Global Warming: What We Knew in ’82

Mike MacCracken was the first high level climate scientist that Al Gore introduced me to in Nashville, some 5 years ago. Although I knew something about the issue, and had some background reading and writing about energy and environment – Mike very quickly made me realize how much I had wrong,  and how much I had to learn. He has been a reliable and generous advisor and mentor ever since. I owe him a lot for his patience in answering questions and pointing me to people and resources I needed to be aware of.

A few months ago, I became aware of a video of Mike’s presentation on Climate Change at Sandia Labs in  August 1982. The contrast between what scientists already knew even 30 years ago, and the pathetically slow response to this gathering storm, prompted me to want to find out what Mike was thinking now, with three decades of perspective.

I interviewed Mike at the University of Michigan in February, where we both attended a climate conference at the Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise. (He was invited. I kind of crashed the party and was allowed to hang out..)