A recent op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, signed by 16 scientists, has caused considerable stir among climate scientists. The authors of the op-ed argue that the earth's climate is not warming, and that those who cite evidence to the contrary are alarmists who seek to divert funding from governments and the private sector toward their own ends.

A number of other scientists and writers have publicly weighed in on the WSJ op ed, both to refute some of the claims of the op-ed and comment on the integrity of science. You can read some of them here.

The Earth, as seen from Apollo 17

Peter Gleick's opinion in Forbes (a hotbed of radical environmentalism) A letter published in the journal Science, previously refused by the WSJ, on climate change and the integrity of science. The authors? 255 members of the National Academy of Science. desmogblog.com, a climate change blog with a goal of public education A web site, realclimate.org, that offers one-stop shopping for information about climate change The National Center for Science Education's new section on climate change

The National Center for Science Education, a non-profit formed to support the teaching of evolution in public schools, recently announced the launch of its new initiative aimed at defending the teaching of climate change. Like evolution, climate change is accepted by the scientific community but controversial among the public. As a result, educators trying to teach climate change often are pressured to compromise the scientific and pedagogical integrity of their instruction. But there was no organization specializing in providing advice and support to those facing challenges to climate change education.

With the launching of the initiative, NCSE itself becomes that organization.

For more information, see http://ncse.com/climate

Andrew Revkin wrote a nice piece on the public perception of climate change, published in his New York Times blog on 11 January 2011. It's accompanied by a short and very compelling video.