Please, Pay Attention To The Science

It's hard not to pick up a newspaper these days without seeing an article about lowering expectations at the global COP-15 Climate Change conference in Copenhagen next month. If it is not about lowering expectations it is likely reporting on how potential climate change impacts are causing people to essentially tune out on climate change.

Amid those articles there is solid scientific data that tells us quite clearly that our planet is changing, and more members of the international community are recognizing this.

According to an article at the Voice of America reporting on the Arctic Report Card, the findings of a collaborative effort by 71 scientists from the international community note that:

Despite the fact that summer 2009 had more sea ice than in the previous 2 years, drastic changes have taken place in the Arctic during the past 5 years faster than scientists anticipated.

These are statements based on hard scientific data from respected members of the international scientific community, as well as what Inuit have been stating for years.

We, like science, speak from observation and from firsthand experience. We are already dealing with the consequences of global climate change inaction, and our observations and experiences are in step with and further informing climate change science.

On October 24th, at my presentation made to the European Development Days conference in Stockholm, Sweden, I called for the establishment of an International Climate Change Adaptation Fund with an initial investment of $20-billion by the G20 countries. It would be to help people across the globe adapt to, what I now view as, the inevitable consequences of climate change, and to accelerate the transfer of clean and renewable energy to third world and developing countries.

This is an absolutely crucial next step in helping to prepare those who most need assistance for the effects of what is expected next. I would also urge people to go beyond the sensationalized headlines that are all too often found on the pages of our media and to read the articles to determine if they are based on hard scientific data. Climate change is a real issue, and considering the implications people should not only be interested, they should be informed based on the best available science and Inuit knowledge.

Please continue to pay attention to this issue. It’s not time to tune out, it’s time to tune in.

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