[Vision2020] American Statistical Association: Status of Climate Change Science

[Ted Moffett]

http://magazine.amstat.org/2010/03/climatemar10/

http://magazine.amstat.org/2010/03/climatemar10/2/#transcript

Statisticians Comment on Status of Climate Change Science
 1 March 2010 3,860 views 19 Comments

*Richard L. Smith, University of North Carolina; L. Mark Berliner, The Ohio
State University; and Peter Guttorp, University of Washington and Norwegian
Computing Center*

In November 2009, ASA Past-President Sally Morton joined with the leaders of
17 other science organizations to sign a
letter<http://www.amstat.org/outreach/pdfs/climateletterfinal.pdf>(pdf)
to all U.S. senators summarizing the consensus of climate change
science. In short, the letter cited the strong scientific evidence that
climate change is happening and that human activities are the primary
driver. It went on to list the many likely consequences, some of which are
already starting to occur.

As members of the ASA’s Climate Change Policy Advisory
Committee<http://www.amstat.org/committees/ccpac/>,
we commented on early drafts of the letter and, upon reviewing the final
version, advised Morton to sign it. We are well aware that some disagree
with the statements in the letter. The views of climate change ’skeptics’
and ‘deniers’ appear in many media, from blogs and videos to op-eds and
congressional testimony. We prefer to think of the views of skeptics as part
of the scientific spectrum, but nevertheless believe they are a minority who
do not represent the mainstream scientific viewpoint.

Some organizations that feature these views in sophisticated advertising
campaigns have manipulated the evidence to create the impression that the
consensus among climate scientists is quite different from what it is. Here,
we comment on some of the most common arguments that climate change is not
happening or that humans are not responsible.

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Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett
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