Who are they? What do they actually do? Why should we should we care what they have to say?
The IPCC is the United Nations collective to look at climate change science, in a very simplified way to put it. There are three ‘working groups’ made up of experts in the areas discussed, coming from various different countries, backgrounds and interests. But not always the same people either, I was particularly interested to find they look for scientists (of course still experts) they haven’t had on the team before to bring new perspectives in. Before I get too into it I just want to note that climate change refers to long-term change in weather patterns. Whereas global warming is the long term warming of the-globe.
Working group 1 is in charge of assessing physical science and its basis of climate change, essentially meaning this is all coming from an understanding we have of the climate from scientific research and findings. This is all centered around Earth’s climate system, how it functions and even more especially how it is responing to human impacts. This includes looking at Greenhouse gases (These will be discussed in more detail in another post soon to come!), aerosols, changes in temperature, the water cycle and changes in rain and snow patterns, the carbon cycle, extreme weather, sea level rise, the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, glaciers and so so much more being affected or experiencing changes as our climate shifts and the globe warms. Their assessment is a source of sceintific information on everything under this topic and more specifically how we can rise to meet the challenges and changes coming to us.
Working group 2 is more focused on how vulnerable ecosystems and biodiversity is to climate change but also how humans will be affected, from how we live, to who with and where. This ranges from globally to regional information and the ability to adapt to the changes is discussed, whether it is human settlements or ecosystems. Mitigation (making changes to our habits to attempt to limit climtae change) and adaptation (making changes to our habits to live with the changes) strategies are also found here, they are written with equity in mind and if they are feasbile for different places to put in place.
Working group 3 is focused on mitigation of climate change. From what technologies are available to how expensive it will be to how it would be recieved by the local governments, people, enviroments. They don’t support any one ‘solution’ (I use the solution lightly here, a discussion for another time as well).
All of this is readily available on the IPCC website (Link: https://www.ipcc.ch ). I would reccomend having a look if you get the chance. While their reports tend to be full of complexities that make even my head ache slightly trying to work through, I appreciate the massive undertaking of the job, of the compiling of this into one location of international agreement on the findings. I also generally find the website agreeable and somewhat easy to navigate.
Sometimes I do wonder what good it does, other than the information being out there. Day to day people, the people that climate change is going to hit the hardest, might not have access to it, know about it or be able to decipher the jargon they speak in.
And of course things like the Paris Agreement (2015) get put into place and are informed by these reports. The Paris Agreement hasn’t worked very well though, in my opinion. It set two goals:
- Keep Global Warming below 1.5C
- Keep Global Warming below 2C
Note that this is the amount of degrees (in Celsius) the global average temperature has risen since the Industrial Revolution.
But it would be remise of me to say that we have failed on the first goal because of the information provided, because it wasn’t that the IPCC wasn’t clear in their reports, nor that the evidence compiled isn’t worrying. No it is the fault of individual governments, their policies are not strict enough and urgent action is not being properly taken. As of 2024 we went over 1.5C, this year it ‘dropped’ a little as seasonality fluctuates and year to year things are a little different, however it is evident we are passed the point of no return on that goal.
To return to The IPCC, I do trust what they have to say and so should you. It is a massive process involving hundreds of eyes on the work at hand and it nothing short of through. The numbers of 1.5C and 2C actually came from one of their reports. These are considered ‘tipping points’. Our Earth is barely keeping up and once change gets over these certain parts of our natural cycles, like the water cycle and the carbon cycle, become unstable and could collapse. Things like the ice sheets possibly collapsing or losing coral reefs due to extreme bleaching events, both of which are very large discussions in their own.
This is not to say I don’t have hope, for us, for humanity, but most importantly for our Earth. We still have time, though the gap in the door is narrowing quickly.
Until next time (probably very soon)
The Smoke 