When you cite the 99% consensus statistic it is best to use “climate scientists” and not “scientists.” You can also use “peer-reviewed climate research” or “climate experts.”

After all, if you or child has a serious pancreas problem, I don’t think you’re going to be terribly interested what your cardiologist thinks, let alone your dentist. Similarly, it’s what climate scientists understand and what they can demonstrate in the peer-reviewed literature that we should care about.

“The science linking human activities to climate change is analogous to the science linking smoking to lung and cardiovascular diseases,” as the world’s largest general scientific society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, wrote in a 2014 report. They explained that climate scientists are as certain that humans are responsible for recent climate change as medical experts are sure that cigarettes are dangerous to your health.

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Because science is based on observations, it is always subject to revision. On the one hand, evidence might arise that weakens our confidence in a theory.

On the other hand, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences wrote in its 2010 report, Advancing the Science of Climate Change:

“Some scientific conclusions or theories have been so thoroughly examined and tested, and supported by so many independent observations and results, that their likelihood of subsequently being found to be wrong is vanishingly small. Such conclusions and theories are then regarded as settled facts. This is the case for the conclusions that the Earth system is warming and that much of this warming is very likely due to human activities.”

Scientists view warming as a settled fact because so much evidence points to that conclusion.

For instance, the 1980s were the warmest decade on record at the Earth’s surface. That record was then topped by the 1990s. And again, the 2000s were the hottest decade on record. And most recently, the 2010s became the hottest decade ever.

Human-caused global warming is relentless, which is why it must be addressed with a strong government action as soon as possible.

And the consensus keeps getting stronger as the evidence keeps piling up. The UK Guardian reported in 2019 that, “The scientific consensus that humans are causing global warming is likely to have passed 99%, according to the lead author of the most authoritative study on the subject.”

That author, Dr. John Cook, told the Guardian in July 2019 that “There was 99% scientific consensus in 2011 that humans are causing global warming” — but the consensus just kept growing as the evidence mounted.

In fact, a November 2019 analysis found “The consensus among research scientists on anthropogenic [man-made] global warming” exceeded 99.9% “based on a review of 11,602 peer-reviewed articles on ‘climate change’ and ‘global warming’,” published that year.

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With this kind of overwhelming scientific consensus, action on climate change becomes all the more urgent

Yet, no single person can turn the tide when it comes to climate change. It will take action on the government level to make the needed changes.

But we can all help put pressure on our elected leaders and demand that they back science-based initiatives. Science Moms is working towards that goal by arming mothers with the knowledge and tools they need to understand climate science.

Science Moms is making it easy for mothers from all backgrounds to take action!

⇒ Click here to send a letter to your Senators and Representative RIGHT NOW!⇐

We owe it to our children. Stand with Science Moms!

This article was produced and distributed in partnership with Potential Energy Coalition in support of the Science Moms.