Page 40 - Carbon Capitalism and Communication Confronting Climate Crisis

CHAPTER 2

An Interview with Michael E. Mann:

Fighting for Science Against Climate
Change Deniers’ Propaganda

Michael E. Mann and Benedetta Brevini

In 1998, Michael E. Mann developed the so-called ‘hockey stick’ graph,
which revealed sharply higher global temperatures after 1900, to fight
against climate change denialism. His most recent work, The Madhouse
Effect, sees him teaming up with political cartoonist Tom Toles to satirise
the twisted logic of denialists.

CLIMATE CHANGE—THE CURRENT SITUATION
Benedetta Brevini: The third page of the latest COP 21 Paris agree-
ment acknowledges that the new CO 2 target won’t keep the global
temperature rise below 2 °C, the level that was once set as the critical
safe limit. What can be done? Is there still a chance for us to do
enough to limit the impacts of climate change? And why was the 2 °C
so important?

M.E. Mann (&)
Pennsylvania State University, State College, USA
e-mail: mann@psu.edu
B. Brevini
University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
e-mail: benedetta.brevini@sydney.edu.au

© The Author(s) 2017 23
B. Brevini and G. Murdock (eds.), Carbon Capitalism and Communication,
Palgrave Studies in Media and Environmental Communication,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-57876-7_2