Tom Bowman, president of Bowman Global Change, a firm that helps organizations make sustainable transformations, has co-authored a letter to the scientific community outlining three steps to improve the information exchange between climate scientists and policy makers.

Bowman, et al. Urge scientists to establish a single frame of reference for atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases and rising global temperatures.

Standardized measurement will provide the public with consistent reporting on these critical parameters, reduce confusion, and help decision-makers to base their sustainability choices on accurate science.

As a pre-eminent translator of climate change science, Bowman agrees with the National Research Council that scientific understanding of climate change has outstripped society's capacity to use the knowledge.

Bowman says the solution is to adapt scientific communication to make the science behind climate change comprehensible to non-experts.

"Simplifying the complex science and translating the scientific language allows all members of society - both policy makers and consumers - to confront the climate crisis and make informed decisions. We need to put the science in the hands of the people," says Bowman.

Co-authored by Edward Maibach of George Mason University, Michael E. Mann of Pennsylvania University, Susanne C. Moser of Susanne Moser Research and Consultants and Richard C. J. Somerville of Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the letter is especially timely in light of increasing congressional and regulatory action on climate change.