The following letter, on letterhead of American Association for the Advancement of Science, was signed by the directors of 18 US scientific associations.
I am a member of two of these organizations -- the American Geophysical Union and American Meteorological Society. I am so disgusted at the false claim in the letter -- that anthropogenic greenhouse gases drive the climate -- that I intend to resign from these organizations in protest. I emphasize that the signatures were affixed without the membership of the organizations being asked. Scientists in the field are very aware that CO2 has never been shown to "drive" climate change.
Here's the letter, signatories, and link:
October 21, 2009
Dear Senator:
As you consider climate change legislation, we, as leaders of scientific organizations, write to state the consensus scientific view.
Observations throughout the world make it clear that climate change is occurring, and rigorous scientific research demonstrates that the greenhouse gases emitted by human activities are the primary driver. These conclusions are based on multiple independent lines of evidence, and contrary assertions are inconsistent with an objective assessment of the vast body of peer-reviewed science. Moreover, there is strong evidence that ongoing climate change will have broad impacts on society, including the global economy and on the environment. For the United States, climate change impacts include sea level rise for coastal states, greater threats of extreme weather events, and increased risk of regional water scarcity, urban heat waves, western wildfires, and the disturbance of biological systems throughout the country. The severity of climate change impacts is expected to increase substantially in the coming decades. [1]
If we are to avoid the most severe impacts of climate change, emissions of greenhouse gases must be dramatically reduced. In addition, adaptation will be necessary to address those impacts that are already unavoidable. Adaptation efforts include improved infrastructure design, more sustainable management of water and other natural resources, modified agricultural practices, and improved emergency responses to storms, floods, fires and heat waves.
We in the scientific community offer our assistance to inform your deliberations as you seek to address the impacts of climate change.
[note 1] The conclusions in this paragraph reflect the scientific consensus represented by, for example, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and U.S. Global Change Research Program. Many scientific societies have endorsed these findings in their own statements, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Chemical Society, American Geophysical Union, American Meteorological Society, and American Statistical Association.
[signed by]
American Association for the Advancement of Science - Alan I. Leshner, Executive Director
American Chemical Society - Thomas Lane, President
American Geophysical Union - Timothy L. Grove, President
American Institute of Biological Sciences - May R. Berenbaum, President
American Meteorological Society - Keith Seitter, Executive Director
American Society of Agronomy - Mark Alley, President
American Society of Plant Biologists - Tuan-hua David Ho, President
American Statistical Association - Sally C. Morton, President
Association of Ecosystem Research Centers - Lucinda Johnson, President
Botanical Society of America - Kent E. Holsinger, President
Crop Science Society of America - Kenneth Quesenberry, President
Ecological Society of America - Mary Power, President
Natural Science Collections Alliance - William Y. Brown, President
Organization of Biological Field Stations - Brian D. Kloeppel, President
Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics - Douglas N. Arnold, President
Society of Systematic Biologists - John Huelsenbeck, President
Soil Science Society of America - Paul Bertsch, President
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research - Richard A. Anthes, President
- - -
You can see the letter at http://www.agu.org/outreach/science_policy/pdf/Climate_Letter.pdf
|
