American Geophysical Union
The American Geophysical Union (or AGU) is a nonprofit organization of geophysicists, consisting (as of 2004) of over 41,000 members from 130 countries. From its website, the mission of the AGU is
- to promote the scientific study of Earth and its environment in space and to disseminate the results to the public,
- to promote cooperation among scientific organizations involved in geophysics and related disciplines,
- to initiate and participate in geophysical research programs,
- to advance the various geophysical disciplines through scientific discussion, publication, and dissemination of information.
AGU is the publisher of several scientific periodicals, including the weekly Eos newspaper and several journals, notably Geophysical Research Letters and the Journal of Geophysical Research.
Position statement on climate change
The AGU issued a position statement on climate change in December 2003 [1]. The statement concludes that:
- Human activities are increasingly altering Earth's climate, and that natural influences alone cannot explain the rapid increase in surface temperatures observed during the second half of the 20th century.
The statement was drafted by Marvin Geller, John Christy and Ellen Druffel.