Scientists hit back amid fresh death threats
Top Australian scientists have united in a new campaign to defend their credibility amid fresh death threats aimed at key climate change scientists.
In an unprecedented move in Canberra today, more than 200 scientists will converge on Parliament House to call on politicians to help stop misinformation in the climate debate.
Their concern is that the hysteria has now escalated and is spilling over into attacks on their work and threats to their personal safety.
Anna Maria Arabia is the CEO of the nation's peak scientific body, FASTS - the Federation of Australian Science and Technological Societies.
Ms Arabia, who is launching the 'Respect the Science' campaign at Parliament House today, told ABC News Breakfast she had received a fresh death threat only this morning.
"We know there have been some very serious death threats in the past, this is completely unacceptable," she said.
"[I had] an email threatening my life. No scientist should ever have to have their life threatened simply for doing the work they need to do."
Earlier this month, a number of the country's top climate change scientists, including several at the Australian National University (ANU), were targeted by death threats and reported receiving abusive phone calls for months.
ANU was forced to move its scientists to a more secure location and introduced other security measures.
Ms Arabia says today's campaign launch is aimed at restoring public confidence in science, as the hysteria in the climate debate spills over into attacks on all research.
"It is really aimed at looking at the misinformation campaign that's being run against the scientific evidence largely coming from the climate change debate ... and seeing how that is undermining the nation-building work of our scientists," she said.
"So it's really asking the public to have the confidence to respect the science, because there is a very robust methodology behind the scientific information that we use to make decisions every day."
Ms Arabia says the misinformation campaign is largely being run by climate deniers.
"It's unfortunate, because it's aimed at creating confusion, and it really places a question over the validity of the scientific process," she said.
The group of scientists hope that by detailing how the process works, the public will better understand the intense scrutiny the science must undergo in the peer review process, before major decisions can be made.
Chief scientist Ian Chubb, who provides advice to government ministers and the Prime Minister, says science results are rigorously tested.
"It is about ensuring that people understand that there is proper science, properly conducted, properly reviewed and properly debated," he said.
"And the consequences of that debate may change the way we think or they may confirm what we think, but there's a process that underpins everything we do.
"I think it's too easy for people to pick one little bit of this or that and constantly ram it home, because there are a lot of people in the world who know that you don't have to be bright, you just have to sow doubt.
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