Public Affairs
Through its Public and Scientific Affairs Board (PSAB) the society regularly monitors public policy, specifically the United States federal government and Congress and provides comment and testimony on issues that affect microbiology.
In 2003, the ASM issued the public policy report Global Environmental Change - Microbial Contributions, Microbial Solutions, wherein they recommend “reducing net anthropogenic CO2 emissions to the atmosphere” and “minimizing anthropogenic disturbances of” atmospheric gasses:
- Carbon dioxide concentrations were relatively stable for the past 10,000 years but then began to increase rapidly about 150 years ago…as a result of fossil fuel consumption and land use change.
- Of course, changes in atmospheric composition are but one component of global change, which also includes disturbances in the physical and chemical conditions of the oceans and land surface. Although global change has been a natural process throughout Earth’s history, humans are responsible for substantially accelerating present-day changes. These changes may adversely affect human health and the biosphere on which we depend.
- Outbreaks of a number of diseases, including Lyme disease, hantavirus infections, dengue fever, bubonic plague, and cholera, have been linked to climate change.
Read more about this topic: American Society For Microbiology
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