Nancy B. Jackson, past president of the American Chemical Society (2011) and manager of the International Chemical Threat Reduction Department at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, has been chosen by AAAS to receive the 2012 Award for Science Diplomacy.

A panel of distinguished scientists, appearing at a Capitol Hill briefing organized by AAAS, surveyed a broad range of data and research that affirm a clear human link to global climate disruptions.

While climate change science has been subject to sometimes vitriolic attacks in recent months, the briefing took a tempered tone. The speakers emphasized the value of bucking conventional scientific wisdom, but showed that the arguments commonly used by climate change skeptics tend to fall apart when subjected to close scrutiny.