Like it or not, the truth can hurt. It can startle you like a slap in the face or an unpleasant wake- up call warning that the clock is ticking.

UNIQUE, a Sacramento State organization which aims to provide on-campus educational and entertainment opportunities, wants students to know there is a clock ticking with far greater consequences than the one you pushed the snooze button on this morning.

UNIQUE, along with the American Democracy Project, will host multiple screenings of “An Inconvenient Truth,” a critically acclaimed documentary about global warming, on Thursday in the University Union Ballroom. Two panel discussions with faculty members and community leaders will follow to reflect on the film and the phenomenon. The hope is to trigger an environmental alarm while also stimulating civic engagement among students.

Dean Sorensen, associate director of programs for the University Union, said that while U.S. Vice-President Al Gore is the principal voice of the film, UNIQUE has no political affiliation with the former vice president.

“We’re just trying to show something that’s popular, something that’s being talked about in society,” Sorensen said. “And this is definitely a movie that, like it or don’t like it, has buzz surrounding it.”

That buzz is certainly merited according to geologist Tim Horner, an associate professor in the Geology Department. Horner, who actively follows climate change and global warming, said “An Inconvenient Truth” makes important issues accessible to the general public.

“The great thing about this movie is it has good, solid science; it’s state-of-the-art and it presents information at a level where people can understand it,” Horner said. “If there’s one place to go to learn about global warming, this is it.”

Horner emphasized that this is a topic that people need to be aware of. “Global warming is affecting our society,” Horner said. “But we have a real gap right now. A lot of people don’t understand the issue and its importance.”

Simply stated, global warming is the melting of the polar ice caps caused by greenhouse gas emissions. When these ice caps melt, water runs into the ocean and the water level starts to rise. Horner said there is a common misconception that global warming is a problem for future generations. Not so, he contends.

“Within our lifetime, we’ll see disruptions in our water supply and a major rise in sea level,” Horner said. “It will hit us too.”

Sacramento is not immune. According to Horner, projections show that within student lifetimes, the sea level could rise as much as three feet. Since Sacramento sits at only 32 feet above sea level, the problem could directly affect the city and surrounding areas.

“Initially people will try to build levees around the islands in the delta,” Horner said. “But there’s a limit to how much you can do that.”

These limitations are what make “An Inconvenient Truth” an important addition to the UNIQUE events calendar. The screenings act as “a bridge between the academic side of the university and the more social, extracurricular side,” Sorenson said.

“We’re looking to connect students to the campus so that they become part of the college community,” Sorensen said.

After seeing the film, Sorensen hopes students will make changes in their lives to help the situation.

“Individuals and small groups of people can make a difference,” Sorensen said. “Not everything in the world is out of your control.”

Horner echoed this sentiment: “What we really need to do is reduce greenhouse gases and automobiles are the primary cause.”

He lists commitments such as riding a bike to work, carpooling or taking mass transit as those that can be made by individuals.

This is where students can really help. “Students haven’t totally committed to a lifestyle yet,” Horner said, “So they’re a group who can make changes and make a difference.”He urged that now is the time to institute change.

“I would hate for history to look back and say that people of our generation were the ones that screwed up the planet,” Horner said. “I’d like for people to look back and say that we knew there was a problem and decided to make it better.”

Screenings will be shown for free at 10:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m., 4:30 p.m. and 7 p.m., with panel discussions scheduled for noon and 8:40 p.m.