To the tune of Johnny Nash’s “I Can See Clearly Now”…
“IPCC clearly now that I understand…”
We’re incredibly lucky to have a document like the IPCC Report. Since the First Assessment Report in 1990, scientists from all around the world have volunteered their time to write what is essentially a giant review of the whole state of climate science. If you need to know any aspect of the science of climate change, from aerosols in Alaska to zonal winds in Zimbabwe, you can find it in the IPCC Report, along with references to peer-reviewed scientific publications where you can read more. With the release of the Working Group 1 Report of the Sixth IPCC Assessment Report in August 2021, scientists and non-scientists alike have a comprehensive source for information about the physical climate system.
“The PCC class cleared obstacles in my brain…”
However, the document itself is more than a little overwhelming to pick up. Clocking in at 3,949 pages and filled with technical jargon, the report often feels written more for those who are already experts than for people who are concerned with the climate crisis and want to learn more.
“IPCC clearly now the jive is gone…”
What if there were interpretations of the report that took out or clearly defined all the complex jargon or “jive”? A sort of Cliff’s Notes for this tremendous document, that interested readers could read alongside the dense report itself. Like Jimmy Cliff’s version of “I Can See Clearly Now” recorded for the movie Cool Runnings may have introduced a new generation to Johnny Nash’s classic song, we hope this book can help open doors for a tentative but interested learner of climate science.
“Gonna be a bright climate expert today”
The authors of this book were students in the PCC 487/587: Fundamentals of Climate Change class in Autumn 2021. The class is cross-listed among three departments, Atmospheric Sciences, Oceanography and Earth and Space Sciences. The class covers the basics of climate science, designed to help graduate students or advanced undergraduates to have all the fundamental knowledge they need to interpret scientific studies about climate change.
The students in the class came from departments like Atmospheric Sciences, Civil Engineering, Environmental Health, Marine and Environmental Affairs, Oceanography, Urban Design and Planning, Public Administration, Quantitative Ecology and Resource Management, Epidemiology, Environmental and Forest Sciences, Earth and Space Sciences, and Biology. Their final project was to describe aspects of the report while adding information about climate fundamentals that they learned in the class, or that would assist a reader who might not know all the scientific jive. They were given freedom to choose the chapters and subsections to focus on, and many were able to bring in creative examples from their own experience or educational background to give clever reinterpretations of the chapter. Readers should refer to the real report and references therein if there are ever misunderstandings or potential errors. We hope that whether you’re an expert or a beginner to climate science, your thinking is changed by examining the report through the lens of IPCC Clearly.