Department of Physics & Astronomy
University of New Mexico

Physics and Astronomy Colloquium

The IPCC Sixth Assessment Report on Climate Change

Presented by Dave Gutzler, UNM Dept. of Earth & Planetary Sciences (Emeritus)

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is in the midst of the staged release of its three-volume Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), in support of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Volume 1, assessing the state of climate change science, was released last August. Volume 2, assessing impacts of climate change and strategies for adaptation, is scheduled for approval and release at the end of February. Volume 3, on mitigation strategies, should be completed later this year. I have participated in author teams for volumes 1 and 2 of AR6, and for the AR5 report that preceded it in 2013. In this presentation we will briefly review the scope and structure of IPCC assessments and their connection to international policy that aspires to limit the impacts of human-caused climate change. We will discuss a few examples of progress in scientific understanding of the climate system and on climate change impacts since AR5. We will conclude with some thoughts on the effectiveness and the limitations of scientific guidance for the policymaking community concerning a profound international environmental challenge.

This event will be in person as well as on Zoom

3:30 pm, Friday, March 4, 2022
PAIS-1100, PAIS

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A schedule of talks within the Department of Physics and Astronomy is available on the P&A web site at http://physics.unm.edu/pandaweb/events/index.php