The recent announcement that Al Gore was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, which he shared with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, has been a very thought-provoking topic for me as of late.

His accomplishment has largely been bringing awareness to the topic of global warming and stirring a fire in the average person to do something about it. He won a 2007 academy award for his film, "An Inconvenient Truth." Going green is trendy now. Gore helped bring into the mainstream what scientists have been warning us about for years. The film often came under scrutiny for being exaggerated and alarmist, according to the New York Times.

Here at UAF, climate change is a very big issue because scientists from our university study the Arctic, which is very affected by change. We also recently named a building after Dr. Syun-Ichi Akasofu, who claims that climate change is natural, not man-made. Personally, I don't know what is causing climate change. I am no scientist. I do know this though: Advances in technology have resulted in humans emitting a lot of pollutants and carbon dioxide in the air. Pollution is bad. If we have been polluting for a hundred years and continue to do it, it inevitably will affect or has affected the environment.

Upon the public's embrace of the global warming phenomenon, companies across the U.S. have added programs that reduce pollution, waste and environmental impact in an attempt to appeal to an environmentally aware consumer base. This has prompted armies of people to buy products they interpret to be more environmentally friendly.

In the face of a problem as big as global warming, it is hard to know what to do. Gore advised people to buy more energy efficient light bulbs or plant trees. But if the situation is as dire as Gore and others present it to be though, these changes will do little to nothing.

This prompts people to point fingers at those who provide them services that their own lifestyles demand. People believe that climate change is a serious problem, so big that their own contribution to change wouldn't make a difference. They go on living their lives in a destructive manner, hypocritically blaming the bigger man for the problems in the world.

I admire people who embrace the fact that their contribution is small, but still live what they preach. They take their small steps seriously as if it would change the problems of the world. Let's face it; most of us are not going to bother to recycle, let alone quit burning fossil fuels for the sake of Mother Earth. Most lack conviction to make true personal sacrifices. I think if we all concentrated on the smaller things we could do as individuals, it would give us more credibility in addressing problems on a larger scale.