AAS Resolution on Endorsement of AGU's 2012 Statement on Climate Change

Adopted 6 January 2013

In its 2012 statement on Climate Change, the American Geophysical Union (AGU) has reconfirmed that there is compelling evidence of human impact on the climate system with potentially far-reaching consequences for ecological and political systems. The AGU has made a powerful case that increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere significantly contributes to the warming of the global climate. The AGU recognizes that the climate system is complex, and there are uncertainties in climate projections that are made. However, it notes that there are no known sources of uncertainty that could make the impact of climate change inconsequential, and it recommends substantially reducing our net annual CO2 emissions.

There are numerous aspects of this complex, multi-disciplinary problem that fall within the realm of astronomy, such as solar variations, planetary atmospheres, radiative transfer and numerical modeling. Our fundamental approach to interacting with the world -- collecting reproducible large datasets, using state-of-the-art detectors, reconstructing remote phenomena, understanding the world through physical models, and employing sound statistical analyses of significance -- are highly congruent with the modus operandi of earth scientists.

The American Astronomical Society (AAS) acknowledges the AGU’s careful review of the current body of knowledge using sound scientific methodologies, and recognizes its collective expertise in scientific subfields central to assessing and understanding global change. The AAS joins the AGU in calling for continued peer-reviewed climate research to inform climate-related policy decisions, to provide a basis for mitigating the harmful effects of global change, and to help communities adapt and become resilient to extreme climatic events.