MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Recommendations for books on climate change?

hapax legomenon · 03-12-2010, 01:16 AM

Orwell2K, Michael Crichton isn't taken seriously either by climate change scientists or by literary critics. If you want to read genuine thoughtpieces about the interactions between science and belief, check out Steven Dutsch's Pseudoscience essays. He is a professor of earth science and quite eloquent and witty.

So Waba, let me ask you a few things:

did you actually read Gore's book?

You said "section I'm experienced with, wildfire". Define "experienced." Define why your credentials allow you to override the opinions of the experts Al Gore cited.
You did look at the footnotes, didn't you?
I assume you were looking near page 188. I am not a scientist, so I am not really qualified to engage in a fruitful discussion. But your statements do not appear meaningful to me.

RE: the nuclear section, I remember that section well. Al Gore did not make very many controversial statements there. I don't even think he particularly oppose or support nuclear (but he did go on about next-gen plants).

You said that according to your father, it was "was politically motivated, dated nonsense." This is an empty statement. What does it mean? How do you know what Gore's political motivations are? Where did you acquire those superpowers? "Dated nonsense"? I don't expect Al Gore to be an expert on EVERYTHING, but explain which reference he cited was factually incorrect. http://ourchoicethebook.com/chapter8/endnotes/

It is so easy to throw meaningless barbs at the book (especially when your own statements have such little accountability). Al Gore's book is a brief and handy summary of the latest projects and research into global warming. That's all. Nothing you said here has contradicted this statement. In my opinion, you are letting YOUR political biases cloud your judgment.

03-12-2010, 01:16 AM	#24
hapax legomenon Erotica Writer Posts: 102 Karma: 106 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Tulsa, OK Device: ipad, Sony Reader PRS 505, Cybook 3	Orwell2K, Michael Crichton isn't taken seriously either by climate change scientists or by literary critics. If you want to read genuine thoughtpieces about the interactions between science and belief, check out Steven Dutsch's Pseudoscience essays. He is a professor of earth science and quite eloquent and witty. So Waba, let me ask you a few things: did you actually read Gore's book? You said "section I'm experienced with, wildfire". Define "experienced." Define why your credentials allow you to override the opinions of the experts Al Gore cited. You did look at the footnotes, didn't you? I assume you were looking near page 188. I am not a scientist, so I am not really qualified to engage in a fruitful discussion. But your statements do not appear meaningful to me. RE: the nuclear section, I remember that section well. Al Gore did not make very many controversial statements there. I don't even think he particularly oppose or support nuclear (but he did go on about next-gen plants). You said that according to your father, it was "was politically motivated, dated nonsense." This is an empty statement. What does it mean? How do you know what Gore's political motivations are? Where did you acquire those superpowers? "Dated nonsense"? I don't expect Al Gore to be an expert on EVERYTHING, but explain which reference he cited was factually incorrect. http://ourchoicethebook.com/chapter8/endnotes/ It is so easy to throw meaningless barbs at the book (especially when your own statements have such little accountability). Al Gore's book is a brief and handy summary of the latest projects and research into global warming. That's all. Nothing you said here has contradicted this statement. In my opinion, you are letting YOUR political biases cloud your judgment.