Former Vice President Al Gore speaks at Tudor Fieldhouse at Rice University Oct.23, 2017, in Houston, TX. (Michael Wyke / For the Chronicle) Michael Wyke/For the Chronicle
Former Vice President Al Gore responds to a question from Provost Marie Lynn Miranda and Tom Kolditz, director of the Doerr Institue for New Leaders during the question and answer segment of Gore’s speech at the Tudor Fieldhouse at Rice University Oct.23, 2017, in Houston, TX.
>> See 50 of the most iconic images from Hurricane Harvey...
Michael Wyke/For the Chronicle
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
For the second time since Tropical Storm Harvey hit landfall, a dog named Otis has found its way into the internet's heart.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Jan Allen with dogs, Daisy and Toby, and her son, Chris Allen, ride in a rescue boat to a pickup area along Edgebrook Sunday, August 27, 2017. Much of the area is flooded from rains after Hurricane Harvey.
Melissa Phillip/Houston Chronicle
Precinct 6 Deputy Constables Sgt. Paul Fernandez, from left, Sgt. Michael Tran and Sgt. Radha Patel rescue an elderly woman from rising water on North MacGregor Way, near Brays Bayou, after heavy rains from the remnants of Hurricane Harvey, Saturday, August 27, 2017, in Houston. ( Jon Shapley / Houston Chronicle )
Jon Shapley/Houston Chronicle
Two kayakers try to beat the current pushing them down an overflowing Brays Bayou along S. Braeswood in Houston, Texas, Sunday, Aug. 27, 2017. Rescuers answered hundreds of calls for help Sunday as floodwaters from the remnants of Hurricane Harvey climbed high enough to begin filling second-story homes, and authorities urged stranded families to seek refuge on their rooftops. (Mark Mulligan/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Mark Mulligan/Houston Chronicle
Jose Alarco shakes hands with his neighbor as he makes his way out of the Melrose Park neighborhood and his flooded home in Houston as Tropical Storm Harvey inches its way through the area on Monday, Aug. 28, 2017. ( Elizabeth Conley / Houston Chronicle )
Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle
Amanda Ankney hugs her father Byron Gilleon after he was rescued from his homes near Crossroads and Walkwood drives during Tropical Storm Harvey Monday, Aug. 28, 2017, in Houston. Godofredo A. Vasquez/Houston Chronicle
Thousands take shelter from the Tropical Storm Harvey at the George R. Brown Convention Center, Monday, Aug. 28, 2017, in Houston. Marie D. De Jesus/Houston Chronicle
Don and Peg Sauter celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary on August 22. The two have moved from their assisted living home to the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston as Tropical Storm Harvey inches its way through the area on Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2017. Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle
Lauren Durst holds onto her ten-month-old son, Wyatt Durst, as they evacuate from the Savannah Estates neighborhood as Addicks Reservoir nears capacity Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2017 in Houston. Michael Ciaglo/Houston Chronicle
Kathryn Loder sorts donated clothing at George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston as Tropical Storm Harvey inches its way through the area on Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2017. Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle
Shiann Barker holds her nephew, Brayln Matthews Sims Jr., 1, between cots at the George R. Brown Convention Center where nearly 10,000 people are taking shelter after Tropical Storm Harvey Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2017 in Houston. They have ben at the shelter since Sunday after they evacuated from the Clayton Homes neighborhood. ( Michael Ciaglo / Houston Chronicle)
Michael Ciaglo/Houston Chronicle
Gideon Kim, 2, plus with a toy train while his father, Nathan, is sorting donated shoes as they volunteer at The Forge for Families, a Christian community organization that has been transformed into an Red Cross shelter, on Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017, in Houston. The Kim family, including Gideon's mother, Dr. Judy Kim, had been volunteer at The Forge since Tuesday. Yi-Chin Lee/Houston Chronicle
Rikki Saldivar goes through old family photos at a house that belonged to her grandparents, Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017, in Houston. Saldivar's grandparents, and four young relatives, drowned in a van in Greens Bayou during Tropical Storm Harvey. Jon Shapley/Houston Chronicle
Rescue boats work along Tidwell at the east Sam Houston Tollway helping to evacuate people Monday, August 28, 2017. Much of the area is flooded from rains after Hurricane Harvey.
