For Immediate Release
December, 02 2009, 02:30pm EDT
Contact:
Aaron Huertas, 202-331-5458
Prominent Climate Scientist Joins Colleagues in Assuring Senators That Stolen E-Mails Have 'No Impact' on Climate Science Conclusions
WASHINGTON
James McCarthy, a former
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change lead author,
sent
a letter
(pdf) to Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) today stressing that
e-mails stolen from climate scientists have no bearing on our overall
understanding of climate science.
Dr. McCarthy is board chair of both the American Association
for the Advancement of Science and the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).
The letter reads in full: "The scientific process depends on
open access to methodology, data, and a rigorous peer-review process. The
robust exchange of ideas in the peer-reviewed literature regarding climate
science is evidence of the high degree of integrity in this process. The body
of evidence that human activity is prominent agent in global warming is
overwhelming. The content of these a few personal emails has no impact
what-so-ever on our overall understanding that human activity is driving
dangerous levels of global warming."
Similarly, a
Nature
editorial
published today states there is no reason for its editors to
revisit papers submitted by scientists whose e-mails were stolen. The American
Meteorological Society also recently stated
the e-mails gave
them no reason
to revisit its conclusion that human activity is driving
climate change.
According
to UCS
, the evidence for climate change is incontrovertible. While it is
still not clear any wrongdoing actually took place, the group said, scientists in
general should do more to address concerns about openness.
For more comments on the stolen e-mails, climate blogger
Josh Nelson has
assembled
a compilation
of reactions from scientists and other groups to the stolen
e-mails.
The Union of Concerned Scientists is the leading science-based nonprofit working for a healthy environment and a safer world. UCS combines independent scientific research and citizen action to develop innovative, practical solutions and to secure responsible changes in government policy, corporate practices, and consumer choices.
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"Still questioning a genocidal intent?" asked one human rights campaigner.
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An Israeli lawmaker from the ruling right-wing Likud Party on Wednesday offered fresh evidence that the Israeli government's aim in its bombardment of Gaza is a genocidal effort to kill or forcibly remove the more than 2 million Palestinians living there, declaring, "Gaza should be erased."
With the support of the United States and other Western countries, Israel has claimed since October 7—when Hamas launched a surprise attack on southern Israel, killing as many as 1,400 people and taking more than 200 hostage—that its bombardment of Gaza is necessary to destroy the armed group, even though the IDF has repeatedly struck civilian targets and killed nearly 9,000 Palestinians so far, including over 3,500 children.
After screening a 45-minute montage of footage taken by Hamas fighters' body cameras during the October 7 attack, Knesset member and former Public Diplomacy Minister Galit Distal Atbaryan posted on Facebook that Israeli officials must invest all their energy "in one thing: erasing all of Gaza from the face of the Earth."
"That the brave monsters will fly to the southern fence and enter Egyptian territory," Atbaryan continued, an apparent reference to Israel's reported plan to permanently expel Palestinians who survive the assault to Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, imposing a "second Nakba" on the population. "Or let them die... Gaza needs to be wiped out."
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Writer and organizer Fiona Edwards noted that despite public comments like Atbaryan's, the U.S. and other Western governments continue to insist that "Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East."
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Defense Minister Yoav Gallant called residents of Gaza, about half of whom are children, "human animals" as he ordered a "complete siege" on the enclave including a total blockade of food, fuel, and electricity.
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Leftist Chilean President Gabriel Boric on Tuesday recalled Jorge Carvajal, his country's ambassador to Israel, "given the unacceptable violations of international humanitarian law that Israel has incurred in the Gaza Strip."
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This post has been updated with the letter to U.S. President Joe Biden.
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