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"Science 25 November 2011: Vol. 334 no. 6059 p. 1040 DOI: 10.1126/science.334.6059.1040 * News & Analysis Climate Change Humans Are Driving Extreme Weather; Time to Prepare 1. Richard A. Kerr Figure View larger version: * In this page * In a new window Thai floods 2011 Hurricane Katrina 2005 Texas drought 2011 "CREDITS (LEFT TO RIGHT): PAULA BRONSTEIN/GETTY IMAGES; JEFF SCHMALTZ, MODIS RAPID RESPONSE TEAM, NASA/GSFC; NOAA" An international scientific assessment finds for the first time that human activity has indeed driven not just global warming but also increases in some extreme weather and climate events around the world in recent decades. And those and likely other weather extremes will worsen in coming decades as greenhouse gases mount, the report finds. But uncertainties are rife in the still-emerging field of extreme events. Scientists cannot attribute a particular drought or flood to global warming, and they can say little about past or future trends in the risk of high-profile hazards such as tropical cyclones. Damage from weather disasters has been climbing, but the report can attribute that trend only to the increasing exposure of life and property to weather risks. Climate change may be involved, but a case cannot yet be made. Despite the uncertainties, the special report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released 18 November stresses that there is still reason for taking action now. The panel recommends "low-regrets measures," such as improvements in everything from drainage systems to early warning systems. Such measures would benefit society in dealing with the current climate as well as with almost any range of possible future climates. The report takes a cautious, consensus-based approach that draws on the published literature. Headlines and even some scientists may point to the current Texas drought or the 2003 European heat wave as the result of the strengthening greenhouse. But the report fin

"Scientific Workforce NSF Touts Family-Friendly Policies as Boon to Women 1. Jeffrey Mervis Young women are forever asking Meg Urry, an astrophysicist at Yale University, if it's possible "to have a successful scientific career and a family." A tenured professor with both, Urry tells them "yes." Perhaps more telling, however, is that the issue doesn't seem to interest half of her students. "I've never been asked that question by a man," she says. This week, the National Science Foundation (NSF) rolled out a set of family-friendly policies that it hopes will reduce the number of young women who jettison scientific careers because of responsibilities outside the lab. "Too many women give up because of conflicts between their desire to start a family and their desire to ramp up their careers," says John Holdren, the president's science adviser and head of the Office of Science and Technology Policy. It was a rare moment in the spotlight for the low-profile basic research agency: First Lady Michelle Obama announced the policies at a White House ceremony touting the importance of women to the nation's economic recovery and, in particular, the need to improve the proportion of women in the so-called STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) workforce. Figure View larger version: * In this page * In a new window Lending a hand. First Lady Michelle Obama applauds the work of young women in science at a White House event. "CREDIT: NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION" The new policies will allow both male and female grant recipients to defer an award for up to 1 year or receive a no-cost extension of an existing grant. NSF also hopes to increase its use of "virtual reviews" of grant proposals so that scientists don't need to travel as often to the agency's Arlington, Virginia, headquarters. The only change with any price tag attached is a new program of supplemental awards to investigators going on family leave, allowing them to hi

This is a saga of how all the work each scientists does in their narrow field of study adds up to the IPCC climate change report.