Climate Adventures.org is a part of the Climate Change Now Initiative, a nonprofit climate science outreach and education organization. We focus on critical new discoveries in climate science, that are dated or poorly reported in the media and critically fundamental to public awareness and climate pollution policy.
For over a decade we have been reporting on climate science research from the academic journals and institutional reports and investigating these findings in the field. Our focus areas are: climate change impacts already underway, the study of global warming psychology and the climate change counter-movement as it relates to public awareness, the perceived debate and proposed policy.
Our mission, driven by academic literature, tells us that the public is over 20 years behind the leading edge of climate science. (1) Because public knowledge drives policy, currently proposed climate pollution policy is badly dated. The biggest reason for this great disconnection is what research from Drexel and Stanford Universities say is an astonishing $900 million per year in climate change counter-movement funding. (2)
Fundamental to our mission is how increased communication of current climate science can promote greater public awareness and create better policy to address climate pollution.
We have written over 400 reports on the academic literature, published over 50 articles in the popular press, and produced two documentaries and a half dozen short films. This work can be seen on the Initiative’s website www.ClimateDiscovery.com.
Our principal resource and CEO is Bruce Melton. He is a professional engineer with 30 years of experience in critical environmental issues as a land development consultant in Austin, Texas. Melton began his scholarly science work with a million dollars in EPA Clean Water Act stormwater treatment technologies research.
In 2010 Melton was elected to the Austin region Sierra Club Executive Committee and he serves on the Region’s Conservation Committee as well. In January 2014, Melton was appointed to the Sierra Club State Chapter Executive Committee where he serves as the Climate Change Chair. His mission at the Sierra Club is to better incorporate leading edge climate science in Club policy. His bio is here.
Carol Cespedes PhD is our eco-travel expert and board member of the Climate Change Now Initiative. Since 1986 she has operated Halintours Inc., one of the original eco-tourism providers. Halintours works to increase environmental and social awareness by introducing people to new landscapes, new climates, and new ecosystems, so they can foster an appreciation of the complexity and diversity of the natural world and an awareness of the interconnectedness of our planet. Carol has a Ph.D. in Asian Studies and a background in college teaching and the administration of nonprofits. Her bio is here.
References:
1) The Public is 20 Years Behind… In 1991, 60% of climate scientists believed that was warming compared to 97% today. Climate Scientists Agree on Warming, Disagree on Dangers, and Don’t Trust the Media’s Coverage of Climate Change, George Mason University, STATS, 2008, paragraph 17, bullet 1. (Poll results disappeared from the Internet. See here.) Numerous polls and studies show that between 50 and 60 percent of Americans believe Earth is warming and it is the fault of mankind’s greenhouse gas emissions. A few of them are:
* Yale, April 2014, Climate Change in the American Mind, 64 percent believe Earth is warming, 52 percent believes it is caused by man. Link
* Pew Center, January 27, 2014: Climate Change: Key Data Points from Pew Research, 44 percent say man is to blame, 67 percent say Earth is warming. Link
* Gallup, March 30, 2012: In U.S., Global Warming Views Steady Despite Warm Winter, 53% say it is because of man and has already begun, 29 percent say it will begin in the future. Link
* Pew Center, November 9-14, 2011: Modest Rise in Number Saying There Is “Solid Evidence” of Global Warming, 63% say there is solid evidence of global warming. Link
* Gallup, March 11, 2010: Americans’ Global Warming Concerns Continue to Drop, 50 percent believe it is caused by man, down from 61 percent in 2007. Link
2) $900 million annual climate change counter-movement funding… From 2003 to 2010, $7 billion in climate change counter-movement funding has been identified from revenues reported in IRS tax returns for 91 of 118 organizations and institutions identified in the academic literature as being involved.
Brulle, Institutionalizing delay: foundation funding and the creation of U.S. climate change counter-movement organizations, Climatic Change, December 21, 2013. Link
