Much criticism was given to Crichton's presentation of global warming data and the book's portrayal of the global warming debate as a whole. In the "Sydney Morning Herald", John Birmingham criticized the book's usage of real world research and said it was "boring after the first lecture, but mostly in the plotting... It's bad writing and it lets the reader ignore the larger point Crichton is trying to make." In "The Guardian", Peter Guttridge wrote that the charts and research in the book got "in the way of the thriller elements" and stated the bibliography was more interesting than the plot. In "The New York Times", Bruce Barcott criticized the novel's portrayal of the global warming debate heavily, stating that it only presented one side of the argument.