To start, we revisit some of the results and implications of last year's IPCC Report as well as looking at the recent observations from the Arctic. Our guides this week are two scientists who have acted as expert reviewers for the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - Joanna Haigh, Professor of Atmospheric Physics at Imperial College London and Dr Stuart Parkinson, Exectuive Director of Scientists for Global Responsibility.
Key findings
a.. None of the IPCC scenarios keep us within a 2C global average temperature rise (compared to pre-industrial times) which has been defined by the EU as a dangerous level that must not be exceeded
b.. The climate computer models used by the IPCC have been underestimating Arctic ice loss - recent observations suggest that there is now a 50% chance that the north pole may be ice-free this summer How to listen...
Listen to the live webstream at
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Sources and references for this week's programme
IPCC Fourth Assessment Report Working Group I Summary for Policy Makers
http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/wg1/ar4-wg1-spm.pdf IPCC Fourth Assessment Report Working Group II Summary for Policy Makers
http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/wg2/ar4-wg2-spm.pdf Independent - North Pole Could Be Ice Free This Summer
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/exclusive-no-ice-at-the-north-pole-855406.html BBC - IPCC Models Underestimate Rate of Arctic Ice Melt
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6610125.stm James Hansen on Arctic Ice Melt
http://pubs.giss.nasa.gov/docs/2007/2007_Hansen_etal_2.pdf Rajendra Pachauri
IPCC Chair, Rajendra Pachauri (November 2007):
If there's no action before 2012, that's too late. What we do in the next two or three years will determine our future. This is the defining moment.
What's coming up?
Later in the series we will be covering the 2008 Camp for Climate Action and looking at the calls for moratoriums on biofuels and new coal developments. There'll be a new show every week for at least the next three months and we currently have more ideas than shows...
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