The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum (ASDM) has produced a position statement on climate change which you can find deep within their website here: http://www.desertmuseum.org/center/climate_change.php
According to Craig Ivanyi, Executive Director of the museum, this statement was put together by the Museum’s Science Advisory Council which “is a board-level group chaired by a current trustee, that consists of science-minded trustees, science advisors from our region, as well as many staff, who meet several times a year to discuss conservation and science topics and issues that concern the Museum.”
Here is the statement:
The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum believes it is important to acknowledge the latest information and conclusions about climate change, which are based on data collected by thousands of people around the world, analyses by hundreds of scientists, and syntheses from experts in the field. Earth’s climate is changing — getting warmer on average — and the components of the atmosphere have changed as well, especially increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), as well as increases in other greenhouse gases. Based on the scientific community’s understanding of the processes that underlie global ecosystem functions, these increased greenhouse gas concentrations result primarily from human activities and are the principal drivers of recent and rapid changes to the earth’s climate. Climate warming is occurring faster and is more pronounced in the Southwest than in most areas of the world.
Climate change impacts natural ecosystems and wildlife everywhere. The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum is a trusted institution through which hundreds of thousands of people annually learn about and come to value our region and its natural setting and resident wildlife. By communicating about the impacts of climate change on plants, animals, habitats, and people, ASDM can play an important role in inspiring people to understand the climate challenges we face and to take action that will help decrease atmospheric CO2 concentrations to protect humanity and our environmental heritage.
My take on this statement:
Why ASDM felt that issuing a statement was necessary or even desirable remains a mystery to me. What purpose does it serve? The climate policy debate is highly controversial and steeped in politics. Why get involved?
In my opinion, this statement is unsupported by observational science and will only sully the Museum’s reputation for scientific integrity. There is no physical evidence supporting the contention that our carbon dioxide emissions “are the principal drivers of recent and rapid changes to the earth’s climate.” Also, ASDM invokes a non-existent consensus as justification for their position.
I urge readers to post their opinion in the comment section below, and to write to ASDM:
Craig Ivanyi, Executive Director: civanyi@desertmuseum.org
or write to ASDM at:
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
2021 N. Kinney Rd.
Tucson, AZ 85743
Why I think the ASDM position is wrong on the science:
Evidence that CO2 emissions do not intensify the greenhouse effect
This post shows that the CO2 greenhouse hypothesis fails on three major predictions according to physical evidence.
Failure of climate models shows that carbon dioxide does not drive global temperature
This post show the wide divergence between climate models and observations, indicating that the models are based on false assumptions.
This post provides an overview of Earth’s climate history and shows that many predictions of the IPCC et al. are wrong according the physical evidence.
The 97 percent consensus of human caused climate change debunked again