“The major conclusions were that climate change is occurring, that it is largely caused by human activity and that it is already having consequences for things we care about,” Dietz said.

Dietz was a member of the Advancing the Science of Climate Change panel organized by the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering, which was one of four panels providing research on global warming. This new study could help provoke self-motivation among people who are skeptical about global climate change, said Toby Ten Eyck, associate chair of the MSU Department of Sociology.

“It is interesting that people have to wait for the government to say we need change before they begin (to change) their own behaviors,” Ten Eyck said in an e-mail. “We do have people who are out in front of this issue, but many people wait for experts to tell us we have a problem before doing anything about it.”

Although people usually get hooked on one study, they should review multiple studies covering 150 years of climate change research before they form an opinion, Dietz said.

“In a topic as complicated as climate change, it’s important to keep in mind that there is never a single study that is the final answer,” he said. “We look at the accumulation of evidence for or against an idea and only are convinced when we see multiple lines of evidence.”

Nearly all projections show there will continue to be more climate change, Dietz said.

“How much more (climate change) depends a substantial degree on what steps we can take to reduce emissions of greenhouse gasses,” he said. “If we don’t do much we face greater risk.”

The panel primarily focused on research done throughout last five years and more than 1,100 studies to come to its final conclusion, Dietz said.

About 20 scientists were chosen to critique their original draft of the report and Dietz said the rest of the panel had to respond to each one in writing.

“We had to convince a special (National Academies) committee that we have answered all the criticisms adequately,” he said. “That revised draft goes back to a review process and only then is the report released.”

Two other reports from the Limiting the Magnitude of Climate Change and Adapting to the Impact of Climate Change panels also were released. According to the National Research Council website, the final panel will release reports later this year.

“Most scientists have moved well beyond the questions of whether or not climate change is real and have accepted it as fact,” said Nathaniel Ostrom, a climate change expert at MSU and professor of zoology. “It’s no longer a question of belief. It would be a bit like asking if I believe it will snow in Michigan next winter.”