The solid scientific consensus on climate change (3) - Record-Searchlight (blog)

The United States Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) "coordinates and integrates federal research on changes in the global environment and their implications for society."

Thirteen departments and agencies from within our federal government participate in the USGCRP, which "has made the world's largest scientific investment in the areas of climate change and global change research."

Back in 1989, the USGCRP and The Department of Energy (DOE) established the Carbon Dioxide Program to "initiate focused research on the problem of early detection of global climate change. This initiative seeks to identify the atmospheric and other measurements that appear promising in providing the early warming signals and to develop the analytical method­ologies for quantifying the links between the 'greenhouse' gas increases and climate change. The initiative spans the first two science elements and will examine the cause and effect relationships involved in global warming."

The DOE was also tasked with "research to quantify the relationships between carbon dioxide and other trace gases and temperature rise."

In October 1993, "the U.S. Climate Change Action Plan was released, which outlined U.S. actions to limit the emissions of greenhouse gases in the year 2000 to the emission levels of 1990. It also committed the United States to examine long-term strategies to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases."

And in 1995, our own government determined that humans were responsible for global warming. They did not equivocate. They did not say this might be true and they certainly did not agree with the deniers who nearly 20 years later still don't know what our government knew then:

Scientists and governments around the world agree that continuing anthro­pogenic emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, chlorofluorocarbons, and other greenhouse gases and greenhouse gas precursors are expected to lead to significant warming, shifts in precipitation patterns, and rising sea levels, and have already led to stratospheric ozone depletion."

This was 1995.

In 2009, the USGCRP released a report stating, "Observations show that warming of the climate is unequivocal. The global warming observed over the past 50 years is due primarily to human-induced emissions of heat-trapping gases. These emissions come mainly from the burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil, and gas), with important contributions from the clearing of forests, agricultural practices, and other activities."

Also this:

"Climate-related changes have already been observed globally and in the United States. These include increases in air and water temperatures, reduced frost days, increased frequency and intensity of heavy downpours, a rise in sea level, and reduced snow cover, glaciers, permafrost, and sea ice. A longer ice-free period on lakes and rivers, lengthening of the growing season, and increased water vapor in the atmosphere have also been observed. Over the past 30 years, temperatures have risen faster in winter than in any other season, with average winter temperatures in the Midwest and northern Great Plains increasing more than 7°F. Some of the changes have been faster than previous assessments had suggested."

That same year, the USGCRP released a booklet titled "Climate Literacy, The Essential Principles of Climate Sciences." On the cover we read: "A Climate-Oriented Approach for Learners of all Ages" and "A Guide for Individuals and Communities."

Inside we read:

"We now know that...human activities--burning fossil fuels and deforesting large areas of land, for instance--have had a profound influence on Earth's climate. In its 2007 Fourth Assessment, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stated that it had 'very high confidence that the global average net effect of human activities since 1750 has been one of warming.' The IPCC attributes humanity's global warming influence primarily to the increase in three key heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere: carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide.

"The U.S. Climate Change Science Program published findings in agreement with the IPCC report, stating that 'studies to detect climate change and attribute its causes using patterns of observed temperature change in space and time show clear evidence of human influences on the climate system (due to changes in greenhouse gases, aerosols, and stratospheric ozone).'"

According to the USGCRP, to have Climate Literacy means to accept that human beings are responsible for global warming. If a person denies this fact, does this not make him illiterate, according to these scientific reports from our own federal government?