Global Warming — The Current Status: The Science, the Scandal, the Prospects for a Treaty
Seminar: i4Energy seminar | October 1 | 12-1 p.m. | Sutardja Dai Hall, Banatao Aud., 3rd Floor
Richard Muller, Professor, Dept. of Physics, UC Berkeley
CITRIS (Ctr for Info Technology Research in the Interest of Society)
The schedule for the fall i4energy series is at http://www.citris-uc.org/events/i4energy-fall2010.
Abstract:
Recent events in the field of climate change have confused both the public and many “experts.” I will try to elucidate what has been happening. Two out of three climate groups show no global warming for the past 13 years. What does that mean? Why does the third group (led by Jim Hansen) disagree? Why was there no treaty at Copenhagen? (It wasn’t political, but technical!) Why do we hear so little about the Copenhagen follow-up meeting, this December in Cancun? What really happened in the Climategate scandal? How serious are the mistakes that embarrassed the IPCC (e.g. their claim that the Himalayas might melt in a few decades, subsequently retracted)? How reliable are the predictions of future global warming? (Pretty reliable, in my opinion.) I will attempt to give a non-partisan analysis.
——
Richard A. Muller began his career as a graduate student under Nobel laureate Luis Alvarez doing particle physics experiments and working with bubble chambers. His work has included attempting to understand the ice ages, dynamics at the core-mantle boundary, patterns of extinction and biodiversity through time, and the processes associated with impact cratering. “His “Physics for Future Presidents” series of lectures, in which Muller teaches a synopsis of modern qualitative (i.e. without resorting to complicated math) physics, has been published in book form.
citriseditor@citris-uc.org, 510-643-4866
Available Now: Webcast