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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: jlallen who wrote (10173)	4/1/2001 6:18:23 PM
From: E	Read Replies (6) \| Respond to of 82486

Tell it to the Nobel Laureate Scientists, the majority of whom think you're wrong, lol. ucsusa.org April 17, 1998 The Usual Suspects Try Again to Stall Action on Global Warming Petition Based on Ideology, Not Peer-Reviewed Science Despite the weight of scientific evidence and worldwide opinion against them, the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine and leaders of the Marshall Institute will soon release a petition signed by their supporters in an attempt to undermine the newly negotiated Kyoto climate change treaty. Contrary to the petition's claims, there is a strong consensus in the world's scientific community that the threat of global warming is very real and action is needed immediately. "The petition seems intended to divert attention from the clear warnings of the world's leading scientists in order to postpone actions that could reduce the risks of global warming," said Howard Ris, Executive Director of the Union of Concerned Scientists. "The international scientific community is in broad agreement on these risks. Only these skeptics and their ideological supporters are asserting that we have nothing to worry about." The only apparent criterion for signing the petition is a bachelor's degree in science. The petition was widely circulated in an attempt to garner as many signatures as possible. To recruit signatures, the petition included a "review article" formatted to appear as an article in the distinguished peer-reviewed journal The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. It is not a journal article, nor is it likely it could be published in a mainstream science journal due to its extensive use of selective and misleading material. The "review article" contains all the skeptics' usual charges about the science of climate change. The current state of understanding of climate science is best represented by the 1995 Second Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The IPCC drew on the work of more than 2,000 of the world's top climate scientists and over 20,000 articles from the relevant literature. It points to the use of oil and coal as the cause of a build-up of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere leading to global warming. The IPCC projects that climate change could raise sea levels; increase the likelihood of more intense rainfall, floods, and droughts; and endanger human health. Last October, more than 1,600 of the world's most distinguished senior scientists, including the majority of Nobel laureates in science, signed a landmark consensus declaration sponsored by UCS urging immediate action to prevent the serious consequences of human-induced global warming. "It is troubling to see the petition's authors selectively use scientific information as it suits their ideology," said Ris. "Their petition is at odds with the peer-reviewed findings of the IPCC and should be soundly rejected."