Consensus Among Scientists: Climate Crisis Is Due To Human Activities
By Countercurrents.org
7 February, 2013
Countercurrents.org
Ninety-seven percent of climate scientists agree that global warming trends over the past century are very likely due to human activities [1], and most of the leading scientific organizations worldwide have issued public statements endorsing this position. The following is a partial list of these organizations, along with reference to their published statements and a selection of related resources.
American Scientific Societies
Statement on climate change from 18 scientific associations
"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." (2009)[2].
Temperature data from four international science institutions. All show rapid warming in the past few decades and that the last decade has been the warmest on record.
American Association for the Advancement of Science
"The scientific evidence is clear: global climate change caused by human activities is occurring now, and it is a growing threat to society." (2006) [3]
American Chemical Society
"Comprehensive scientific assessments of our current and potential future climates clearly indicate that climate change is real, largely attributable to emissions from human activities, and potentially a very serious problem." (2004) [4
American Geophysical Union
"The Earth's climate is now clearly out of balance and is warming. Many components of the climate system — including the temperatures of the atmosphere, land and ocean, the extent of sea ice and mountain glaciers, the sea level, the distribution of precipitation, and the length of seasons — are now changing at rates and in patterns that are not natural and are best explained by the increased atmospheric abundances of greenhouse gases and aerosols generated by human activity during the 20th century." (Adopted 2003, revised and reaffirmed 2007) [5]
American Medical Association
"Our AMA ... supports the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's fourth assessment report and concurs with the scientific consensus that the Earth is undergoing adverse global climate change and that anthropogenic contributions are significant." (2013) [6]
American Meteorological Society
"It is clear from extensive scientific evidence that the dominant cause of the rapid change in climate of the past half century is human-induced increases in the amount of atmospheric greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide (CO2), chlorofluorocarbons, methane, and nitrous oxide." (2012) [7]
American Physical Society
"The evidence is incontrovertible: Global warming is occurring. If no mitigating actions are taken, significant disruptions in the Earth's physical and ecological systems, social systems, security and human health are likely to occur. We must reduce emissions of greenhouse gases beginning now." (2007) [8]
The Geological Society of America
"The Geological Society of America (GSA) concurs with assessments by the National Academies of Science (2005), the National Research Council (2006), and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2007) that global climate has warmed and that human activities (mainly greenhouse-gas emissions) account for most of the warming since the middle 1900s." (2006; revised 2010) [9]
Science Academies
International academies: Joint statement
"Climate change is real. There will always be uncertainty in understanding a system as complex as the world's climate. However there is now strong evidence that significant global warming is occurring. The evidence comes from direct measurements of rising surface air temperatures and subsurface ocean temperatures and from phenomena such as increases in average global sea levels, retreating glaciers, and changes to many physical and biological systems. It is likely that most of the warming in recent decades can be attributed to human activities (IPCC 2001)." (2005, 11 international science academies) [10]
U.S. National Academy of Sciences
"The scientific understanding of climate change is now sufficiently clear to justify taking steps to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere." (2005) [11]
Intergovernmental Bodies
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
“Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global average sea level.”[12]
“Most of the observed increase in global average temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely ** due to the observed increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations.” [13]
Other Resources
List of worldwide scientific organizations
The following is a list of nearly 200 worldwide scientific organizations that hold the position that climate change has been caused by human action:
http://opr.ca.gov/s_listoforganizations.php
US agencies
The following link contains information on what US federal agencies are doing to adapt to climate change:
http://www.c2es.org/docUploads/federal-agencies-adaptation.pdf
References:
W. R. L. Anderegg, “Expert Credibility in Climate Change,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Vol. 107 No. 27, 12107-12109 ( 21 June 2010 ); DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1003187107.
P. T. Doran & M. K. Zimmerman, "Examining the Scientific Consensus on Climate Change," Eos Transactions American Geophysical Union Vol. 90 Issue 3 (2009), 22; DOI: 10.1029/2009EO030002.
N. Oreskes, “Beyond the Ivory Tower: The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change,” Science Vol. 306 no. 5702, p. 1686 ( 3 December 2004 ); DOI: 10.1126/science.1103618.
Statement on climate change from 18 scientific associations (2009)
AAAS Board Statement on Climate Change (2006)
ACS Public Policy Statement: Climate Change (2010-2013)
AGU Position Statement: Human Impacts on Climate (2007)
Global Climate Change and Human Health (2013)
Climate Change: An Information Statement of the American Meteorological Society (2012)
8 APS National Policy 07.1 Climate Change (2007)
GSA Position Statement on Climate Change (2010)
Joint science academies' statement: Global response to climate change (2005)
Understanding and Responding to Climate Change (2005)
IPCC Fourth Assessment Report, Summary for Policymakers (2007)
IPCC Fourth Assessment Report, Summary for Policymakers (2007)
Source:
* NASA, Global Climate Change, “Consensus: 97% of climate scientists agree”,
http://climate.nasa.gov/scientific-consensus
Note:
** IPCC defines ‘very likely' as greater than 90 percent probability of occurrence.
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