Madison, Wisconsin
April 11, 2007
The 11,000 members of three
scientific societies with its roots in agriculture have been
closely watching the reports coming out of the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
It is the IPCC’s 4th Assessment Report released on April 6, "Climate
Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis" that points to the
direct consequences of climate change. Leading scientists from
all over the world contributed to the latest installment of this
report that attributes ecosystem changes to human-induced global
warming. Following the release of the report, the presidents of
the American Society
of Agronomy (ASA), Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), and
Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) issued this statement
today:
"The Climate Change report released by the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change underscores the need to drastically
improve the way we manage our agricultural resources. While the
impacts of climate change will be positive in some areas of the
world, such as those gaining longer growing seasons and those
with sufficient water resources, other areas will be adversely
impacted, and it is these areas that will need improved soil and
water management practices. Society member scientists are poised
to conduct further research into how we can effectively manage
plant, soil, and water resources and how we can adapt our
current knowledge and research to reduce these negative
impacts."
The three scientific society presidents are:
- ASA President Dr. Jerry Hatfield, Ames, IA
- CSSA President Dr. Henry L. Shands, Fort Collins, CO
- SSSA President Dr. Rattan Lal, Columbus, OH
The Societies applaud the work of the IPCC and the more than
2,500 scientific expert reviewers from more than 130 countries
who have spent six years working on the report, which was
unveiled at a meeting in Brussels, Belgium last Friday. Several
member scientists of ASA-CSSA-SSSA contributed to the report.
The second chapter of the IPCC's 4th Assessment takes a
comprehensive assessment of the current scientific knowledge of
the natural vs. human drivers of climate change, the ability of
science to attribute changes to different causes, and
projections for future climate change. A 23-page summary is
available at: www.ipcc.ch.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was
established by the World Meteorological Organization (WMP) and
the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in 1988 to
assess scientific, technical and socio-economic information
relevant for the understanding of climate change, its potential
impacts and options for adaptation and mitigation.
The American Society of
Agronomy (ASA), the Crop
Science Society of America (CSSA) and the
Soil Science Society of America
(SSSA) are educational organizations helping their 11,000+
members advance the disciplines and practices of agronomy, crop
and soil sciences by supporting professional growth and science
policy initiatives, and by providing quality, research-based
publications and a variety of member services. |
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