īy the time of its Fourth Assessment, in 2007, the IPCC was using words like unequivocal to describe the consensus that humans were the main cause of warming. Meanwhile, the world ramped up fossil fuel production and consumption. In 2001, the Third Assessment warned that the temperature increases would become worse than previously feared if we didn’t reduce our carbon emissions. The Second Assessment, published in 1995, expressed greater certainty that climate change was largely caused by human activities. The IPCC’s warnings began in 1990 with its First Assessment Report, which successfully predicted the pace of global warming, even without the highly complex computer models of today. Periodically, it also issues special reports on topics like land use, the ocean and cryosphere (frozen portions of the earth), and the consequences of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) of warming. The IPCC has been sounding the alarm on climate change for decades, putting out regular, comprehensive assessments that summarize the most current research on our warming planet. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which are also funded through voluntary contributions. member countries (with the United States traditionally paying the largest share), as well as from intergovernmental organizations like the UNEP, the WMO, and the U.N. The IPCC’s work is funded by voluntary contributions from U.N. While the reports steer clear of being overly policy-prescriptive, they are intentionally “policy-relevant,” meaning their conclusions can easily be translated into real-world policy outcomes. Instead, it reviews and synthesizes the latest climate change research (thousands of published, peer-reviewed studies) into its big-picture assessments, which come out roughly every six years, in addition to special reports that are published more frequently. The panel does not conduct its own science. The IPCC has a small staff to support its work, but the bulk of its authority comes from the thousands of highly credentialed volunteer scientists from around the world who participate as authors or reviewers. These pollutants, which can stick around and pile up for decades, prevent the sunlight and solar radiation that bounce off the earth’s surface from escaping back into space, instead trapping the heat and warming the planet. Today, 35 years later, most school-age children are familiar with the basic ideas behind our climate crisis: Global warming occurs when greenhouse gases, most notably carbon dioxide (CO2), collect in the atmosphere. Currently, 195 countries participate as members, determining the overall direction of the IPCC’s work.Īt the time of the IPCC’s founding, many policymakers were just starting to grapple with a phenomenon known as the “ greenhouse effect ” (though the concept itself has been known to scientists for more than a century ). Established in 1988 as part of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the panel aims to inform policymakers around the world on the risks of fossil fuel–driven climate change so they can take appropriate action. The IPCC stands for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and it’s the leading scientific authority on all things related to climate change.
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