Climate change is real, a group of 31 scientific organizations felt the need to remind the members of Congress Tuesday in a letter. “Observations throughout the world make it clear that climate change is occurring, and rigorous scientific research concludes that the greenhouse gases emitted by human activities are the primary driver. This conclusion is based on multiple independent lines of evidence and the vast body of peer-reviewed science,” the groups wrote.
The groups offered to work with Congress to address the threat of climate change and noted the impacts it will have on society. “For the United States, climate change impacts include greater threats of extreme weather events, sea level rise, and increased risk of regional water scarcity, heat waves, wildfires, and the disturbance of biological systems. The severity of climate change impacts is increasing and is expected to increase substantially in the coming decades,” they wrote.
The letter was signed by: the American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Chemical Society, American Geophysical Union, American Institute of Biological Sciences, American Meteorological Society, American Public Health Association, American Society of Agronomy, American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, American Society of Naturalists, American Society of Plant Biologists, American Statistical Association, Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography, Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation, Association of Ecosystem Research Centers, BioQUEST Curriculum Consortium, Botanical Society of America, Consortium for Ocean Leadership, Crop Science Society of America, Ecological Society of America, Entomological Society of America, Geological Society of America, National Association of Marine Laboratories, Natural Science Collections Alliance, Organization of Biological Field Stations, Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, Society for Mathematical Biology, Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Society of Nematologists, Society of Systematic Biologists, Soil Science Society of America, and University Corporation for Atmospheric Research