Rh. Moss, AVOIDING DANGEROUS INTERFERENCE IN THE CLIMATE SYSTEM - THE ROLES OF VALUES, SCIENCE AND POLICY, Global environmental change, 5(1), 1995, pp. 3-6
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) held a workshop i
n Fortaleza, Brazil (October 1994), to help provide the scientific und
erpinnings for the ultimate objective of the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC): ''. . . stabilization of greenh
ouse gas emissions at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogen
ic interferences with the climate system . . .''. Scientists can assis
t in helping to identify exposure-effect relationships between changes
in climate variables and the structure or function of ecosystems or s
ocioeconomic sectors, and how these relationships might vary by ecosys
tem and location. But determination of 'dangerous' is not solely a sci
entific process: it involves judgments about what attributes of ecosys
tems and human activities are most highly valued and what level of cha
nge can be considered critical. In the future, further interaction is
needed between the policy and scientific communities to help policymak
ers develop a better understanding of the complexities of the climate
system and to assure that the scientific community provides informatio
n that is useful to evaluating alternative responses to climate change
.