Sensationalism
Sep. 9th, 2008 10:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quasigeostrophyYou might think an internal plug for a special guest seminar in my department from a senior climate scientist at NCAR would be free of pop science sensationalist language.
You'd be wrong. To wit:
Global warming is, therefore, not just a threat for the future. It is already happening, endangering the health and welfare of the planet. (Emphasis mine.)
Last time I checked, the projected temperature rise, even from the dramatic hockey-stick model graphs, is a handful of degrees Celsius. Pretty extreme, yes, but the planet has been warmer in epochs long before we were here. Sure, the effects of global warming in the long term may endanger the health and welfare of humans and other species on the planet, but I think the planet itself will be fine.
You'd be wrong. To wit:
Global warming is, therefore, not just a threat for the future. It is already happening, endangering the health and welfare of the planet. (Emphasis mine.)
Last time I checked, the projected temperature rise, even from the dramatic hockey-stick model graphs, is a handful of degrees Celsius. Pretty extreme, yes, but the planet has been warmer in epochs long before we were here. Sure, the effects of global warming in the long term may endanger the health and welfare of humans and other species on the planet, but I think the planet itself will be fine.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-09-09 06:50 pm (UTC)