31 Science Groups to Congress: Stop Denying and Start Fighting Climate Change - by Joe Romm

In a blunt letter to Congress, 31 leading scientific societies reaffirmed the reality that humans are causing climate change and only we can stop it.  “To reduce the risk of the most severe impacts of climate change, greenhouse gas emissions must be substantially reduced,” they write.
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But as long as the media still gives presidential candidates (and pretty much every other major politician) a free pass on this most preventable of existential threats to America, scientists will have to keep “reminding” policymakers of the broad scientific understanding about human-caused climate change.

After all, if you are a smoker, and your doctor told you a long time ago to quit or you’d start getting a bad cough and worse, she doesn’t stop telling you to quit when you show up years later coughing with early stage emphysema.

“Observations throughout the world make it clear that climate change is occurring, and rigorous scientific research concludes that the greenhouse gases emitted by human activities are the primary driver,” explain the 31 scientific groups.  “This conclusion is based on multiple independent lines of evidence and the vast body of peer-reviewed science.'”

The letter notes, “There is strong evidence that ongoing climate change is having broad negative impacts on society, including the global economy, natural resources, and human health.”  Significantly, this statement is considerably stronger than a 2009 letter sent from scientific groups, which only warned of the impacts to come:  “Moreover, there is strong evidence that ongoing climate change will have broad impacts on society, including the global economy and on the environment.”

Read more at 31 Science Groups to Congress: Stop Denying and Start Fighting Climate Change