Melissa Phillip/Houston Chronicle
TOPSHOT - People walk through flooded streets as the effects of Hurricane Harvey are seen August 26, 2017 in Galveston, Texas. Hurricane Harvey left a trail of devastation Saturday after the most powerful storm to hit the US mainland in over a decade slammed into Texas, destroying homes, severing power supplies and forcing tens of thousands of residents to flee. / AFP PHOTO / Brendan Smialowski / The erroneous mention[s] appearing in the metadata of this photo by Brendan Smialowski has been modified in AFP systems in the following manner: [Hurricane Harvey] instead of [Hurricane Henry]. Please immediately remove the erroneous mention from all your online services and delete it from your servers. If you have been authorized by AFP to distribute it to third parties, please ensure that the same actions are carried out by them. Failure to promptly comply with these instructions will entail liability on your part for any continued or post notification usage. Therefore we thank you very much for all your attention and prompt action. We are sorry for the inconvenience this notification may cause and remain at your disposal for any further information you may require. (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images
Angelina De Los Santos, 7, left, Vanessa Pasillas, 2, center, and Jade de los santos, 5, center right, watch videos with Rosemarie Pasillas, right, as people seek shelter at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, TX on Monday, Aug 28, 2017. Rising water from Hurricane now Tropical Storm Harvey pushed thousands of people to rooftops or higher ground Sunday as the had to flee their homes in Houston.
The Washington Post/The Washington Post/Getty Images
A submerged vehicle is seen at the intersection of the Hardy Toll Road and the Sam Houston Tollway, as heavy rains continue from Tropical Storm Harvey, Tuesday August 29, 2017, in Houston. Sgt. Steve Perez, 60, reportedly drowned in his car at the intersection while on his way to work. He was a 30-year veteran of the HPD.
Jon Shapley/Houston Chronicle
Volunteer rescuers evacuate people from the Georgetown Colony neighborhood on a Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck, which was used as a prop in the latest Planet of the Apes movie, as Addicks Reservoir surpasses capacity due to near constant rain from Tropical Storm Harvey Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2017 in Houston.
Michael Ciaglo/Houston Chronicle
A neighborhood is inundated by floodwaters from Tropical Storm Harvey on Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2017, in Spring. Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle
Mailboxes are inundated by Brazos River flooding along Newlin Drive in Richmond on Friday. Several areas are still dealing with high waters related to Harvey. Michael Ciaglo/Houston Chronicle
Saltwater Salvage diver Justin Hendrickson prepares to dive near the Columbia Lakes subdivision Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2017, in West Columbia. Hendrickson was walked to the dive spot by fellow diver Dave Oltroge before he dove to shut a levee gate value to prevent more flooding to the neighborhood. Steve Gonzales/Houston Chronicle
University of Houston players assist with Hurricane Harvey relief efforts on Friday.
Joseph Duarte
A reader submitted this photo of his family's first big storm in Houston. Jeremy Blanton noted that the family lost a car but him, his wife and 2-year-old daughter are all safe.
Jeremy Blanton
Westpark Tollway is underwater following Tropical Storm Harvey north of Richmond, Texas.
Dr D Tyler Brown
People walk out of their flooded Meyerland streets, Sunday, August 27, 2017.
Mark Mulligan/Houston Chronicle
Alma Castenda pulls her children's artwork off the walls as she cleans up her flood damaged home in the Verde Forest subdivision in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Harvey on Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017, in Houston. Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle
Rainwater from Hurricane Harvey surrounds oil refinery storage tanks stand in this aerial photograph taken above Texas City, Texas, U.S., on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2017. Unprecedented flooding from the Category 4 storm that slammed into the state's coast last week, sending gasoline prices surging as oil refineries shut, may also set a record for rainfall in the contiguous U.S., the weather service said Tuesday. Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg Bloomberg
Flood victims are evacuated by boat from their neighborhood near the Addicks Reservoir as floodwaters rise from Tropical Storm Harvey on Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2017, in Houston. Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle
Floodwaters fill the road running through the Lakes On Eldridge North subdivision in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Harvey on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2017, in Houston.
Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle
HOUSTON, TX - AUGUST 27: A man helps children across a flooded street as they evacuate their home after the area was inundated with flooding from Hurricane Harvey on August 27, 2017 in Houston, Texas. Harvey, which made landfall north of Corpus Christi late Friday evening, is expected to dump upwards to 40 inches of rain in Texas over the next couple of days. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
UNITED STATES, GULF COAST - AUGUST 25: In this NASA handout image, Hurricane Harvey is photographed aboard the International Space Station as it intensified on its way toward the Texas coast on August 25, 2017. The Expedition 52 crew on the station has been tracking this storm for the past two days and capturing Earth observation photographs and videos from their vantage point in low Earth orbit.Now at category 4 strength, Harvey's maximum sustained winds had increased to 130 miles per hour. (Photo by NASA via Getty Images)
NASA/Getty Images
ROCKPORT, TX - AUGUST 26: Terry Smith stands in the kitchen as Henry McKay sleeps in the apartment where the ceiling collapse when Hurricane Harvey hit on August 26, 2017 in Rockport, Texas. Ms. Smith said she has never been as terrified in her life as when the winds started roaring through town. Harvey made landfall shortly after 11 p.m. Friday, just north of Port Aransas as a Category 4 storm and is being reported as the strongest hurricane to hit the United States since Wilma in 2005. Forecasts call for as much as 30 inches of rain to fall in the next few days. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
The State of Texas Emergency Command Center at DPS headquarters in Austin, Texas monitors Hurricane Harvey Sunday afternoon August 27, 2017. Tropical Storm Harvey lashed central Texas with torrential rains on Sunday, unleashing "catastrophic" floods after the megastorm -- the most powerful to hit the United States since 2005 -- left a deadly trail of devastation along the Gulf Coast. / AFP PHOTO / SUZANNE CORDEIRO (Photo credit should read SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP/Getty Images)
SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP/Getty Images
HOUSTON, TX - AUGUST 28: Barb Davis, 74. is helped to dry land after being rescued from her flooded neighborhood after it was inundated with rain water, remnants of Hurricane Harvey, on August 28, 2017 in Houston, Texas. Harvey, which made landfall north of Corpus Christi late Friday evening, is expected to dump upwards to 40 inches of rain in areas of Texas over the next couple of days. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Scott Olson/Getty Images
HOUSTON, TX - AUGUST 28: People are rescued from a flooded neighborhood after it was inundated with rain water, remnants of Hurricane Harvey, on August 28, 2017 in Houston, Texas. Harvey, which made landfall north of Corpus Christi late Friday evening, is expected to dump upwards to 40 inches of rain in areas of Texas over the next couple of days. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Scott Olson/Getty Images
HOUSTON, TX - AUGUST 27: Naomi Coto carries Simba on her shoulders as they evacuate their home after the area was inundated with flooding from Hurricane Harvey on August 27, 2017 in Houston, Texas. Harvey, which made landfall north of Corpus Christi late Friday evening, is expected to dump upwards to 40 inches of rain in Texas over the next couple of days. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
A UH-60 Blackhawk Helicopter and crew from U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Air and Marine Operations rescues residents in areas flooded by Hurricane Harvey on August 28, 2017.
Customs and Border Protection
Texas National Guard soldiers conduct rescue operations in flooded areas around Houston, Texas Aug. 27, 2017. (U.S. Texas Military Department photo by 1Lt. Zachary West, 100th MPAD)
Texas Military Department
Vi Tran greets her husband Joseph and their dogs after being briefly separated when rescue boats evacuated them and their two young daughters from Houston's Meyerland area, Aug. 27, 2017. On Sunday, Harvey, now a tropical storm, pounded the region with torrential rains, and the National Weather Service forecasts rainfall of 15 to 25 inches through Friday, with as much as 50 inches in a few areas. (Alyssa Schukar/The New York Times) ALYSSA SCHUKAR/NYT
Flooded scenes of Grand Mission Estates, Richmond, Texas.
