Australian authors and editors

Many Australian scientists contributed to the Working Group 2 report. The following were coordinating lead authors, lead authors and review editors:

• Bryson Bates, CSIRO (Ch. 11 – Lead Author)
• Mike Coughlan, Bureau of Meteorology (Ch. 11 – Review Editor)
• Nick Harvey, University of Adelaide (Ch. 11 – Lead Author)
• Kevin Hennessy, CSIRO (Ch. 11 – Coordinating Lead Author; SPM)
• Mark Howden, CSIRO (Ch. 5, 11 – Lead Author)
• Lesley Hughes, Macquarie University (Ch. 11 – Lead Author)
• Roger Jones, CSIRO (Ch. 2 – Coordinating Lead Author)
• David Karoly, University of Melbourne (Ch. 1 – Lead Author; SPM)
• Geoff Love, Bureau of Meteorology (Ch. 2, 6 – Review Editor; SPM)
• Harvey Marchant, Australian Government Antarctic Division (Ch. 15 – Lead Author)
• Roger McLean, ADFA (Ch. 6, 16 – Lead Author)
• Tony McMichael, Australian National University (Ch. 8 – Review Editor)
• Barrie Pittock, CSIRO (Ch. 19 – Lead Author)
• Colin Woodroffe, University of Wollongong (Ch. 6 – Lead Author)
• John Zillman, Bureau of Meteorology (Ch. 19 – Lead Author)

Click here for a list of Australian authors and editors available over Easter (PDF).

A Rapid Roundup of comments from several Lead Authors and Review Editors is also now available. Feel free to use these quotes in your stories.

A National Briefing involving several Lead Authors was held in Sydney on Tuesday 10 April. Click here for further information on the briefing including audio files of the speakers.

More information about Working Group 2 is available from www.ipcc-wg2.org

Report chapters

Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability contains the following chapters:

1. Assessment of Observed Changes and Responses in Natural and Managed Systems
2. New Assessment Methodologies and the Characterisation of Future Conditions
3. Fresh Water Resources and their Management
4. Ecosystems, their Properties, Goods and Services
5. Food, Fibre and Forest Products
6. Coastal Systems and Low-lying Areas
7. Industry, Settlement, and Society
8. Human Health
9. Africa
10. Asia
11. Australia and New Zealand
12. Europe
13. Latin America
14. North America
15. Polar Regions (Arctic and Antarctic)
16. Small Islands
17. Assessment of Adaptation Practices, Options, Constraints and Capacity
18. Inter-relationships between Adaptation and Mitigation
19. Assessing Key Vulnerabilities and the Risk from Climate Change
20. Perspectives on Climate Change and Sustainability

A more detailed outline is available at www.ipcc.ch/activity/wg2outlines.pdf

IPCC BACKGROUND AND LINKS

About the IPCC

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was established in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organisation and the United Nations Environment Program.

Its role is to assess the best available peer-reviewed scientific, technical and socioeconomic information on climate change from around the world.

The assessments help governments and communities understand the scientific basis of risk of human-induced climate change, its potential impacts and options for adaptation and mitigation. They contribute to informing government in its decision-making.

To date, the IPCC has delivered three assessment reports. The Fourth Assessment Report is being released in 2007.

The Fourth Assessment Report (AR4)

Three working groups each produce a volume of the IPCC AR4. They are:

• Working Group 1: The Physical Science Basis (2 February)
• Working Group 2: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability (6 April)
• Working Group 3: Mitigation of Climate Change (4 May)

Summaries for Policy Makers of the first three reports are released on the dates noted above. These summary reports are generally written in more accessible language than the main reports. They are the documents most likely to be read by media, government, industry, non-government organisations and interested laypeople. For information on how these summaries are prepared, click here.

The detailed reports will be available in September.

The fourth volume of the report, the Synthesis Report, will be released in November. This report will link issues covered in the three main volumes of the AR4.

The IPCC has prepared a useful overview of the assessment report process. It is available at www.ipcc.ch/press/factsheet.htm.

Who’s involved?

About 2,500 scientists have been engaged in writing and reviewing the three Working Group reports.

More than 100 Australian experts, authors, contributors and reviewers have been involved in this process since 2001. They are drawn from the nation’s primary climate and environmental research and management agencies including CSIRO, the Bureau of Meteorology, Australian Government Antarctic Division, Antarctic Climate and Ecosystem CRC and leading universities.

Who funds the IPCC?

IPCC activities, including travel costs for experts from developing countries and countries with economies in transition, are financed through voluntary contributions from governments. The World Meteorological Organisation, United Nations Environment Programme, and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change provide additional support.

Other useful IPCC links

Information for media: www.ipcc.ch/more_info_100407.htm
About the IPCC: www.ipcc.ch/about/about.htm
Assessments and Special Reports: www.ipcc.ch/pub/reports.htm
Frequently Asked Questions: www.ipcc.ch/about/faq.htm
IPCC process: www.ipcc.ch/about/faq/IPCC%20Procedures.pdf
Assessment basis: www.ipcc.ch/about/faq/IPCC%20Introduction.pdf