Royal Society Clears the Air on Climate Change

A new, short guide 'Climate Change- a summary of the science' explains the areas of wide consensus and continuing debate among climate scientists

The Royal Society guide describes how and why the earth is currently warming, and explains the wide range of independent measurements and observations which underpin this understanding. It shows that there is strong evidence that over the last half century, the earth’s warming has been caused largely by human activity. 

It also explains the uncertainty involved in predicting the size of future temperature increases. There are many potentially serious consequences of climate change, so that important decisions need to be made. The guide concludes that, as in many other areas, policy choices will have to be made in the absence of perfect knowledge, but that the scientific evidence is an essential part of public reasoning in this complex and challenging area.

The 15-page report can be accessed here.