More than 120 of the county’s top climate scientists have signed their names to an open letter calling for Canadians to “vote strategically for the environment” in the October 14 federal election.

“While it’s clear the public accepts that global warming is a threat, it seems people have simply no idea how serious this issue is,” the October 7 letter reads. “Many may not realize that even if we immediately stabilized atmospheric greenhouse gases at current levels, the Arctic would still go ice free in the summer, between 10% and 25% of the world’s species would still be committed to extinction, and weather will continue to become more extreme.”

The letter slams the Conservative government for obstructing global efforts to deal with climate change and describes Canada’s participation in recent conferences on climate change as an “international embarrassment”.

Emphasized is the importance of the upcoming 15th United Nations Conference of Parties to the Climate Change Convention scheduled for December 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark. The letter states that it is “absolutely critical that Canada play a constructive role in negotiations leading up to this event”.

The letter does not tell people what party or which politicians they should vote for.

However, Andrew Weaver, a UVic climate scientist, member of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and signatory to the letter, was recently quoted in the Straight recommending that people vote strategically to prevent a reelection of the Conservatives.

To read the scientists’ letter in its entirety and view a complete list of signatories, go to site.climateletter.org.

See also, VoteForEnvironment.ca site guides strategic vote.