The Alliance is an international assembly of scientists, independent of governmental organizations. As stewards of human knowledge and champions of evidence-based decision making, the goal of the Alliance is to be an amplifying voice for scientists all over the world. To prevent further widespread catastrophic damage to the biosphere, humanity must practice more environmentally sustainable alternatives to business-as-usual. As a grass-roots organization comprised of diverse scientific experience, the Alliance is committed to the well-being of the planet and all life it holds. The Alliance is a partner with the Conservation Biology Institute

Join the Alliance!

All scientists are invited to join the Alliance of World Scientists by signing a short article on climate change. We welcome signatures of scientists from any scientific discipline, including graduate students in the sciences. Note that signatories speak on their own behalf and not on behalf of their affiliated institutions.

New signatures may take several weeks to appear in the list of signatories as each name will first need to be validated. Please only sign the article once.

A serene forest landscape serves as the backdrop for text expressing gratitude to the Alliance of World Scientists current and future members, as well as crowdfunding supporters.
A simplistic line drawing of a person standing and holding up the Earth. The globe is depicted with basic outlines of continents, representing a minimalist design symbolizing global unity or support.

Climate Feedback Loops Project

A world map showing images connected by arrows to climate change effects: snow cover albedo, sea ice albedo, permafrost thawing, peatlands smoldering, wildfire, cloud properties, desertification, forest dieback, and insect outbreaks.

There are many amplifying global feedback loops that significantly increase warming due to greenhouse gas emissions. However, not all of these feedbacks are fully accounted for in current climate models. Thus, potential mitigation pathways based on these models could be overly optimistic and fail to sufficiently limit temperatures. A targeted expansion of research is needed to incorporate biologically-based feedbacks into Earth system models to guide climate policy objectives. Concurrently, policymakers must implement plans to minimize risks by greatly accelerating the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

A diagram shows sea ice surrounded by arrows indicating a cycle. Labels inside arrows: Temperature with an upward arrow, Ice melting with an upward arrow, Reflectance with a downward arrow. The title is A. Sea ice.

A. Arctic warming leads to melting sea ice, which leads to further warming due to water having lower albedo (reflectance) than ice.

Diagram depicting the permafrost feedback loop. A person stands in a thawing permafrost landscape. Arrows indicate the cycle: increased temperature leads to permafrost thawing, which causes more greenhouse gas emissions, further raising temperature.

B. Increasing temperatures lead to permafrost thawing which produces CO2 and methane emissions, which in turn leads to further increasing temperatures.

A circular diagram labeled Wildfire shows a wildfire scene with an orange sky and smoke over a city. Arrows indicate a cycle: increased temperature, increased fire activity, and increased CO2 emissions.

C. Rising temperatures lead to increasing fire frequency/severity causing increasing CO2 emissions, loss of sequestration, and changes in albedo, thus causing further warming.


Resources for All


Alliance Leadership

It is fulfilling for me to have a role in helping build this influential network of world scientists. I like the idea of doing work to use science to help change the world for the better.

Dr. Bill Ripple, Director of The Alliance of World Scientists

Director of the Oregon State University Trophic Cascades Program and distinguished Professor of Ecology, author of more than 200 published journal articles and co-lead author of the  “World Scientists’ Warning of a Climate Emergency 2021”, Dr. Bill Ripple, serves as Director of The Alliance.

It’s rewarding to be part of a movement that advocates for science to solve global environmental problems.

Dr. Chris Wolf, Associate Director of The Alliance of World Scientists

Data scientist, Dr. Chris Wolf, working across disciplines and collaborating with social scientists, public policy experts, and climate scientists of all kinds, serves as Associate Director of The Alliance.

The Scientist’s Warning is a documentary film about a researcher who started a movement to encourage scientists to help turn scientific knowledge into action. It’s the story of scientists all over the world awakening to the need to become advocates for the fate of the planet and the humans who depend on it.