A Public Affair has been a steady voice in WORT’s talk programming for over 30 years. As the station celebrates its 50th year on the air, we wanted to remember some conversations our team has brought you. Today we’re rebroadcasting a show from December of 1998 in which host Dan Jaffee interviews Susan Nossal, an atmospheric physicist at the University of Wisconsin, and Nancy Cole of the Union of Concerned Scientists. 

They talk about the politics of climate change and the Kyoto Accords. Though their conversation is from nearly 30 years ago, it feels painfully familiar. Cole describes the US’s commitment to reducing emissions, and how Congress is hostile to making good on that commitment. Though countries like the US are major contributors of greenhouse gas pollution, Cole says that actions to reduce emissions from other parts of the world put the US to shame.

In 1998, the scientific community had already reached the consensus that climate change is real and human caused. Nossal references the 1990 and 1995 IPPC reports. She also describes how climate change is being studied at UW Madison through observation, measuring, and modeling of the atmosphere. 

Featured image of a sign from a Canadian protest in 2007, demanding compliance with the Kyoto Accords via Flickr (CC BY 2.0).

The post From the Archive: The Politics of Climate Change in 1998 appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.