New IPCC climate models released: Understanding the planning implications for water resiliency

摘要

The Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) of the United Nations (UN) Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is being released in four parts between September 2013 and November 2014, superseding the 2007 Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) as the most comprehensive review of climate science and policy. The First Assessment Report (FAR) emerged after the IPCC was established in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme. These entities were given the task of preparing a report on all aspects of climate change and its impacts in order to inform development of practical response strategies. After its 1990 release, the FAR exposed the need for international cooperation and spurred creation of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the key international treaty to guide greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction (referred to as climate change mitigation) and provide a framework for managing consequences of nonreduction (referred to as climate-change adaptation). Since 1995 regular assessments have been released along with a number of special scientific reports. The previous report (AR4) was released in 2007.