• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, March 13, 2015

AUSTIN, TEXAS -- The image is the view of planet earth from Apollo 17, and SXSW Interactive opener Al Gore used it to, well, bring his climate change message home.

Gore used the image, and other images of earth from space as a way of using media to make something that is abstract -- and ironically -- distant to many people. Gore also showed one from the space shuttle of the earth’s atmosphere from space, graphically illustrating exactly how thin it is.

Gore said it is one way media can use “visceral images” to make a connection with people that they can relate to and visualize.

Much of the rest of Gore’s presentation depicted images of the earth as global heat rises, polar ice melts and sea levels rise.

Gore also used some data slides to depict it viscerally as well, showing a slide of the top 10 coastal cities “most at risk” due to rising water levels. No. 1 is Miami (Gore showed footage of flooded Miami streets during a normal high tide) and No. 3 is, you guessed it, Media Town (aka New York City).