Is global warming a crisis?
What happens when the experts try to convince you?
Could it be that global warming is not a crisis? That was the question in the Intelligence Squared debate on April 18th in New York. On the no crisis side was writer and filmmaker Michael Crichton, the Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Atmospheric Sciences at MIT Richard S. Lindzen, and Philip Stott, an Emeritus Professor and biogeographer from the University of London. On the sky is falling side is Brenda Ekwurzel of the Union of Concerned Scientists, climate scientist at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies Gavin Schmidt, and Richard C.J. Somerville Distinguished Professor at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego.
Before hand, the audience was polled. Here are the results:
- Yes, global warming is not a crisis 30%
- No, global warming is a crisis 57%
- I don't know if global warming is a crisis 13%
After the debate, opinions changed quite a bit:
- Yes, global warming is not a crisis 46%
- No, global warming is a crisis 42%
- I don't know if global warming is a crisis 12%