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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: one_less who wrote (251857)	12/21/2007 11:22:09 AM
From: Ruffian	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Many of Crichton's publicly expressed views, particularly on subjects like the global warming controversy, have caused heated debate. An example is meteorologist Jeffrey Masters' review of State of Fear: "[F]lawed or misleading presentations of Global Warming science exist in the book, including those on Arctic sea ice thinning, correction of land-based temperature measurements for the urban heat island effect, and satellite vs. ground-based measurements of Earth's warming. I will spare the reader additional details. On the positive side, Crichton does emphasize the little-appreciated fact that while most of the world has been warming the past few decades, most of Antarctica has seen a cooling trend. The Antarctic ice sheet is actually expected to increase in mass over the next 100 years due to increased precipitation, according to the IPCC."[13] Peter Doran, author of the paper in the January 2002 issue of Nature which reported the finding referred to above, that some areas of Antarctica had cooled between 1986 and 2000, wrote an opinion piece in the July 27, 2006 New York Times in which he stated "Our results have been misused as 'evidence' against global warming by Michael Crichton in his novel State of Fear".[14] Crichton himself states in the book that though he uses a number of studies to support his stance, the authors of these studies do not necessarily agree with his interpretations. Additionally, some of the characters in the novel caution that they do not necessarily claim that global warming is not an issue, but only that more research is necessary before we make any definition conclusions[citation needed]. Al Gore is reported as having said on March 21, 2007 before a US House committee: "The planet has a fever. If your baby has a fever, you go to the doctor [...] if your doctor tells you you need to intervene here, you don't say 'Well, I read a science fiction novel that tells me it's not a problem.'" This, in Dave Langford's opinion, is a reference to State of Fear.[15] [edit] Next controversy In his 2006 novel Next (released November 28th of that year), Crichton introduces a character named "Mick Crowley" who is a Yale graduate and a Washington D.C.-based political columnist. "Crowley" is portrayed by Crichton as a child molester. The character is a minor one who does not appear elsewhere in the book.[16] A real person named Michael Crowley is also a Yale graduate, and a senior editor of The New Republic, a Washington D.C.-based political magazine. In March 2006, the real Crowley wrote an article strongly critical of Crichton for his stance on global warming in State of Fear.[17] [edit] References

To: one_less who wrote (251857)	12/21/2007 11:28:21 AM
From: michael97123	Respond to of 281500

the law of unintended consequences i guess you would call it. I agree. We are sensient beings but thats not enough, is it to make the right call. I look at global warming in the following way. I am sure we have influence our environment. I am not sure as to degree. I believe that we should moderate our use of carbons because it shouldnt make things any worse. I wouldnt destroy the world economy to do it however as starving masses are worse than an extra storm or less ice. I dont like folks who take positions on this with religious fervor as if they and only they have the revealed truth. I dislike algore immensely and its real hard for me to take anything from his views. I have to get over my dislike of algore because there might be something to this.