big planet but that’s a lot of energy. And what you’re seeing in these recent polls with an all-time record high number of Americans in both political parties saying, “Hey, this is very serious. We got to do something about it,” you’re seeing not so much the result of advocates like me and others who are working hard on this as you are seeing the results of the messages sent by Mother Nature every night on the television news is like a nature right through the Book of Revelations. Look at the fires in California a few months ago, look at the massive floods, the hurricanes in the Carolinas and Florida and Texas. And even today, the droughts in India, there are massive downpours. These records are being set. The five hottest years ever measured have been in the last five years. Eighteen of the 19 hottest years ever measured have been in the last 19 years. This is really crystal clear. People get it. There are a few people who still think the earth is flat, the moon landing was fake and that this isn’t real, but the vast majority now understand it. And, you know, some of the large carbon polluters have a lot of influence with some politicians, particularly in the U.S. White House but in some other countries as well. But overall publics are moving rapidly to demand solutions