Discerning Experts

This study turns a critical eye on the scientific reviews that governments depend on when shaping environmental rules and responses. Its case studies cover acid rain, the thinning of the ozone layer, and rising sea levels, and they show how experts weigh evidence and settle on agreed findings about issues such as climate change. The authors also examine the personal judgment calls scientists make, how the way assessment work is organized and run shapes its conclusions, and how people come to be recognized as experts in the first place.