Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Appendix I
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change
The background related to global climate change will come indirectly from the work of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The World Meteorological Organiz-
ation (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) set up this panel
through a resolution of the UN General Assembly in 1988. Its purpose is to scientifically
support the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) process
and to provide governments with a clear view of what is happening to the world's climate.
To do this, the IPCC has produced periodic assessments of the present state of knowledge
from three topic-specific working groups:
·
Working Group I reports on understanding changes in the physical climate systems.
·
Working Group II assesses the vulnerability of socioeconomic and natural systems
to climate change and options for adaptation (increasing our resilience to adverse
impacts resulting from climate change).
·
Working Group III looks at options for the mitigation of climate change emissions.
IPCC reports are packed solid with information but are not easy reading. You need to read a
couple of pages and then ruminate for a day. They remind me of the Christmas puddings of
my childhood in south-east England - a rich concoction of suet, preserved fruits and stout
all glued together in a matrix of cholesterol and served up under a crown of rum butter and
cognac. One portion had the weight of an ingot of lead. A couple of mouthfuls and you had
taken on board enough calories to make it from Christmas Day to New Year's Eve.
Search WWH ::
Custom Search