Host Contessa Brewer started with her editorial comment "it was downright scary," and as Larson continued her frightening predictions, Brewer asked softball questions like "are [government officials] likely to listen to this study?" and "is there anything we can do to help change this?" Brewer never mentioned the cost of combating a scenario that may not materialize. The entire transcript is below.
CONTESSA BREWER: Is time running out when it comes to global warming? A group of scientists is using some of the starkest language yet in a new warning about the dangers of global temperatures. They describe the earth in imminent peril. And they describe dramatic changes that could be just decades away. Janet Larson is the director of the research for the Earth Policy Institute. Janet, it was downright scary.
JANET LARSON, DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH, EARTH POLICY INSTITUTE: Well, it is indeed scary. Climate change affects everything, not only our temperatures, but our food systems and our water systems, sea level rises. New York City could end up partly under water, so the scenario is indeed frightening and something we need to act on soon.
BREWER: What are they looking at that requires such dire warnings?
LARSON: Well, what the scientists are looking at is climate records going back through, throughout historical time. And they know that the last 12,000 years have been relatively stable. We’ve had very constant temperatures during the time when our agriculture system evolved. And so they look beyond that to see what kind of fluctuations we’ve seen in the past, and they found that temperatures can swing up rapidly. And ice sheets like the, like in Antarctica and Greenland for instance can melt very rapidly causing fast sea level rises.
BREWER: From what you know about the way government responds to warnings climate change, are they likely to listen to this study?
LARSON: I think it's time that governments wake up. And what we’re seeing right now in the United States is even though the federal government has been slow to act on global warming, a lot of the action has been coming at the state level and the city level. Right now there is more than 500 city mayors in the United States, including some of the largest cities like New York and Los Angeles that have decided to take action for their cities and to commit to the greenhouse gas emission reduction goals set fort in the Kyoto Protocol.
BREWER: Alright. And if, and if individuals don't want to wait for government to act, is there anything that we can really do that helps change this?
LARSON: There are, there is so much, there is a lot that individuals can do. The most important things to pay attention to are how you get from place to place. Are you driving around in the most efficient vehicle you can? Are you car sharing and are you car pooling using public transport? How do you heat your home? Are you using efficient appliances and taking care of that. Also, think about what you eat and what you drink. Is your food traveling across the country to reach your dinner plate, or can you eat locally and save some of those greenhouse gas emissions associated with transporting your food a long way?
