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As scientists who have lived and worked in Montana, we understand the scientific principles demonstrating that human activity is rapidly changing our climate. That is why we joined more than 100 other scientists across Montana in sending a letter to our top elected officials calling on them to support policies that reduce carbon pollution.

Thousands of scientists have produced thousands of studies on the causes and impacts of climate change. Each of those studies has undergone a rigorous peer review process. Building such a body of evidence to explain what is happening in the world around us is a careful, slow and painstaking process, which rarely yields broad agreement. That’s why it is so remarkable that

97 percent of scientists who study climate change say that it is real, and largely caused by human activities that produce carbon pollution.

Climate change is a major concern for Montana. Scientists in Montana and around the West have documented that spring snowpack is melting, on average, two weeks earlier than in the 1950s. There has been an extension of two months in the wildfire season since the 1980s. August stream flows now average 20 percent lower than in the 1950s. These impacts are already having notable impacts on agriculture, recreation, wildlife and water resources.