2015 Articles

What we know — and what we don’t — about global warming

Wagner, Gernot; Weitzman, Martin L.

We take out car, fire and property insurances for much lower probabilities. Here we are talking about the whole planet, and we haven’t shown willingness to insure ourselves. Meanwhile, we can, in fact, look at 11 degrees Fahrenheit and liken it to the planet ‘burning’. Think of it as your body temperature: 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit is normal. Anything above 99.5 degrees Fahrenheit is a fever. Above 104 degrees Fahrenheit is life-threatening. Above 109.4 degrees Fahrenheit and you are dead or at least unconscious.

First published by PBS NewsHour’s Making Sen$e with Paul Solman. The accompanying NewsHour report aired on July 16, 2015.