The IPCC Climate Change Report: What Does it Mean?

What global climate changes can we expect in the coming decades, and especially over the next century? What might the ecological, physical and socio-economic consequences be of these changes? And what can governments and the rest of us do about it?

The world will hear some answers on Feb. 2 when the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) publishes its fourth assessment report on the state of Earth’s climate. The report is expected to paint a grim picture of the effects of human activity on global climate.

The IPCC is regarded as the international authority for conducting assessments of the current state of knowledge about climate change. It was established in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme following growing concerns about the potential impact of increasing greenhouse gas concentrations on global climate.

Several University of Victoria researchers are available on Feb. 2 to comment on the report:

Andrew Weaver is one of 14 lead authors—and the only Canadian—of a key chapter in the IPCC report on climate prediction. The chapter focuses on global climate change—its predicted extent and impacts—over the next century. Weaver is one of the world’s leading climatologists and is the Canada Research Chair in Climate Modelling and Analysis. He and his research team at UVic have built one of the most sophisticated climate modelling facilities on the planet. He’s also a prominent and vocal advocate for science-based discussion of climate change and public policy.

(Note: Due to other commitments on Feb. 2, Weaver is unavailable for media interviews before 1 p.m., Pacific time. To pre-arrange interviews with him, contact: Valerie Shore (UVic Communications) at 250-721-7641 or vshore@uvic.ca.)

Ned Djilali is a mechanical engineer who says many feasible alternate energy solutions
exist — what’s needed is the political will to support them. He highlights hybrid cars, green building practices and wind power as some excellent energy-saving technologies that need to be more widely applied and promoted in Canada. As Canada Research Chair in Energy System Design and Computational Modelling and director of UVic’s Institute for Integrated Energy Systems, Djilali’s work focuses on developing fuel cells and hydrogen-based sustainable energy systems.

Greg Flato is acting manager of Environment Canada’s Canadian Centre for Climate Modelling and Analysis and an adjunct professor with UVic’s School of Earth and Ocean Sciences. He’s one of the lead authors of the report contributing, in particular, to the chapter addressing the role of sea ice in climate change. He is also one of the developers of the Canadian Global Climate Model. Flato will be in Ottawa on Feb. 2 as one of the authors providing a morning briefing to stakeholders and media on the UN report.

Stephen Lonergan is a geographer interested in the human consequences of and responses to climate change and the impact that it has on the world’s already marginalized and threatened populations. He has worked at the UN Environment Programme and believes that multi-lateral environmental policies, including elements of the Kyoto Protocol, may have unintended and negative effects, especially on those poor populations already facing drought and civil unrest.

Cornelis “Case” Van Kooten is an environmental economist at UVic who participated in one of the panel’s working groups examining the role that forests will play in addressing issues associated with climate change. Van Kooten, the Canada Research Chair in Environmental Studies and Climate Change, can discuss the costs and benefits of planting, tending, and fertilizing trees, whether this approach will lead to less carbon in the atmosphere and whether it justifies the eventual cost. He is also investigating the economics of alternative energy sources, such as wind and biomass.

-- 30 --