US scientists to speak out against climate change sceptics

Hundreds of US scientists are joining a mass effort to speak out on climate change, experts said Monday after sceptics gained political ground with last week's Republican wins in Congress. The moves signals a bold approach by scientists, typically reluctant to get involved in policy debates, as US President Barack Obama's efforts to install stricter penalties for polluters face a steep climb in the legislature.
One group of about 40 scientists has been mobilised as a "rapid response team" to dive into the often hostile media environment and refute misinformation about global warming, organiser John P. Abraham of the University of Minnesota told AFP.
Another group of 700 scientists who "have agreed to speak out as experts on questions about global warming and the role of man-made air pollution" was set to be announced later Monday by the American Geophysical Union, the Los Angeles Times said. "To the extent that some members of the new majority in the House have exhibited a contrarianism to science, I think it is a good way to have a scientific community there to help keep its facts clear," said Princeton University scientist Michael Oppenheimer, who has signed on with both groups.
"I think it is important for scientists to assure that the public and policy makers have a clear view of what scientific findings are and what the implications of those findings are," he told AFP. As many as half of the 100 new Republican members of Congress are sceptics of humans' role in climate change, according to a recent report by the left-wing think tank the Center for American Progress, cited by the LA Times.
Oppenheimer said the AGU's initiative, which does not expressly take a stance on climate change, predates by several months the latest congressional gains by Republicans who now control the House of Representatives. Abraham also said his group was formed not because of Tuesday's gains by conservatives, but because there is a wide difference between what the majority of scientists accept as fact about climate change and what the American public believes. "This is in response to a real disconnect between what is known in the scientific community and the consensus among the general public," he said. "Ninety-seven percent of top scientists are in agreement, but the public is split about 50-50."