Al Gore Wins Nobel Peace Prize

UPDATED BELOW

Former vice-president Al Gore has been awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, it was announced in Oslo today. The Committee explained:

Al Gore has for a long time been one of the world's leading environmentalist politicians. He became aware at an early stage of the climatic challenges the world is facing. His strong commitment, reflected in political activity, lectures, films and books, has strengthened the struggle against climate change. He is probably the single individual who has done most to create greater worldwide understanding of the measures that need to be adopted.

Co-winner is the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change:

Through the scientific reports it has issued over the past two decades, the IPCC has created an ever-broader informed consensus about the connection between human activities and global warming. Thousands of scientists and officials from over one hundred countries have collaborated to achieve greater certainty as to the scale of the warming. Whereas in the 1980s global warming seemed to be merely an interesting hypothesis, the 1990s produced firmer evidence in its support. In the last few years, the connections have become even clearer and the consequences still more apparent.

Both Gore and the IPCC, as the New York Times explains early this morning, were selected "for their efforts to spread awareness of man-made climate change and lay the foundations for counteracting it." The Nobel Committee explained that global warming threatens "the living conditions of much of mankind" and increases "danger of violent conflicts and wars, within and between states."

The Peace Prize is worth $1.56 million. The Nobel Foundation was created in the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel more than a century ago. Past recipients include Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and the Red Cross. The prize was first handed out in 1901. A list of all previous winners can be found here.

UPDATE
10-12 pm