The Island of Doubt

The Canadian Press has this story about Canadian scientists who have written an open letter calling on the Canadian voter to consider climate change in next week's federal election. When will their American colleagues follow suit?

Here's the opening to the letter:

We have been disturbed by what we perceive to be a lack of attention to the environment during this election campaign. While it's clear the public accepts that global warming is a threat, it seems people have simply no idea how serious this issue is. Global warming is without a doubt the defining issue of our time, and we cannot let economic turmoil in the USA dissuade us from addressing the problem. Dealing with the environment means dealing with economics in a sustainable way.

VANCOUVER -- More than 120 of Canada's top climate scientists have signed an open letter urging Canadians to vote strategically for the environment in next week's federal election.

Andrew Weaver, a lead author with last year's Nobel Peace Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, says global warming is the defining issue of our time.

But Dr. Weaver says the Conservative government of Stephen Harper has not addressed the "innovative and urgent policies" needed to significantly reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.

The group's John Stone says this is shaping up to be "the rare election in which the environment is the issue."

Dr. Stone says never has attention to the environment been more necessary, but he says the opportunity for an informed national debate on Canada's response to global warming is slipping away.

Campaigning in Vancouver on Tuesday, Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion said the Conservatives have still not embraced the concept that climate change is real.

"We have a government that believes that ideology should trump science," Mr. Dion told party supporters. "Stephen Harper has denied the reality of climate change."

The letter, signed by a who's who of Canada's top climate experts, says "it seems people have simply no idea how serious this issue is" even though it's clear the public accepts that global warming is a threat.

"Global warming is a problem that must be dealt with now, before it's too late," says the letter. "Any further delay will only increase the risks of damage and costs of action.

"The world needs to start down a path of greenhouse-gas reduction to avert the most serious consequences of global warming."

Even if atmospheric greenhouse gases are stabilized at current levels, it says, the Arctic would still go ice free in the summer, between 10 and 25 per cent of the world's species would still be committed to extinction, and weather will continue to become more extreme.

Many of the letter's signatories are research scientists who depend on federal granting agencies for the bulk of their funding.