Sunday, May 19, 2013

Big Picture Science for 05/20/13 - Skeptic Check: Hostile Climate

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Big Picture Science - Skeptic Check: Hostile Climate

It’s a record we didn’t want to break. The carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere has hit the 400 parts-per-million mark, a level at which some scientists say is a point of no return for stopping climate change. A few days later, a leading newspaper prints an op-ed essay that claims CO2 is getting a bad rap: it’s actually good for the planet. The more the better.

Skeptic Phil Plait rebuts the CO2-is-awesome idea while a paleontologist paints a picture of what Earth was like when the notorious gas last ruled the planet. Note: humans weren’t around.

Plus, our skit says NO to O2 … and a claim that climate change skeptics have borrowed from the Creationists’ playbook in challenging the teaching of established science in schools.

Guests:
  • Phil Plait – Astronomer, Skeptic, and author of Slate Magazine’s blog Bad Astronomy
  • Peter Ward – Paleontologist and biologist, Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Washington in Seattle
  • Josh Rosenau – Programs and Policy Director at the National Center for Science Education
  • Eugenie Scott – Executive Director of the National Center for Science Education

Permalink: http://radio.seti.org/episodes/Skeptic_Check_Hostile_Climate

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Blog Picture Science, the companion blog to the radio show.

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