User:Sagredo/Sandbox2

The Union of Concerned Scientists devote a section of their website to refuting many (but not all) of Crichton’s errors in the book:
 * "Michael Crichton's latest book State of Fear has characters debating data (complete with graphs and footnotes) and concepts that cast doubt on the validity of global warming evidence. This doubt is echoed in the author's message at the end of the novel and in public interviews. Readers may understandably take away some misconceptions from his book. To clear up these misconceptions, we have selected some representative cases to discuss; the list below, however, is not intended to be an exhaustive list of the errors in Crichton's book."..."
 * How was Michael Crichton able to take the same data that climate scientists use and come to the conclusion that global warming isn’t a real threat?
 * State of Fear uses graphs that don’t show a warming trend. How can specific locations show cooling if global warming is happening?
 * What is the “urban heat island effect” and is it contributing to warming?
 * Crichton argues that C02 in the atmosphere is not closely correlated with warming trends. So why is C02 blamed as a greenhouse gas?
 * Several times Crichton notes that glaciers are expanding not retreating. Is this accurate or only part of the story?
 * Michael Crichton says we can’t predict the future. Does this preclude our taking steps to reduce heat trapping gas emissions?
 * Why do we have to act now to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels?



Johathan T. Overpeck has studied climate science for nearly 30 years, and is the Director of the Institute for the Study of Planet Earth (ISPE) at the University of Arizona. He is also a Professor of Geosciences and a Professor of Atmospheric Sciences. Overpeck is Overpeck has written over 100 publications on climate and ecosystem variability and was founding co-chair of both international and U.S. CLIVAR-PAGES working groups. He is the Chair of the NSF Arctic System Science Committee, and a member of the NOAA Climate Working Group. His awards include U.S. Department of Commerce Gold Medal, as well as the Walter Orr Roberts award of the American Meteorological Society for his interdisciplinary research. Overpeck served as a Coordinating Lead Author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment. Overpeck was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship to investigate paleoenvironmental perspectives on the future.