Posted on 25 March 2023 by John Hartz

Story of the Week

Q&A: IPCC wraps up its most in-depth assessment of climate change

The final part of the world’s most comprehensive assessment of climate change – which details the “unequivocal” role of humans, its impacts on “every region” of the world and what must be done to solve it – has now been published in full by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

The synthesis report is the last in the IPCC’s sixth assessment cycle, which has involved 700 scientists in 91 countries. Overall, the full cycle of reports has taken eight years to complete.

The report sets out in the clearest and most evidenced detail yet how humans are responsible for the 1.1C of temperature rise seen since the start of the industrial era.

It also shows how the impacts of this level of warming are already deadly and disproportionately heaped upon the world’s most vulnerable people.

The report notes that policies in place by the end of 2021 – the cut-off date for evidence cited in the assessment – would likely see temperatures exceed 1.5C this century and reach around 3.2C by 2100.

In many parts of the world, humans and ecosystems will be unable to adapt to this amount of warming, it says. And the losses and damages will “escalate with every increment” of global temperature rise.

But it also lays out how governments can still take action to avoid the worst of climate change, with the rest of this decade being crucial for deciding impacts for the rest of the century. The report says:

“There is a rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all…The choices and actions implemented in this decade will have impacts now and for thousands of years.”

The report shows that many options for tackling climate change – from wind and solar power to tackling food waste and greening cities – are already cost effective, enjoy public support and would come with co-benefits for human health and nature.

At a press briefing, leading climate scientist and IPCC author Prof Friederike Otto said the report highlights “not only the urgency of the problem and the gravity of it, but also lots of reasons for hope – because we still have the time to act and we have everything we need”.

Carbon Brief’s team of journalists has delved through each page of the IPCC’s AR6 full synthesis report to produce a digestible summary of the key findings and graphics.

• 1. What is this report?
• 2. How is the Earth’s climate changing?
• 3. How are human-caused emissions driving global warming?
• 4. How much hotter will the world get this century?
• 5. What are the potential impacts at different warming levels?
• 6. How could warming cause abrupt and irreversible change?
• 7. What does the report say on loss and damage?
• 8. Why is climate action currently ‘falling short’?
• 9. What is needed to stop climate change?
• 10. How can individual sectors scale up climate action?
• 11. What does the report say about adaptation?
• 12. What are the benefits of near-term climate action?
• 13. Why is finance an ‘enabler’ and ‘barrier’ for climate action?
• 14. What are the co-benefits for the Sustainable Development Goals?
• 15. What does the report say about equity and inclusion?

Click here to access the entire article as originally posted on the Carbon Brief website

Q&A: IPCC wraps up its most in-depth assessment of climate change by Multiple Authors, IPCC, Carbon Brief, Mar 23, 2023;

Links posted on Facebook

Sun, Mar 19, 2023

• Explore Time-Lapse Views of Our Changing Planet by Staff, NASA's Global Climate Change, Mar 17, 2023
• Can We Still Limit Global Warming to 1.5°C? Here’s What the Latest Science Says by Kristy Dahl, The Equation, Union of Concerned Scientists, Mar 17, 2023
• The Toxic Threat in Thawing Permafrost by Christian Elliott, Hakai Magazine, Mar 15, 2023
• 6 Podcasts to Help Tackle Your Climate Anxiety by Emma Dibdin, Arts, New York Times, Feb 23, 2023

Mon, Mar 20, 2023

• Nations approve key UN science report on climate change by Frank Jordans, AP News, Mar 19, 2023
• ‘We have money and power’: older Americans to blockade banks in climate protest by Oliver Milman, Environment, The Guardian, Mar 19, 2023
• New IPCC Report Shows the ‘Climate Time Bomb Is Ticking,’ Says UN Secretary General António Guterres by Bob Berwyn, Science, Inside Climate 
  News, Mar 20, 2023
• Arctic ice is getting thinner by the day—and sea life is suffering by Cheryl Katz, Environment, National Geographic, Mar 15, 2023

Tue, Mar 21, 2023

• Summarizing the entire IPCC report in 5 minutes featuring @ClimateAdam by Miriam Nielsen, zentouro on YouTube, Mar 20, 2023
• Q&A: How the EU wants to race to net-zero with ‘Green Deal Industrial Plan’ by Daisy Dunne & Josh Gabbatiss, Carbon Brief, Mar 17, 2023
• At a glance - What evidence is there for the hockey stick? by John Mason & BaerbelW, Skeptical Science, Mar 21, 2023
• Is this normal? California is facing its 12th atmospheric river this winter following a historic drought by Rachel Ramirez, CNN, Mar 21, 2023

Wed, Mar 22, 2023

• ‘Exceptional’ surge in methane emissions from wetlands worries scientists by Ayesha Tandon, Climate Modeling, Carbon Brief, Mar 20, 2023
• A New White House Plan Prioritizes Using the Ocean’s Power to Fight Climate Change by Bob Berwyn, Politics & Policy, Inside Clkimate News, Mar 21, 2023
• We need the right kind of climate optimism by Hannah Ritchie, The Highlight, Vox, Mar 21, 2023
• Wildfires in Northern Forests Broke Carbon Emissions Records in 2021 by Emma Foehringer Merchant, Science, Inside Climate News, Mar 22, 2023

Thu, Mar 23, 2023

• Spring Is Starting Earlier—It’s Not Your Imagination by Jude Colman, Climate, Scientific American, Mar 22, 2023
• Climate change: Can we really take CO2 back out the air? by Jocelyn Timperley, Future, BBC News, Mar 21, 2023
• The EPA’s hydrogen push is a federal endorsement of greenwashing by Abbe Ramanan, Opinion, Utility Dive, Mar 22, 2023
• Climate Freeloaders Are Destroying the Planet by Bianca Nogrady, Wired, Mar 23, 2023

Fri, Mar 24, 2023

• This visual shows how climate change will affect generations by Sarah Kaplan, Environment, Washington Post, Mar 21, 2023
• Pressure grows on shipping industry to accept carbon levy by Fiona Harvey, Environment, The Guardian, Mar 22, 2023
• Online misinformation is spreading from English to Spanish by YCC Team, Audio, Yale Climate Connections, Mar 24, 2023
• Yes, the grid can handle EV charging, even when demand spikes by Karen Kirk, Energy, Yale Climate Connections, Mar 23, 2023

Sat, Mar 25, 2023

• Q&A: IPCC wraps up its most in-depth assessment of climate change by Multiple Authors, IPCC, Carbon Brief, Mar 23, 2023
• Why climate ‘doomers’ are replacing climate ‘deniers’ by Shannon Osaka, Climate Environment, Washington Post, Mar 24, 2023
• Skeptical Science New Research for Week #12 2023 by Doug Bostrom & Marc Kodack, Skeptical Science, Mar 23, 2023
• Many Antarctic glaciers are never snow-free. See how remarkably different this year is. by Kasha Patel & Naema Ahmed, Climate Environment, Washington Post, Mar 24, 2023