American Institute of Physics (AIP)
The American Institute of Physics (AIP) is a nonprofit organization established in 1931, dedicated to advancing the understanding and application of physics for the benefit of humanity. With a membership of over 120,000 scientists, engineers, and students, AIP serves ten member societies, including notable organizations like the American Physical Society and the American Association of Physics Teachers. The institute publishes a range of scientific journals, magazines, and books, providing essential resources and support for research and education in the field of physics.
AIP also plays a crucial role in addressing contemporary issues, particularly climate change, by endorsing and disseminating relevant policy statements from its member societies. It promotes public engagement with science, advocating for sound science policy and mentoring undergraduate physics programs. The AIP's commitment to climate science is exemplified by its efforts to compile historical data on climate change and its acknowledgment of the human impact on the climate crisis through various publications. Through its initiatives, AIP fosters collaboration between science and industry, emphasizing the importance of physics in tackling global challenges.
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Subject Terms
American Institute of Physics (AIP)
DATE: Established 1931
Mission
The membership of the American Institute of Physics (AIP) investigates basic properties of matter and energy, including those that underlie processes causing climate change. A nonprofit corporation, the AIP promotes research in physics and the application of the knowledge acquired in the interests of human welfare. It provides professional services to its ten member societies: the Acoustical Society of America, the American Association of Physicists in Medicine, the American Association of Physics Teachers, the American Astronomical Society, the American Crystallographic Association, the American Meteorological Society, the American Physical Society, AVS (Science and Technology of Materials, Interfaces, and Processing; originally the American Vacuum Society), Optica, and the Society of Rheology. Active strategic leadership of the AIP is provided by the board of directors with six key committees. The board is comprised of the chair, AIP CEO, corporate secretary, one director from each member society, and up to four at-large directors. Among the members are more than 120,000 scientists, engineers, and students.
The AIP helps its member societies and individual members by publishing journals of scientific and engineering societies, magazines, conference proceedings, books, and newsletters. It reports on employment and educational trends, encourages interaction between science and industry, and compiles scientific archives. The institute also mentors undergraduate physics programs and advocates for science policy to the public and the US Congress.
Significance for Climate Change
In 2004, the governing board of the AIP endorsed “Human Impacts on Climate Change,” the policy statement issued by its member society, the American Geophysical Union, in 2003, and the AIP acknowledged the updated 2008 version on their website. The AIP also reported on this policy statement on its website when the AGU updated it in 2019 to the newest version, "Society Must Address the Growing Climate Crisis Now." Additionally, on a page titled "The Discovery of Global Warming" updated in April 2022, the AIP website offered “A Hyperlinked History of Climate Change Science.” In the introduction, Spencer R. Weart, director of the Center for History of Physics, concludes that twenty-first century computer modeling combined with data collected from many sources support the conclusion that climate change is likely to result from human emissions:
Depending on what steps people took to restrict emissions, by the end of the century, we could expect the planet’s average temperature to rise anywhere between about 1.4° and 6° Celsius.
The AIP saw some hope, however, in the fact that the media had begun to trust scientists who predicted further climate change based on the apparent validity of their past predictions.
Bibliography
"About the American Institute of Physics." American Institute of Physics, 2023, www.aip.org/aip/about-aip. Accessed 11 Dec. 2024.
Gasparini, Allison. "AGU Calls for Action on 'Climate Crisis."' American Institute of Physics, 8 Jan. 2020, www.aip.org/fyi/2020/agu-calls-action-climate-crisis. Accessed 11 Dec. 2024.
Weart, Spencer R. The Discovery of Global Warming. Rev. ed. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 2008. Print.
Weart, Spencer R. "A Hyperlinked History of Global Warming." American Institute of Physics. Amer. Inst. of Physics, 2003. Web. 20 Mar. 2015.