Al Gore, former Vice President of the United States (1993-2000), has played a leading role in communicating about  the science, policy, and solutions related to climate change to large audiences around the globe. In 2007, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, which he shared with the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, for his work "informing the world about the dangers of climate change."

The son of former U.S. Senator Albert Gore Sr. and Pauline Gore, he grew up in Carthage, Tennessee and Washington, D.C.  While an undergraduate student at Harvard University, Gore took courses from Roger Revelle, a well-known and respected oceanographer who was among the earliest scientists to study carbon dioxide levels in the oceans and atmosphere and the related affects on climate. He credits his courses with Revelle with sparking his early interest in the science of global warming.

Gore is the author of best-selling books on global warming and climate change, including Earth in the Balance (1992) and An Inconvenient Truth (2006). The latter became the basis for an Academy Award-winning documentary of the same name. His most recent book, Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis, was published in fall 2009.

In 2006, Gore founded The Alliance for Climate Protection, a non-profit, non-partisan membership organization dedicated to public education on a global scale about climate change solutions. He continues to serve as chair of the Board of Directors. In 2006, he also established The Climate Project, in which he personally trained more than 3,000 volunteers from around the world to give presentations and conduct outreach to raise awareness about climate change.

Gore is cofounder and chairman of a company focused on sustainable investing called Generation Investment Management. He is also cofounder and chairman of Current TV, an independently owned cable and satellite television network that produces viewer-created content and citizen journalism and is targeted to young audiences.

During his political career, Gore was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat from Tennessee in 1976. He served four terms before being elected to the U.S. Senate in 1984. In 1992, he was elected Vice President and served with President Bill Clinton for two terms. He ran unsuccessfully for President in 2000.

He continues to be an outspoken advocate and educator about climate change and its solutions, regularly giving presentations before large audiences and interviews to the media.

Further Reading

Al Gore.com
Nobel Prize.org
The Climate Project