Lost in the news about Ukraine was the UN’s latest report on climate change. The main findings were: Climate impacts have worsened significantly in the last decade. If warming isn’t slowed, the dangers will multiply. Societies have not done enough to adapt and stay safe. As warming continues it will be harder and harder to cope. Poor countries face much bigger challenges than rich ones. The report was written by 270 scientists from 67 countries. How do they reach agreement? Here’s a behind the scenes look.
There are reviews by almost all the governments in the world. Their scientists make sure the report is comprehensive and balanced as possible; that it is scientifically rigorous, exhaustive, objective, transparent and includes broad participation. The most recent report’s 270 authors are scientists nominated by their governments representing countries throughout the world (43% from southern hemisphere; 57% from northern). Each chapter has about a dozen authors with several lead authors. There are 40 review editors and 675 contributing authors who provide their two cents. Before it is published, every government — every government in the UN — has to agree to every word. It’s amazing anything ever gets published. But these are scientists, not politicians.
The UN’s IPCC is now working on its Sixth Assessment cycle. The first report was released in August 2021. Just released was Working Group 2’s report, to be released in September this year. The first report was released in August 2021. Just released was Working Group 2’s report. Working groups include as many as 800 experts and 42 governments. There are three main working groups. The first does projections. Working Group 2 — impact, adaptation and vulnerability — what are impacts on people and eco-systems and who is most/less vulnerable to these changes and how do we make ourselves less vulnerable and more resilient. The third — how do we reduce emissions to zero this century. That report is expected in April.
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The last two meetings of Working Group 2 have been on Zoom. The last in person meeting was in Faro, Portugal in 2020. In 2019, the group met in Katmandu, Nepal and in Durban, South Africa. But not even COVID could stop the UN’s Assessment on Climate Change.
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We live in a strange world. The same day the latest UN Assessment on Climate Change was issued, some members of the U.S. Supreme Court were questioning whether the Environmental Protection Agency had the authority to make rulings addressing climate change. The UN report noted that 143 million people in Jakarta, Indonesia could be uprooted because of rising flood waters.
Closer to home, homeowners living near San Francisco Bay need to buy flood insurance because the 100-year flood used as a measurement may be closer than we ever anticipated. And even though we had a cold spell last week and it even rained, we have enjoyed an unusual very warm February. Bad news for skiiers. There is just not much man-made snow can do to make up for the real thing, especially at the higher elevations. That’s why ski resorts have been advertising the joys of hiking at Tahoe at the higher elevations in spring/summer.
Even the shock of higher water prices and maybe even water rationing will not convince a few that this is just another hoax.
Sue Lempert is the former mayor of San Mateo. Her column runs every Monday. She can be reached at sue@smdailyjournal.com.
Sue, so you’re saying that governments who believe in this man-made global warming thing nominate scientists who likely carry the same belief, and you’re expecting everyone else to believe this report – which likely already had a foregone conclusion? And then you have every government in the UN micro-managing the results of this report? Isn’t this similar to asking only vegans to write a report on the benefits of eating meat? Or having convicted criminals serving as jurors in a trial of police officers? We know the conclusion, now we’re trying to generate “evidence” to support that conclusion under the guise this newfangled report is “fair and impartial”? Um, no thanks, I’ll wait for a “bipartisan” report.
Climate change is a concern but the more immediate concern is economic. Congress is up against a deadline of March 11 to enact another continuing resolution or pass an omnibus spending bill. The details have not been disclosed, but it is likely to set a budget authority of $1.5 trillion for the rest of the fiscal year, an increase of 16%. Lets stop the spending addiction.
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(2) comments
Sue, so you’re saying that governments who believe in this man-made global warming thing nominate scientists who likely carry the same belief, and you’re expecting everyone else to believe this report – which likely already had a foregone conclusion? And then you have every government in the UN micro-managing the results of this report? Isn’t this similar to asking only vegans to write a report on the benefits of eating meat? Or having convicted criminals serving as jurors in a trial of police officers? We know the conclusion, now we’re trying to generate “evidence” to support that conclusion under the guise this newfangled report is “fair and impartial”? Um, no thanks, I’ll wait for a “bipartisan” report.
Climate change is a concern but the more immediate concern is economic. Congress is up against a deadline of March 11 to enact another continuing resolution or pass an omnibus spending bill. The details have not been disclosed, but it is likely to set a budget authority of $1.5 trillion for the rest of the fiscal year, an increase of 16%. Lets stop the spending addiction.
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