Gathering the Facts: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Reports

Global warming is the greatest threat to wildlife today. While we may know that, it can be overwhelming to understand the complexity and the solutions. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, has been preparing climate change reports for almost 20 years. It gathers the science to provide the most complete and up-to-date picture. The work is collaboratively done by thousands of scientists around the globe.

The Nobel Peace Prize committee announced that the IPCC will share the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore for their work to raise awareness about global warming. Read National Wildlife Federation staff responses to the announcement.

The IPCC Working Group III Report, released May 4, 2007, outlines how choices made now by governments and industries will affect future energy security, air quality, public health, employment and the trade balance. It reinforces the importance of helping wildlife adapt to climate change.

What is the IPCC?

The IPCC was put together by the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme in 1988. The official language of its role: "to assess on a comprehensive, objective, open and transparent basis the scientific, technical and socio-economic information relevant to understanding the scientific basis of risk of human-induced climate change, its potential impacts and options for adaptation and mitigation."

The IPCC is not doing new research, but instead pulling together comprehensive reports using science that has been "peer-reviewed" or evaluated by enough scientists that the science is considered credible by the majority of the scientific community.

The 2007 volumes were put together by 2500+ scientific expert reviewers, 800+ contributing authors, 450+ lead authors, participants from 130+ countries and represents six years of work.

The IPCC has released comprehensive reports of this type three times before, in 1990, 1995 and 2001. The 1995 reports were important in the development of the Kyoto Protocol, a major international agreement that was a turning point in discussions of global warming. Visit the IPCC Website for more information.

Next step: See examples of wildlife affected by global warming.

• NWF provides testimony to US Senate on the effects of global warming on wildlife
http://www.nwf.org/wildlifeandglobalwarming/ipcc.cfm
• Wildlife at Risk (PDF, 529 kb) - Global warming threatens to unravel many of the local conservation success stories that our parents fought for and that our children will cherish - but only if we fail to act now. (PDF Help.)
• Out of Sync - Wildlife is at risk as global warming changes the timing of seasonal behaviors such as breeding and migration.
• Wildlife on the Hot Seat - What happens to the natural world when the Earth warms?
• Mother Knows Best - Red squirrel females are endowing their offspring with genetic changes that may help the species combat global warming.
• Good Neighbor - Doing the right thing for our planet's future.
• No Room at the Top - High-mountain species are particularly susceptible to global warming—and North America’s cold-loving pikas may be the most vulnerable of all.