---------- Forwarded message ---------- The following is for your information and, if you agree, action.
Brent
______________________________ Forward Header __________________________________ Dear Thayne, George, Tim, Brent, Dick, Fred and Bob,
I send this note to you as the deans of scientific colleges on campus. I
write to ask your help in disseminating information about a Scientists'
Statement on Climatic Change which is designed to help communicate
scientific consensus about climatic change to policy makers as they prepare
for negotiations on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The statement is not
controversial; it simply restates much of what is in the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The initial signatories of the statement
are Peter Raven, John Holdren, Sherry Rowland, Hal Mooney, George Woodwell
and me. (All of these folks are members of the NAS; Peter is Home
Secretary; Sherry is Foreign Secretary and a Nobel Laureate.)
More than 2000 economists recently weighed in on this issue with the
strong message that it is in the nations' interests to reduce emissions. Tim
Wirth, the Undersecretary of State for Global Affairs and one of our chief
negotiators on this issue has told us it would be very helpful to the US
policy folks if they had a comparable statement from a large group of
scientists.
The need for the statement is immediate: key US policy meetings are
scheduled for June. Hence, we are making every effort to alert a large
group of scientists about the statement and give them the option of adding
their signatures. AAAS is putting a note in SCIENCE; Ozone Action, a
climate information group in Washington has posted it on their web page
(http://www.ozone.org); AAAS has a hot link from our home page
(http://www.aaas.org) to the Ozone Action page. Letters are being mailed to
members of a few professional societies, but I think that we can get the
word out more directly via email and the web.
I'm guessing that many scientists at OSU would like to know of the
statement and might like to sign it. A letter of explanation and the
statement are below. I can provide additional information and background if
anyone wishes. I would be very grateful if you would forward this note to
your faculty. Doing so does not constitute an endorsement or statement of
insitutional policy, but simply a communication of an opportunity for
individual scientists to participate should they decide to do so. Thanks
for your help,
Sincerely, ********************************************************
Dear OSU Scientist,
Despite the existence of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC), there is confusion in the policy arena about how scientists view the
problem of climatic change. A recently released statement signed by over
2000 economists sent a clear and powrful message to the policy community
about their strong support for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, both for
climate and conservation of energy reasons. It is time for the scientific
community to send a similarly strong message. I invite you to endorse the
attached statement and to help circulate it for additional signatures.
The statement calls for early action by the United States in addressing
the purposes of the Framework Convention on Climate Change, now ratified by
more than 160 nations including the U.S. This statement was intiated and
written by six of your collegues who hope you will join them in raising
awareness about the threat of climatic change. The statement will be
distributed with a complete list of supporters to the current
administration, Congress, international polcy makers, public interest
organizations, industry, and the news media in hopes of stimulating
immediate action.
This year, governments around the world are negotiating a protocol on
global climatic change that is to be signed in Kyoto, Japan this December.
To date, the U.S. has been unwilling to put forward its proposal on targets
and timetables for emissions reductions and has also stated that any
emissions reductions before 2010 are premature. The succsss of the
international negotiations largely depends upon U.S. leadership. The U.S.
has an important opportunity to exercise leadership by taking precautionary
measure to mitigate climatic changes in the face of substantial ecological
and financial risks. Our immediate goal with the statement is to show
scientific solidarity on this issue in time for critical policy meetings in
mid June.
If you wish to participate in this effort, please print out and sign the
endorsement form below by 6 June, 1997. Return the form by fax or mail to
Ozone Action, a public information organization in Washington D.C., which is
coordinating collection of signatures. Feel free to acccess or pass along
Ozone Action's web site where the climate statement is posted
(http://www.ozone.org) and to pass along this message to any colleagues whom
you think might like to know of the statement. Thanks!
Sincerely,
******************************************************** SCIENTISTS' STATEMENT ON GLOBAL CLIMATIC DISRUPTION We are scientists who are familiar with the causes and effects of climatic
change as summarized recently by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC). We endorse those reports and observe that the further
accumulation of greenhouse gases commits the earth irreversibly to further
global climatic change and consequent ecological, economic and social
disruption. The risks associated with such changes justify preventive
action through reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases. In ratifying
the Framework Convention on Climate Change, the United States agreed in
principle to reduce its emissions. It is time for the United States, as the
largest emitter of greenhouse gases, to fulfill this commitment and
demonstrate leadership in a global effort.
Human-induced global climatic change is under way. The IPCC concluded that
global mean surface air temperature has increased by between about 0.5 and
1.1 degrees Fahrenheit in the last 100 years and anticipates a further
continuing rise of 1.8 to 6.3 degrees Fahrenheit during the next century.
Sea-level has risen on average 4-10 inches during the past 100 years and is
expected to rise another 6 inches to 3 feet by 2100. Global warming from the
increase in heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere causes an amplified
hydrological cycle resulting in increased precipitation and flooding in some
regions and more severe aridity in other areas. The IPCC concluded that "The
balance of evidence suggests a discernible human influence on global
climate." The warming is expected to expand the geographical ranges of
malaria and dengue fever and to open large new areas to other human diseases
and plant and animal pests. Effects of the disruption of climate are
sufficiently complicated that it is appropiate to assume there will be
effects not now anticipated.
Our familiarity with the scale, severity, and costs to human welfare of the
disruptions that the climatic changes threaten leads us to introduce this
note of urgency and to call for early domestic action to reduce U.S.
emissions via the most cost-effective means. We encourage other nations to
join in similar actions with the purpose of producing a substantial and
progressive global reduction in greenhouse gas emissions beginning
immediately. We call attention to the fact that there are financial as well
as environmental advantages to reducing emissions. More than 2000 economists
recently observed that there are many potential policies to reduce
greenhouse-gas emissions for which total benefits outweigh the total costs.
The Framework Convention on Climate Change, ratified by the United States and
more than 165 other nations, calls for stabilization of greenhouse gas
concentrations in the atmosphere at levels that will protect human interests
and nature. The Parties to the Convention will meet in December, 1997, in
Kyoto, Japan to prepare a protocol implementing the convention. We urge that
the United States enter that meeting with a clear national plan to limit
emissions, and a recommendation as to how the U.S. will assist other nations
in significant steps toward achieving the joint purpose of stabilization.
Initial Signatories:
F. Sherwood Rowland
Date: Thu, 15 May 1997 11:32:34 -0700
From: G. Brent Dalrymple
To: faculty@OCE.ORST.EDU
Subject: Scientists' Statement on Climatic Change
Subject: Scientists' Statement on Climatic Change
Author: Jane Lubchenco
Date: 5/15/97 9:46 AM
Jane
Jane Lubchenco
EMBARGOED FOR MEDIA RELEASE UNTIL 6:00PM EDT ON 6/23/97
June 1997
Peter H. Raven
Harold A. Mooney
John P. Holdren
Jane Lubchenco
George M. Woodwell