Nature & Environment

Global Warming: Human Factor Sets Record As Unanimous Cause Of Climate Change

Michael Finn
First Posted: Apr 26, 2016 05:20 AM EDT

A global warming research team has confirmed that 97 percent of climate scientists have agreed that humans are causing climate change and global warming. Sarah Green, part of the group and a chemistry professor at Michigan Technological University, claims that the research is not just one study but a consensus of multiple studies.

In the paper, the team discusses consensus on consensus, which gets information from seven independent studies by the co-authors. Through their collaboration, researchers and their gathered data lead to the same conclusion about global warming.

There are many surveys done about global warming. However, some of these surveys are biased towards populations that have predetermined points of view, Green pointed out. Also, respondents of other surveys do not have the right knowledge in climate science.

Only about 12 percent of the United States population is aware of the strong scientific agreement in this area. Those who think that debates among scientists are still ongoing do not perceive the urgency of the problem. Hence, they are unlikely to give support to presented solutions.

The new paper published is a rebuttal to criticisms on the 2013 paper, EcoWatch reported. A website called skepticalscience.com, which Green contributes to, aimed to refute doubters of climate change. The lead author of the new study John Cook, who is from the University of Queensland, Australia, runs the website.

"The progress made at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris late last year indicates that countries are now well and truly behind the scientific consensus, too," says Cook.

Co-author Naomi Oreskes also provided a comment by saying, "By compiling and analyzing all of this research... essentially a meta-study of meta-studies... we've established a consistent picture with high levels of scientific agreement among climate experts."

Global warming leaves climate scientists little doubt, especially that there's a consensus on consensus paper. The findings was published by Environmental Research Letters.

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