On 13 December 2008, Gore appears to have made a similarly flawed statement while speaking at the opening of a German natural history museum. Though transcripts and clear audio are hard to find, one video of the event documents Gore saying that “The entire North polar ice cap may well be completely gone in 5 years.
In the years 2007, 2008, and 2009, Al Gore made statements about the possibility of a complete lack of summer sea ice in the Arctic by as early as 2013. While Gore attributed these predictions to scientists, they stemmed from a selective reading of aggressive estimates regarding future melting. The comments became a popular talking point for human-caused climate change deniers in 2014 and onward when the predictions, which in some cases were overstated, did not pan out.
The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.
