Al Gore: Atmosphere treated like an 'open sewer' as greenhouse gases at all-time high

Nobel Peace Prize winner and former United States Vice President Al Gore delivering an online address to the inaugural Fair Seas World Ocean Day conference in City Hall, Cork. Picture: Clare Keogh

Former US vice president Al Gore has told a Cork conference the atmosphere is being treated like an "open sewer", as Irish and British scientists warn that greenhouse gas emissions are now at an all-time high.

Mr Gore, speaking to the Fair Seas World Ocean Day conference in Cork, said the current decade is the most crucial in combating the twin climate and biodiversity crises.