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Climate Change 2013
Book

Climate Change 2013

The Physical Science Basis

IPCC Working Group I
Cambridge UP, 2014
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Editorial Rating

9

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  • Overview

Recommendation

It’s finally here, after five years of study and preparation: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has issued its Fifth Assessment Report (AR5), a global, multidisciplinary scientific research study into the causes and impacts of climate change. More than 800 scientists and experts from around the world – working with updated models, new technologies and fresh data – contributed to the report, one in a series published every five years to showcase the latest research. The results are undeniable: Global warming exists; it’s getting worse and more evidence than ever before demonstrates that human beings are “the dominant cause.” Even more alarming is that the effects of climate change will last for centuries, despite any attempted remedies or responses. So get the definitive word on climate change, and right away – there’s no time to waste.

Summary

Earth Inquiry

In 1988, the World Meteorological Organization joined with the United Nations Environment Program to establish the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The IPCC’s goal is “to provide governments with a clear view of the current state of knowledge about the science of climate change, potential impacts, and options for adaptation and mitigation.” From the IPCC’s First Assessment Report in 1990 to the latest, this Fifth Assessment Report (AR5), the group has successively gathered the most current data, observations and research on the causes and impacts of climate change throughout the world.

Today’s technological progress allows for better models and greater computing power. The passage of time allows for more observation and data collection, much of which reveals previously unknown patterns, influences and effects. Because climate science is complex and multidimensional in both space and time, scientists find it difficult to come to absolute conclusions on some particular aspects of climate change. As a result, experts classify some findings by their “degree of certainty,” a scale that measures “a qualitative level of confidence (from very...

About the Author

Several hundred scientists were part of the IPCC Working Group I, whose goal was to report on the “physical science basis of climate change.” The report had 209 “lead authors,” 600 contributors and 50 review editors.

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