The first of three Working Group reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 5th Assessment Report (AR5) was released on Friday.
AR5 summarises the latest research on the scientific, technical and socio-economic aspects of climate change, building on the knowledge contained in the IPCC’s 4th Assessment Report, released in 2007.
AR5 will include three Working Group reports and a Synthesis Report due to be published in stages throughout 2013 and 2014.
The first Working Group report examines the physical scientific aspects of the climate system and climate change, including:
- detection and attribution of climate change
- changes in greenhouse gases and aerosols in the atmosphere
- observed changes in air, land and ocean temperatures, rainfall, glaciers and ice sheets, oceans and sea level
- historical and paleoclimatic perspective on climate change
- biogeochemistry, carbon cycle, gases and aerosols
- evaluation of climate models
- projections of future climate.