The Green Team

From an architect and a scientist to good old-fashioned concerned citizens, we pick the brains of some players in Orange County’s environmental scene. (page 4 only)

The Scientist/Dr. Michael J. Prather

Coast Magazine

August 2008

By Johnathan Kroncke

Dr. Michael J. Prather is a realist. For him, the glass is neither half empty nor half full – it's both. It's the same with the environment. While politicians squabble over climate change, this UCI professor of Earth System Science – the interdisciplinary study of global environmental issues – simply accepts the reality of what he sees. “We are changing the world forever,” he says. For over 30 years, Prather has studied humanity's impact on climate change and considers it one of the most pressing issues of our time. In 2007, he and 3,000 other scientists, along with former Vice President Al Gore, shared the Nobel Peace Prize for their work with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which produced a frightening vision of the future. “In my view, sea level will go up four to six meters. The question is, will it happen in 100 years or 1,000?” he says. Ever the realist, Prather, who also directs UCI’s new Environment Institute, understands that it will take more than predictions to fix the problem; it will take a conscious effort to start using existing technology. “My only question is, do you want to do it?” he asks.

What impact do you think the Nobel Prize had on your work in terms of bringing global attention to it?
It focuses people to say, “Hey, this is important.” It made people realize climate change affects other sciences. It made them realize this is a pressing issue.

Did you work directly with former Vice President Al Gore?
I think I saw him once in the audience.

How urgent is the current environmental crisis?
I would view the atmosphere as one of the top [issues], the top four or five. Warmer weather on average is not going to harm us, but it affects other things.

What do you think is one of the biggest misconceptions individuals or governments have about the environmental crisis?
I think there’s a major misconception between beliefs and the science. The climate debate should be a scientific process. These [climate] models are getting frightening, getting accurate.