CURRENT MAGAZINE COVERS AND 1983 DUST JACKETS EXCEPTED :
 |
| NOW AS IN 1983 , WHO NEEDS A COMPUTER MODEL WHEN PORTER-NOVELLI 'S CREATIVE DEPARTMENT CAN AIR BRUSH YOUR APOCALYPSE TO ORDER? |
"Since this New York Magazine article
( " The Uninhabitable Earth") is getting so much play this morning, I figured I should comment on it, especially as I was interviewed by the author ( though not quoted or mentioned).
I have to say that I am not a fan of this sort of doomist framing. It is important to be up front about the risks of unmitigated climate change, and I frequently criticize those who understate the risks. But there is also a danger in overstating the science in a way that presents the problem as unsolvable, and feeds a sense of doom, inevitability and hopelessness.
The article argues that climate change will render the Earth uninhabitable by the end of this century. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. The article fails to produce it.
The article paints an overly bleak picture by overstating some of the science. It exaggerates for example, the near-term threat of climate "feedbacks" involving the release of frozen methane (the science on this is much more nuanced and doesn't support the notion of a game-changing, planet-melting methane bomb..."
