Three new climate change reports issued by the National Academy of Sciences/National Academy of Engineering’s National Research Council provide continuing science-based support for those convinced that climate change is occurring and that the changes are caused “in large part” by human activities.
Part of the congressionally mandated “America’s Climate Choices” studies - two or more of which are to be released in coming months - the reports break little new ground in terms of scientific evidence on warming, but warn of “significant risks” for human and natural systems, some of them now occurring.
One of the reports, “Limiting the Magnitude of Future Climate Change,” suggests “prompt and sustained efforts to promote major technological and behavioral changes,” with actions by the U.S. critical to prompting other countries to act.
In his lead paragraph on the three reports released May 19 by Academy President Ralph J. Cicerone and several report authors, Associated Press’s Seth Borenstein wrote:
“Ditching its cautious tone, the nation’s top scientists urged the government Wednesday to take drastic action to raise the cost of using coal and oil to slow global warming.” He reported that the Academy’s call for a carbon tax or cap-and-trade approach and its suggestion to cut greenhouse gases by 83 percent by 2050 is “close to President Barack Obama’s goal.”
USA Today’s Dan Vergano concluded his May 20 story on the reports by quoting political scientist David Victor of the University of California San Diego that scientists “weighing in one more time aren’t going to change things.” Victor told Vergano that “the fundamental problems we have in climate are political in nature” and not just scientific.
The reports were released in Washington during a mad-rush of media focus on the ongoing BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill crisis, providing steep competition for the dwindling science news hole of many news organizations. The reports nonetheless attracted coverage in most major national news outlets, and The New York Times on May 23 editorialized (“Are They Paying Attention?”) that the reports amount to “an authoritative rebuttal to skeptics in the Senate and industry” suggesting “the whole thing is a hoax.”
That editorial mocked a “retrograde” Senate effort by Alaska Republican Lisa Murkowski and others to block EPA regulation of carbon dioxide. Saying that regulatory authority will be particularly important if Congress fails to legislate, the Times editorial said “That the Senate would even think of undercutting it is astonishing.”
An “Americas Climate Choices” report expected to be released during June is to focus on climate change communications and information sharing activities. Copies of the three reports released May 19 are available from National Academies Press at 202-334-3313 or 1-800-624-6242 or online. A video of the public briefing also is available online.