With reference to the following online articles, ‘Royal Society issues new climate change guide that admits there are “uncertainties” about the science’ (by Niall Firth of the UK Daily Mail, 30 September 2010) and ‘Royal Society bows to climate change sceptics’ (published in The Times, 30 September 2010): Is the Minister aware of these articles and what response does the Minister have.

The Minister is aware of the Royal Society report, Climate change: A Summary of the Science. The Minister notes that the report summarises the current scientific understanding of climate change and clarifies the levels of confidence associated with this understanding. The report states it is drawn from “recent evidence and builds on the Fourth Assessment Report of Working Group I of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, published in 2007, which is the most comprehensive source of climate science and its uncertainties”.

The Minister is aware of a number of media articles commenting on the Royal Society Report. In particular the Minister is aware of the Letter to the Editor from the Vice-President of the Royal Society to The Australian newspaper following its reporting. The Letter states:

“Sir,

In your coverage of our newly published ‘Climate change: a summary of the science’ (Top science body cools on global warming 2nd October) your correspondents suggest that the Society has changed its position on climate change. This is simply not true. There is no greater uncertainty about future temperature increases now than the Royal Society had previously indicated. The science remains the same, as do the uncertainties - as anyone who actually reads the document can see. Indeed, the purpose of the new guide is precisely to help people understand what is well established and what is still uncertain.

There is strong evidence that changes in greenhouse gas concentrations due to human activity are the dominant cause of the global warming that has taken place over the last half century. The warming trend is expected to continue but the sizes of future temperature increases are still subject to uncertainty. Sound scientific evidence must be the basis of public debate and it is on evidence that the Royal Society bases its work.

Yours sincerely

Professor John Pethica

Vice-President of the Royal Society”