Climate Change 2007: “The IPCC 4th Assessment Report (AR4) consists of four volumes that will be released in the course of 2007. Compared to the 2001 report, the AR4 pays greater attention to the integration of climate change with sustainable development and the inter-relationships between mitigation and adaptation. Specific attention is given to regional issues, uncertainty & risk, technology, climate change & water.
Here are the release dates and text of reports as available:
February 2 (Paris) – The Physical Science Basis
April 6 (Brussels) – Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability – Summmary for Policymakers
May 4 (Bangkok) – “Mitigation of Climate Change”
November 16 (Valencia) “The Synthesis Report”
Working Group I Report, “The physical science basis”, assesses the current state of knowledge about the natural and human drivers of climate change, reflecting the progress of the climate change science in the observation of the atmosphere, the Earth’s surface and oceans. It provides a paleoclimatic perspective and evaluates future projections of climate change. Main topics include changes in atmospheric composition, observation of various climate parameters, coupling between changes in climate and biogeochemistry, evaluation of models and attribution of climate change.
Working Group II Report addresses “Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability”: It provides a detailed analysis of observed changes in natural and human systems and the relationship between those observed changes and climate change, as well as a detailed assessment of projected future vulnerability, impacts, and response measures to adapt to climatic changes for main sectors and regions.
Working Group III Report on “Mitigation of climate change” analyses mitigation options for the main sectors in the near term, addressing also cross sectorial matters such as synergies, co-benefits, trade-offs, and links with other policy objectives. It also provides information on long term mitigation strategies, for various stabilization levels, paying special attention to implications of different short-term strategies for achieving long-term goals.”