Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law Volume 3 Issue 1 2013 Adaptation and the Courtroom: Judging Climate Science Kirsten Engel University of Arizona College of Law Jonathan Overpeck University of Arizona Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mjeal Part of the Environmental Law Commons, Evidence Commons, Litigation Commons, and the Science and Technology Law Commons Recommended Citation Kirsten Engel & Jonathan Overpeck, Adaptation and the Courtroom: Judging Climate Science, 3 MICH. J. ENVTL. & ADMIN. L. 1 (2013). Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mjeal/vol3/iss1/1 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at University of Michigan Law School Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law by an authorized editor of University of Michigan Law School Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. ADAPTATION AND THE COURTROOM: JUDGING CLIMATE SCIENCE Kirsten Engel* and Jonathan Overpeck** Climate science is increasingly showing up in courtroom disputes over the du- ty to adapt to climate change. While judges play a critical role in evaluating scientific evidence, they are not apt to be familiar with the basic methods of cli- mate science nor with the role played by peer review, publication, and training of climate scientists. This Article is an attempt to educate the bench and the bar on the basics of the discipline of climate science, which we contend is a distinct sci- entific discipline. We propose a series of principles to guide a judge’s evaluation of the reliability and weight to be accorded a given climate scientists’ claim or opin- ion.