20 July 2006
Science Is Solid on Climate Change, Experts Tell Congress
United States reducing emissions, but doubt remains on long-term possibilities
Washington – U.S. government scientists testified before a U.S. congressional committee July 20, trying to dispel any remaining doubts that climate change -- and the human role in it -- is a real phenomenon documented by abundant scientific research.
House Government Reform Committee Chairman Tom Davis, a Republican from Virginia, urged the issue be discussed in a nonpartisan way.
“For too long, the political dialogue on climate change has been dominated by black-and-white grandstanding, either finger-wagging or head-in-the-sand denial and denunciation,” he said. “There has been no reasonable discourse.”
Committee members wanted to start with the basics: Is climate change real and how significant is the influence of human activity?
“Some greenhouse gases are increasing in the atmosphere because of human activities and increasingly trapping more heat,” said Thomas Karl, director of the National Climatic Data Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
James Connaughton, the chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, presented the panel with details on the $29 billion investment in climate-change programs the Bush administration has advocated since 2001.
“There’s a lot of agreement … on warming,” said Connaughton. Lot of agreement on human contribution to the problem. We begin to get into issues [of disagreement] about the extent to which humans are a problem.”
The extent of the human contribution and the means to ameliorate human impact are matters of further disagreement among policymakers in the United States and elsewhere. How fast the planet might undergo drastic change, endangering low-lying lands and disrupting agriculture, is another matter of debate.
Scientists use climate models to project what the different outcomes might result from fluctuations of the many variables in the climate system. Climate models are computer programs that use mathematical equations to simulate the interactions of the atmosphere, oceans, land surface and ice. “Climate models have become the primary means to predict climate,” said Karl.
Scientists have to use some approximations in their data about climate conditions in constructing the models. Critics of climate-change science argue those models are inaccurate and provide insufficient basis upon which to make major changes in the use of fossil fuels, which create the greenhouse gases believed to contribute to global warming.
Questioned about such criticism, Karl stood by the models. “They’re reliable enough to be a very useful guide into the future,” the scientist told the lawmakers.
During the Bush presidency, the United States has invested heavily in programs to address climate change, and to research, construct and promote alternate energy sources that will not emit greenhouse gases, said Connaughton. The U.S. government is currently sponsoring 60 programs that promote energy research and innovation.
On the international stage, Connaughton said the United States has been a global leader in addressing climate change and promoting energy efficiency through multilateral partnerships such as the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate and Methane to Markets. (See related article.)
He said the United States also is moving apace with other major nations in its efforts to slow the growth of greenhouse gas emissions. “We’re pulling in the same direction at the same rate.”
For additional information, see Environment and related articles on the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
