Well, I've started reading the IPCC AR4. For those who don't closely follow climate change geekery, the IPCC is the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - a scientific body set up by the United Nations. As their mandate says:
The "AR4" is the Fourth Assessment Report - the latest in a series of reports published by the IPCC summarizing the current state of climate science. Even though these reports are summaries, they're still enormous - the AR4 is broken down into three main sections, each of which is more than 1000 pages, as well as a "Synthesis Report" which attempts to summarize the three other report sections. Amusingly enough, the Syntheses Report itself has a "Summary for Policymakers".
The IPCC was established to provide the decision-makers and others interested in climate change with an objective source of information about climate change. The IPCC does not conduct any research nor does it monitor climate related data or parameters. Its role is to assess on a comprehensive, objective, open and transparent basis the latest scientific, technical and socio-economic literature produced worldwide relevant to the understanding of the risk of human-induced climate change, its observed and projected impacts and options for adaptation and mitigation
So, over the next few months I'm planning - perhaps "hoping" would be more accurate - to read the entire AR4, and to blog about what I discover. I'm doing this largely because I need some way of organizing my thoughts, keeping notes on interesting snippets of information, etc. I figure I might as well make that process public - perhaps someone else will find it useful, or failing that at least occasionally amusing.
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