IPCC: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is an international organization that includes scientists and government representatives from around the world. While the IPCC includes hundreds of climate scientists, the organization doesn't do research. Instead, every few years, the IPCC makes a survey of our current understanding of climate change, its risks, its impacts, and strategies for mitigation and adaptation based on the latest scientific literature. The IPCC was established in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

IPCC Reports and Working Groups

In 2021 and 2022, the IPCC issued its Sixth Assessment Report describing the current understanding of climate change science at the time each report was issued. The First Assessment Report was completed in 1990, and is often referred to by the acronym "FAR" (First Assessment Report). The Second Assessment Report (SAR) was completed in 1996. The Third Assessment Report (TAR) was released in 2001. The Fourth Assessment Report (dubbed "AR4") was completed in 2007. The parts of the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) were released at the end of 2013 and first half of 2014.

The IPCC reports are issued as three volumes, corresponding to the three "Working Groups" of the IPCC. Working Group I writes The Physical Science Basis to explain what we currently understand about the science of climate change. Working Group II writes Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability to analyzes possible or likely implications of climate change for human societies and natural ecosystems around the world. Finally, Working Group III writes Mitigation of Climate Change, which considers the possible steps humans might take to influence and alter climate change and the possible outcomes produced by various behaviors.

Each volume includes a rather lengthy full report as well as a briefer "Summary for Policymakers". These summaries are written in language that is much more accessible to non-scientists and are much briefer than the full reports. While they are intended for policymakers, they are also very useful for educators and the general public.

An IPCC Resource for Educators and the Public

IPCC scientists put together the answers to frequently asked questions about climate science and climate change. The resource addresses multiple questions about climate impacts, vulnerability, and adaptation, including "How will climate change affect the lives of today's children tomorrow, if no immediate action is taken?" The compiled overarching FAQs document is useful for educators wishing to understand and explain climate science and the most updated impacts information to students and the public.

All Must Agree at the IPCC

One interesting aspect of the process by which the IPCC develops its recommendations and reports is that its proclamations are arrived at by consensus. Thousands of people from around the globe either contributed to or reviewed portions of the IPCC's assessment reports; somewhere between 300 and 350 representatives of governments and scientific organizations participated in the meeting at which details of each report were finalized. Essentially, all language included in the reports had to have the support of all representatives before it was included in the final release. As you can imagine, getting such a large and diverse group to agree on anything is a monumental challenge. There are strengths and weaknesses to this approach. Some participants feel that the reports are somewhat "watered down"; that any claim that was even remotely contentious in the eyes of any participant was vetoed, and hence some important and largely agreed-upon aspects of the science were left out. On the other hand, the consensus process does make it very difficult for naysayers to claim that the IPCC's reports are merely the ranting of a handful of extremists.

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