Full text of an open letter from 255 members of the US National Academy of Sciences in defence of climate research

بیش از دویست و پنجاه نفر از اعضای آکادمی علوم ایالات متحده با انتشار نامه ی سرگشاده ای به زیرسوال بردن علم و دانشمندان توسط منتقدان و تکذیب کنندگان تغییرات اقلیم اعتراض کردند.  دو پاراگراف اول نامه را اینجا درج می کنم. اصل نامه توسط لینک بالا از روی سایت گاردین قابل دسترسی است.

We are deeply disturbed by the recent escalation of political assaults on scientists in general and on climate scientists in particular. All citizens should understand some basic scientific facts. There is always some uncertainty associated with scientific conclusions; science never absolutely proves anything. When someone says that society should wait until scientists are absolutely certain before taking any action, it is the same as saying society should never take action. For a problem as potentially catastrophic as climate change, taking no action poses a dangerous risk for our planet.

Scientific conclusions derive from an understanding of basic laws supported by laboratory experiments, observations of nature, and mathematical and computer modelling. Like all human beings, scientists make mistakes, but the scientific process is designed to find and correct them. This process is inherently adversarial— scientists build reputations and gain recognition not only for supporting conventional wisdom, but even more so for demonstrating that the scientific consensus is wrong and that there is a better explanation. That's what Galileo, Pasteur, Darwin, and Einstein did. But when some conclusions have been thoroughly and deeply tested, questioned, and examined, they gain the status of "well-established theories" and are often spoken of as "facts."

 این بخش نامه که در زیر کپی می کنم برایم جالب بود. در این بخش امضا کنندگان به برخی شواهد اخیر اشاره ی محدودی می کنند. مثلا اینکه یک دوره ی یخبندان یا یک زمستان برفی در یک منطقه ی خاص نشان دهنده ی رفع شدن خطر تغییرات اقلیم نیست یا اینکه تغییر اقلیم ضمن تایید وجود تحولات طبیعی، تحولات ناشی از عملکرد انسان را هم در فرآیند گرم شدن کره ی زمین دخیل می داند و در نهایت اینکه تازه این تمام ماجرا نیست و وجود بازخورد و اثرات متقابل ممکن است باعث بروز برخی رخدادهای کاملا پیش بینی نشده بشود.

(i) The planet is warming due to increased concentrations of heat-trapping gases in our atmosphere. A snowy winter in Washington does not alter this fact.

(ii) Most of the increase in the concentration of these gases over the last century is due to human activities, especially the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation.

(iii) Natural causes always play a role in changing Earth's climate, but are now being overwhelmed by human-induced changes.

(iv) Warming the planet will cause many other climatic patterns to change at speeds unprecedented in modern times, including increasing rates of sea-level rise and alterations in the hydrologic cycle. Rising concentrations of carbon dioxide are making the oceans more acidic.

(v) The combination of these complex climate changes threatens coastal communities and cities, our food and water supplies, marine and freshwater ecosystems, forests, high mountain environments, and far more.

 در مجموع از اینکه چنین حرکتی شده خوشحالم. متاسفانه بخش عمده ای از تکذیب کنندگان تغییر اقلیم افرادی هستند که با اهداف جنجالی دست به این کار می زنند و خصوصا در چند ماه اخیر توانسته بودند جایگاهی برای خود دست و پا کنند. شخصا معتقدم باید در این حوزه ی حساس جا برای صحبت همه فراهم باشه اما گاهی بعضی ها هدفی جز سودجویی و ضربه زدن به بنیان های علمی ندارند.