The awful floods we’ve had have re-awakened the some of the old climate change arguments. Were they, or weren’t they, caused by climate change? Are our greenhouse emissions really at the root of climate change? And what should we best do to address climate change?
The leading science institutions in the UK and the US have come together with a timely report that answers such commonly asked questions. Having our Royal Society and the US National Academy of Sciences teaming up with a joint report puts a great deal of weight behind what they say. The scientific process is at the heart of these bodies - meticulous methods and evidence based analysis leading to conclusions based on what we know, and not on what might believe.
So what does the report say? Well, actually, quite a lot that’s already familiar. It says that the evidence is clear, that it is now more certain than ever, based on many lines of evidence, that humans are changing Earth’s climate. The atmosphere and oceans have warmed, accompanied by sea-level rise, a strong decline in Arctic sea ice, and other climate-related changes.
It’s also honest that, due to the nature of science, not every single detail is totally settled or completely certain. Nor has every pertinent question yet been answered. Scientific evidence continues to be gathered around the world, and assumptions and findings about climate change are continually analysed and tested. There are some areas of active debate - this is all good science, probing and questioning findings, seeking the most clear-cut answers. These areas include the link between ocean heat content and the rate of warming, estimates of how much warming to expect in the future, and the connections between climate change and extreme weather events.
Presented in the form of 20 key questions, the report is a good read, and good to dip into for information. Some of the questions are straightforward: is the climate warming? How much sea level rise? Are current levels of atmospheric CO2 unprecedented? Other delve a bit more deeply: why is climate change a concern now? Why is sea ice decreasing in the Arctic but not in Antarctica? Why does ocean acidification matter?
It’s not quite a pub guide to climate change, but certainly a great resource for thinking rationally about climate change, and to give context for all the related things we read in the media. And it’s good for arming yourself for discussion, whether at work, at home, for study and perhaps even at the pub. Climate change is one of the big issues of today, so why not – and it may make a change from talking about the weather...