Climate Change & The Data
National Political Considerations
The debate over climate change in recent years has featured scientific, economic, and political components. But a major point of contention has long focused on the degree that human-produced greenhouse gases affect the climate.
A 2001 report prepared by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) at the request of President George W. Bush concluded:
“Greenhouse gases are accumulating in Earth’s atmosphere as a result of human activities, causing surface air temperatures and subsurface ocean temperatures to rise. Temperatures are, in fact, rising. The changes observed over the last several decades are likely mostly due to human activities, but we cannot rule out that some significant part of these changes is also a reflection of natural variability.”
Today, statements about human produced greenhouse gasses affecting the climate are even stronger than those issued by the NAS in 2001. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) notes on its website:
Scientists know with virtual certainty that:
- Human activities are changing the composition of Earth’s atmosphere. Increasing levels of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere since pre industrial times are well documented and understood.
- The atmospheric buildup of CO2 and other greenhouse gases is largely the result of human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels.
- The major greenhouse gases emitted by human activities remain in the atmosphere for periods ranging from decades to centuries. It is therefore virtually certain that atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases will continue to rise over the next few decades.
- Increasing greenhouse gas concentrations tend to warm the planet.
A working group of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently concluded, “Most of the observed increase in global average temperatures since the mid 20th century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic [human-caused] greenhouse gas concentrations.”
While some in the scientific community believe the investigative work behind climate change is far from settled, the evidence remains strong that human activities have already affected global climate and will continue to do so until effectively acted upon. Many in the world scientific community believe climate change as an issue has shifted to the political arena for its consideration and action. How did such overwhelming scientific consensus develop? For information on climate change studies, a brief history of climate change studies is available.
