Sir David King Interviewed by Journalism Professor Michael Pollan

As a scientist and Professor of Physical Chemistry at Cambridge, Sir David, in his non-political role as analyst of scientific issues having an impact on public policy, health, industry, infrastructure, and government in Britain, meets weekly with top scientists in the UK and worldwide who keep him up-to-date on a wide array of specialized scientific research and who advise him on issues ranging from flood control to genomics. He characterized his position as a dream job because he has constant access to the brightest scientific minds and the most current scientific findings. By tradition a five-year appointment, he as been asked to stay on for another five years by Her Majesty’s Government.

Sir David stressed that climate change is a fact supported by a body of scientific data which — thanks to advances in technology — can be measured ever more precisely. For instance, through core samples drawn from arctic ice sheets millions of years old, one can measure chemical and particulate content in trapped air bubbles. Based on this, it is known that carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere during glacial periods were approximately 200 parts per million (ppm) and increased to about 270 ppm during warm periods.

Levels now have reached 379 ppm and are increasing at a rate of 2 ppm a year, meaning that in 10 years the CO2 level in the earth’s atmosphere will be at the alarming level of 400 ppm. Furthermore, these changes have a delayed and lingering effect on climate which will not be fully felt for decades to come.

When commenting upon current natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina, Sir David stressed that a government should plan for reasonable projections of natural events over time frames which make geologic — not human — sense: for instance, if it is known through analysis that every 200 years certain heavily populated areas have been innundated with flood waters, then the government in question should incorporate this fact into planning, so that infrastructure and populations might incur minimal damage due to planning foresight. These broader natural-geological time frames are what responsible governments should consider and work into their planning mandates and safety scenarios.

He stressed that cities like New York, New Orleans, and London are clearly in danger of being flooded (or reflooded in the case of New Orleans) in the future, and advocates strengthened flood defenses as well as immediate efforts to reduce green-house gas emissions. He has looked at various free-market models for encouraging reduction in greenhouse gases by industry, which he communicates to Prime Minister Blair and captains of industry both in the UK and worldwide.

Speaking to sympathetic Berkeley audience, Sir David’s witty but chilling assessment of the earth’s future belied what he characterized as his own optimism. The conversational give-and-take of the presentation was a hit with the audience. The event was sponsored by a slew of Berkeley and outside departments, organizations, and institutes including IES and the Graduate School of Journalism.

— EK