Nearly 100 UC Merced faculty, along with others from California universities, have signed an open letter calling on President Donald Trump and his administration to stay committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and upholding the Paris Climate Agreement.
The letter says there is consensus among scientists that humans caused climate change and the consequences already are being felt. The letter says the United States is in a position to lead the world in fighting climate change, particularly by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and that failure to do so would undermine national security, food security, water security and more.
The letter is signed by more than 2,300 faculty from each of the University of California campuses as well as California State University campuses. It was drafted by a professor at UC Berkeley, Aaron Parsons, shortly after Trump’s inauguration, Berkeley News reported.
At one point, Trump said he wanted to cancel the Paris Climate Agreement, a United Nations pact with 193 countries to reduce carbon and greenhouse gas emissions. Trump since has made more moderate statements about the deal, but it remains unclear if his administration will withdraw.
About a quarter of UC Merced’s nearly 400 researchers across all disciplines signed the open letter.
Nancy Burke, a professor and chair of UC Merced’s Public Health Sciences, said UC Merced faculty see the effects of climate change on the San Joaquin Valley.
“It’s really imperative that we recognize climate change as scientific fact. It is not an ‘alternative fact,’ ” she said.
Burke said climate change already is affecting public health, pointing to West Nile virus, Zika, wildfires and pesticides.
“We’re really working here to make sure we do have a growing expertise and to better understand the implications and find solutions,” she said about her colleague’s research and how it relates to climate change.
Jessica Blois, an assistant professor of life and environmental science, studies how plants and animals in the past responded to climate change in hopes of understanding how current species will be affected by global warming.
Reducing carbon emissions in hopes of reducing warming, the goal of the Paris Climate Agreement, is “what society needs to do as a whole,” she said.
She signed the open letter hoping to make a statement to Trump: “I want his decisions to be based on scientific fact.”
