ONLINE MEDIA BRIEFING - Monday 16 August at 3pm AEST online

Embargo lifted 3pm AEST Mon 16 August

The highly respected Australian Academy of Science has released one of the clearest statements on climate science yet produced. Based on a series of key questions, the publication attempts to clear up recent confusion created by contradictory information in the public domain. It sets out to explain the current situation, where there is consensus in the scientific community and where uncertainties still exist.

The Science of Climate Change: Questions and Answers was put together by a Working Group and Oversight Committee made up of Academy Fellows and other expert Australian scientists. This represents the first time the Academy has produced a document of this kind.

The Australian Science Media Centre streamed the launch online for journalists.

Follow an audio visual presentation of  the full event by clicking here

BRIEFING DETAILS:
DATE: Monday 16 August 2010
START TIME: 3pm AEST
DURATION: 90 min

SPEAKERS:
• Professor Suzanne Cory AC FAA FRS, President of the Australian Academy of Science
• Professor Kurt Lambeck AO FAA FRS, Immediate Past President of the Australian Academy of Science
• Dr Mike Raupach is a climate scientist, fellow of the Academy of Science and was Co-Chair of the Working Group
• Dr Ian Allison is a climate scientist and was Co-Chair of the Working Group

Listen to the presentations (mp3)
Part one
Part two
Part three
Part four

Listen to the Q and A session (mp3)
Part one
Part two
Part three

For further information, please contact the AusSMC on 08 7120 8666 or email us.

RAPID ROUNDUP - independent climate change experts comment on the launch of the statement

To complement today’s online briefing of the launch of the Australian Academy of Science’s statement on climate change, we have compiled comments from independent climate change experts. Feel free to use these quotes in your stories. If you would like to speak to an expert or to see the statement, please don’t hesitate to contact us on (08) 7120 8666 or by email.

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Professor Will Steffen is Executive Director of the Climate Institute at The Australian National University, ACT

“This document, produced by the most authoritative scientific body in Australia, is a welcome and important contribution to the public discourse on climate change. The document acknowledges the significant uncertainties that surround our knowledge about how climate change will continue to unfold this century and beyond, but it makes absolutely clear that we know two critical aspects of climate change with a very high degree of certainty: (i) climate change is indeed real and is already happening, and (ii) human emissions of greenhouse gases are the primary cause. This knowledge is a compelling and incontrovertible basis on which to take policy action.”

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Professor Neville Nicholls is an ARC Professorial Fellow in the School of Geography and Environmental Science at Monash University, Victoria. He is also President of the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society

“2010 is becoming known as the year of the heat wave, with 17 countries having set new record hot temperatures, while only a single country has set a new cold record, according to a report in The Guardian newspaper last week. And this year, 2010, has already broken the record for the number of countries setting new record hot temperatures - the previous record of 14 countries was set only three years ago, in 2007. While ‘one swallow does not a summer make, nor one fine day’ a ratio of 17 new hot records to only a single new cold record is pretty convincing evidence that the world is warming. So this accessible summary of climate science, prepared by Australia’s peak scientific body, is timely and welcome.”

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