Justin Gillis surveys the “stark report” on climate change, released Tuesday by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.  

The report , called “What We Know,” is spearheaded by Nobel Prize winner, Mario J. Molina, and “warns that the effects of human emissions of heat-trapping gases are already being felt, that the ultimate consequences could be dire, and that the window to do something about it is closing.”  

Why the need for a new report on climate change? The report underscores the overwhelming consensus by the scientific community that climate change is real: “About 97 percent of climate scientists have concluded that human-caused climate change is happening.”  

In addition, “the language … is sharper, clearer and more accessible than perhaps anything the scientific community has put out to date.”

The group “plans a broad outreach campaign to put forward accurate information in simple language.”

“The scientists are essentially trying to use their powers of persuasion to cut through public confusion over this issue.”

Crossposted at Wonk Wire.