The Emailanysts

--by Horatio Algeranon

Climate change has not gone away
Despite whatever the emailanysts say.

emailanyst: "email analyst"; one who is "expert" at "analyzing" (and decontextualizing) private (especially hacked) emails between scientists for the purpose of drawing definitive conclusions about the in-validity of scientific findings -- without the need to understand (or even consider) the actual science involved. Synonym -- "frauditor": one who finds (or at least claims to find) fraud or a conspiracy to commit fraud in everything he looks at.

So, do we listen to "climate science conspiracy"-positing emailanysts?

Or to scientists?

Hmm ... such a difficult decision.

The National Academy of Sciences has just released a report affirming (once again) the reality and potential seriousness of human-caused climate change:

A strong, credible body of scientific evidence shows that climate change is occurring, is caused largely by human activities, and poses significant risks for a broad range of human and natural systems.

As a result of the growing recognition that climate change is underway and poses serious risks for both human societies and natural systems, the question that decision makers are asking has expanded from “what is happening” to “what is happening and what can we do to respond?”

there is a strong, credible body of evidence, based on multiple lines of research, documenting that Earth is warming. Strong evidence also indicates that recent warming is largely caused by human activities, especially the release of greenhouse gases through the burning of fossil fuels. Global warming is closely associated with other climate changes and impacts, including rising sea levels, increases in intense rainfall events, decreases in snow cover and sea ice, more frequent and intense heat waves, increases in wildfires, longer growing seasons, and ocean acidification. Individually and collectively, these changes pose risks for a wide range of human and environmental systems. While much remains to be learned, the core phenomenon, scientific questions, and hypotheses have been examined thoroughly and have stood firm in the face of serious scientific debate and careful evaluation of alternative explanations.