Shannon O'Hara
To add to reader photos. Houston native Austin Leighton, 28, rides in a kayak with his sons Eli, 6, and Samuel, 3, in Mont Belvieu, Texas on Monday, August 28, 2017.
Austin Leighton
A reader sent these photos Sunday, Aug. 27, 2017.
Casey Keller
Readers share photos of how Hurricane Harvey is affecting them in East Texas on Aug. 27, 2017.
Kasey Keeller
Hurricane Harvey couldn't keep Otis the dog down.
Tiele Dockens
A garage sale sign is humorously posted outside a home as debris from Hurricane Harvey fills the front yard, Thursday, Sept. 21, 2017, in Woodloch. Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle
A man tosses debris from Hurricane Harvey out of the back of his truck at the Montgomery County Precinct 4 dumpsite at FM 1314 and Texas 242, Thursday, Sept. 21, 2017, in Conroe. Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle
Contractor Ricky Green of Alabama finishes a day of picking up large debris in a Memorial-area neighborhood. A red X signifying that someone died inside still marks Robert Arthur Haines' house on Langwood.
Yi-Chin Lee/Staff
"We can't treat the world like an open sewer," former Vice President Al Gore said Monday at Rice University. Michael Wyke/freelance
Former Vice President Al Gore warns that global warming will lead to more major storms like Hurricane Harvey unless carbon dioxide emissions are cut back in a speech Monday at Rice University. Story on page A4. Michael Wyke/freelance Al Gore warned Texans on Monday that global warming will lead to more Hurricane Harveys in coming years - but he urged them not to be discouraged.
Change, he said, can be made.
"We have to realize how big this thing is," Gore said. "We have got to change."
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Gore, a former vice president and Nobel Peace Prize winner, spoke Monday night at Rice University about climate change and the role it plays in major storms, such as Harvey. The speech comes just a few months after the release of his new climate change documentary, "An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power." Gore's first climate change documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth," was released about 10 years ago and won an Oscar.
Not specified Fox 26 Houston Hurricane Harvey made landfall Aug. 25, pummeling South Texas with feet of rain and biting wind. The storm was one of the worst in U.S. history. And that, largely, has to do with climate change, Gore said.
A large problem is carbon dioxide releases, he said, which mostly come from fossil fuels.
"We can't treat the world like an open sewer," said Gore, the 2000 Democratic presidential candidate. "Every day we're dumping 110 million tons of CO2 in the sky, and it traps heat."
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In fact, he said, the amount of global warming pollution produced by humans "traps as much extra heat energy in the earth … as would be released by 400,000 Hiroshima-class atomic bombs going off every 24 hours."
That has led to the warming of oceans, Gore said, which has led to more intense hurricanes that intensify more rapidly.
And it's not just Harvey. This year, the world saw Hurricanes Irma and Maria, both of which left devastation in their paths.
In talking to reporters, Gore called Houston one of the cities vulnerable to climate change in the coming years because of its "vulnerability to repeated record downpours."
He also said that Houstonians deserve to know what has been released into the air and water after Hurricane Harvey.
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"That should be given priority absolutely," he said.
But Texans shouldn't lose hope, he said during his talk.
The amount of global carbon dioxide emissions has stayed flat three years in a row, he said, and the number of coal plants in the U.S. is dwindling.
Renewable energy is taking off, with solar and wind energy use skyrocketing. Texas currently is the largest producer of wind power in the U.S., he added, with solar usage not far behind in the Lone Star state.
U.S. cities are committing to relying 100 percent on renewable energy. Georgetown, Texas, he said, is already there.
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A number of countries also are pushing toward all-electric vehicles in the coming years, he said.
Gore said he finds it especially encouraging that climate change is becoming less of a partisan issue.
"Can we change? You bet we can," he said.