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IPCC publishes Sixth Assessment Report on the physical science basis of climate change

On 9 August 2021, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published its Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), 'Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis' (the Report). The Report addresses the most up to date scientific understanding of the climate system and climate change.

With input from 234 scientists from more than 60 countries, the 3,949 page report examines the impact of human activity on important global metrics, including sea levels and global temperatures from the past, and extrapolates a variety of future scenarios based on different courses of action.

Some of the key findings from the Report include the following:

• It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land.
• The scale of recent changes across the climate system as a whole and the present state of many aspects of the climate system are unprecedented over many centuries to many thousands of years.
• Human-induced climate change is already affecting many weather and climate extremes in every region across the globe.
• Global surface temperature will continue to increase until at least the mid-century under all emissions scenarios considered.
• Many changes in the climate system become larger in direct relation to increasing global warming.

The Report is likely to influence policymakers across the globe and is expected to form the basis of discussions amongst global leaders at the 26^th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), which is due to be held in Glasgow in November.

Click here to access the full report.

Click here to access the Summary for Policymakers.