Adaptation is Key
Steven Koonin is a theoretical physicist with a PhD from MIT and has served in a range of roles, such as the Director for the Center for Urban Science and Progress at New York University, the Chief Scientist for BP oil industry, as well as for the Department of Energy under the Secretary of Science during the Obama administration. Written as a two-part book, Unsettled is a book that challenges the claims of modern scientific theories and the use (or misuse) of data about climate change. Not only does Koonin provide an argument against contemporary thinking around this topic, but he also provides thoughtful considerations as to solutions to address a changing climate. Notice the nuance of Koonin – it is a book regarding a changing climate much more so than “climate change.”
Koonin’s basic observations are as follows:
- Humans have a relatively small influence in warming the global climate.
- Many of the models that address “global warming” contradict one another.
- Government and UN summaries are not entirely accurate reports.
- “In short, the science is insufficient to make useful projections about how the climate will change over the coming decades, much less what effect our actions will have on it.”[1]
He continues his claims by stating, “The bottom line is that the science says that most extreme weather events show no long-term trends that can be attributed to human influence on climate.”[2] Furthermore,
we don’t know how much of the rise on the global sea levels is due to human-caused warning and how much is product of long-term cycles… There’s little doubt that by contributing to warming we have contributed to sea level rise, but there’s also scant evidence that this contribution has been or will be significant, much less disastrous.[3]
As mentioned in the introduction, Koonin not only provides a compelling argument for how we have misunderstood global warming, but he also provides practical solutions going forward. In summarizing his convictions, he states,
What I think we should do, in short, is to begin by restoring integrity to the way science informs society’s decision on climate and energy – we need to move from The Science back to science. And then take the steps most likely to result in positive outcomes for society, whatever the future might hold for our planet. As President Biden exhorted in his inaugural address, “We must reject the culture in which facts themselves are manipulated, or even manufactured.”[4]
Overall, I found this a fascinating book, especially as I reflect on the odd weather patterns we have witnessed throughout the United States these past few years. Growing up in the blue-collar, conservative Mountain West, only in the past decade have I begun to question these roots and the impact our human presence is having on the world. While a shift had begun to take place in my considerations, this book provided an insightful challenge to the current norm and advocate for a longer-view perspective on a changing climate. Wherever you fall on the spectrum, I appreciated the author’s position that we need to learn to adapt to the changing climate, whether it is change induced by human presence or the natural climate cycle. Adaptation is key and provides opportunities for ingenuity for the well-being of humankind and the planet.
[1] Steven E. Koonin, Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn’t, and Why It Matters (Dallas, TX: BenBella Books, Inc, 2021), 4.
[2] Ibid., 99.
[3] Ibid., 165.
[4] Ibid., 255.
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