Unsettling Climate Science
Popular and political discussions of the changing weather patterns invariably invoke "The Science" as settled. But a careful reading of the research literature and government assessment reports shows a very different picture. I will describe some of the surprises in the official science that belie the notion that we've already broken the climate and face certain doom unless we take prompt and drastic action. I will also document how society's right to make fully informed decisions about weather patterns and energy has been usurped by distortion in the assessment reports and media. The talk will close with suggestions to improve the presentation of weather patterns certainties and uncertainties to nonexperts.
Steven E. Koonin is a university professor at New York University, with appointments in the Stern School of Business, the Tandon School of Engineering, and the Department of Physics. He founded NYU's Center for Urban Science and Progress, which focuses research and education on the acquisition, integration, and analysis of big data for big cities. Dr. Koonin served as Undersecretary for Science in the US Department of Energy under President Obama from 2009 to 2011, where his portfolio included the climate research program and energy technology strategy. He was the lead author of the US Department of Energy's Strategic Plan and the inaugural Department of Energy Quadrennial Technology Review. Before joining the government, Dr. Koonin spent five years as Chief Scientist for BP, researching renewable energy options to move the company "beyond petroleum."
For almost thirty years, Dr. Koonin was a professor of theoretical physics at Caltech. He also served for nine years as Caltech's Vice President and Provost, facilitating the research of more than 300 scientists and engineers and catalyzing the development of the world's largest optical telescope, as well as research initiatives in computational science, bioengineering, and the biological sciences. Through a series of articles and lectures that began in 2014, Dr. Koonin has advocated for a more accurate, complete, and transparent public representation of climate and energy matters. His book Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn't, and Why It Matters was published on May 4.
