Kolbert speaks about the
impact of global warming |
|
Expert examines role of the
press in scientific debate |
By Cathy Wu, The Dartmouth Staff |
Published on Wednesday, April 5,
2006 |
Elizabeth Kolbert, author of the new book "Field Notes
From a Catastrophe," spoke to undergraduates, faculty and community
members in a packed Filene Auditorium on Tuesday evening. Brought in as
part of the George Links Jr. Environmental Awareness Lecture series,
Kolbert criticized the Bush administration, explained the difficulty the
media has in discussing global warming and used statistics and case
studies to illustrate the radical effects of global warming.
The lecture took issue with the argument that, although
global warming is actually occurring, there is no causal association
between global warming and increased greenhouse gases like carbon
dioxide.
"This argument ignores more than 100 years of science,"
said Kolbert, who started her speech with a chronological history of the
discovery and study of greenhouse gases and global warming. "This
argument is championed by the Bush administration," she added.
Kolbert expressed cynicism toward the motives of those
who doubt that greenhouse gases cause global warming.
"Any scientist, journalist or president that tells you
he or she is skeptical of the relationship…hasn't bothered to see the
evidence or is on the payroll of an oil company," she said.
In the lecture, the author also reproached the
government for focusing on addressing the symptoms of global warming
instead of its actual source and for promoting the belief that the
current climate trends are part of a natural cycle.
"[These arguments] mix propositions that are true with
propositions that are not true but sound true," she said.
Kolbert, who used to write for The New York Times and
currently works as a reporter for the New Yorker, also spoke on the
changes in the media's representation of global warming, comparing a
recent headline from Time magazine that warned of the impending climate
disaster to past coverage that questioned the existence of the global
warming altogether.
"I won't say much about journalistic mechanisms, except
to say that I think that global warming is a very difficult issue for
journalists and journalism to deal with," she said. "Global warming is
not a news event and it is not a controversy."
Kolbert emphasized that current trends in global
temperatures show recent years to be the warmest since the 1890s and
relayed stories and displayed pictures of the tangible effects of global
warming. She also pointed to an example in Shishmaref, Alaska, in which
the late arrival of protective sea ice led to fall storms that affected
the town.
"If we go on business as usual, by the end of the
century, we end up with [carbon dioxide] levels that are not double but
triple pre-industrial levels," Kolbert said. "2005 broke just about
every hurricane record."
Kolbert wound down her lecture with a request for
action.
"With knowledge comes great responsibilities. It's
these responsibilities that we have been running away from," she said.
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