Please listen to Michael Oppenheimer, a leading global warming expert
May 11th, 2007,Yesterday I heard Michael Oppenheimer, a professor of geosciences and international affairs at Princeton University, speak about global warming on Minnesota Public Radio. Oppenheimer is a lead author of the recent “Fourth Assessment Report” from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. It was a sobering talk, and I strongly recommend that people listen to it. Oppenheimer was unequivocal in stating that global climate change is the leading environmental problem of our time. He said that if the planet warms at the higher end of estimates - that is, if it warms a lot - the results would be very catastrophic in terms of lost water resources, higher sea levels, and other effects.
One comment from Oppenheimer particularly caught my attention, and I will paraphrase it from memory: When asked about the “controversy” regarding climate change among scientists, Oppenheimer said that there are about 2000 climate experts in the world, and he only knew of about 5 who think that human-induced climate change is not a serious problem confronting humanity.
Think about that the next time a climate change skeptic quotes one or two scientists to back up his or her argument. Good science is not determined via consensus or vote, but I’d still put more trust in the opinion of 99 percent of experts than I would in a tiny minority of contrarians.
May 11th, 2007 at 1:02 pm
Think about that the next time a climate change skeptic quotes one or two scientists to back up his or her argument. Good science is not determined via consensus or vote, but I’d still put more trust in the opinion of 99 percent of experts than I would in a tiny minority of contrarians.
Tell that to our senator Tom Neuville. He’s a gullible skeptic of the worst kind - unwilling to examine any sort of evidence that contradicts his pre-supposed beliefs.
October 15th, 2007 at 9:52 pm
[...] I was pleased that the Norwegian Nobel Committee gave its Peace Prize to the scientists of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Al Gore for their work on global warming. During the past year I’ve commented about the most recent IPCC reports (see posts on February 26, May 4, and May 11), which predict disastrous consequences if humanity does not take steps to mitigate global warming. Fortunately, we’re seeing more action on this issue every day. [...]