Scientists from around UWA’s campus have formed an interest group dedicated to contributing to the debate over climate science.

The UWA Climate Science group has some 40 scientists from a variety of disciplines.

The group has taken part in several public events on climate change and climate “skepticism”, contributes to regular radio programs, and has its own website at www.uwa.edu.au/climatescience

The group’s core members are Professor Kevin Judd (School of Mathematics and Statistics, Faculty of Engineering, Computing, and Mathematics), Professor Malcolm McCulloch (School of Earth and Environment, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences), and Professor Stephan Lewandowsky (School of Psychology, Faculty of Life and Physical Sciences).

Members of the group have commenced a public outreach program to help raise awareness of climate science.

For instance, during the recent UWA Open Day, visitors were invited to take the “Climate Walk” to discover the many different disciplines that contribute to climate science and help shape climate policies at UWA.

The walk included stops at the following Schools and business units that entail various aspects of the climate debate:

• Oceans Institute (sustainable development and management of our marine habitats)
• School of Earth and Environment (coral reefs and climate change)
• School of Plant Biology (the impact of climate change on plants and ecosystems)
• Philosophy, School of Humanities (the ethics of climate change and the nature of science)
• School of Population Health (assessing and reducing the health impacts of climate change)
• School of Mathematics and Statistics (modelling and forecasting of climate)
• Faculty of Law (examining legal responses to mitigate the effects of climate change)
• School of Psychology (understanding how people understand climate science)
• Science Communication Program (dealing with the media and the public).

Members of the group also take part in brief fortnightly broadcasts on radio RTR FM 92.1.

And they contribute to a collaborating science “blog” (www.skepticalscience.com) that relies entirely on peer-reviewed literature and publication of opinion pieces in local and national media.

The climate group has grown rapidly and now includes experts from off campus bodies such as the CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology.

The culminating event for the year will be a visit from acclaimed author Professor Naomi Oreskes, from the University of California, who will be in WA in late November 2010.

Her critically acclaimed book, Merchants of Doubt, tells the story of how a small group of scientists and advisers misled the public on issues from tobacco smoke to global warming by denying well-established scientific knowledge over four decades.