"Uncertainty," Fung said, "does not challenge my certainty about the fact the planet will warm."

The US National Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society have issued a FAQ on climate change which is being covered by the media.


Some good coverage over at NBC where Inez Fung, one of the authors, no longer hides her inner snark.  The message is that yes Oklahoma, climate change is happening and it is not going to be a bowl of cherries.  This is apparently getting through to the journos in the way they handle the now obligatory message from Ethan's little liver pool, subheading and juxtaposing the solicited quotation from RPJ

'Ho-hum' but necessary

Outside experts asked to comment on the report noted that it lacks new information, but neatly packages mainstream climate science for a general audience. "Ultimately, [it is] rather ho-hum, and pretty redundant to everything else that is out there," Roger Pielke Jr., a climate policy analyst and professor of environmental studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder, told NBC News in an email.

Ho-hummery aside, the National Academy of Sciences and Royal Society were compelled to make a statement, according to Michael Mann, a climate scientist at Pennsylvania State University in University Park. "Sadly, in today's political environment, where climate change denial is pervasive at our highest levels of government, it seems that the message is not being heard," he told NBC News via email.

and NBC puts the question raised by this report, all the IPCC reports, all the NRC reports and 97% of the published literature

Which option do we choose?

To move the debate forward on how to respond to climate change, the document describes available options, ranging from doing nothing and accepting the "losses, damage and suffering that arise," to a change in energy production and usage to limit greenhouse gas emissions or "geoengineering" of the climate to counteract some of the changes.

Which option — or portfolio of options — society ultimately chooses is up for debate. What's important for the scientific academies is that the debate occurs. Even as the scientific process evolves and raises new questions about climate change, the evidence is clear that human activity is forcing the climate to change, according to the report.

"Uncertainty," Fung said, "does not challenge my certainty about the fact the planet will warm."

IMPORTANT: Streaming video meeting now over, will post link to recording when available