The dream of an emissions free world by 20 50 is completely ridiculous, right? Right? That's not going to happen. And the protocols and in agreements that we go in and out of, even if we met those, it still wouldn't have the kind of effect we like to think it would. How seriously do you rate the climate compared to all the other things you've got to worry about?" i don't have an answer to that, and i haven't heard a good answer from anybody else either," he said.
According to Steven Koonin, when it comes to climate change, the media, politicians, and other prominent voices have declared that “the science is settled.” Koonin avers that the long game of telephone from research to reports, to the popular media, is corrupted by misunderstanding and misinformation. Koonin says that core questions about the way the climate is responding to our influence, and what the impacts will be remain largely unanswered. Koonin acknowledges that the climate is changing, and he claims the whyand how aren’t as clear as you’ve probably been led to believe, and what the impacts will be remain largely unanswered.
In this engaging conversation Michael Shermer challenges Dr. Koonin with many of the most common critiques of his book, Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn’t, and Why It Matters, and Steven Koonin responds by drawing upon his decades of experience — including as a top science advisor to the Obama administration.