“We do not believe any group of men adequate enough or wise enough to operate without scrutiny or without criticism. We know that the only way to avoid error is to detect it, that the only way to detect it is to be free to inquire. We know that in secrecy error undetected will flourish and subvert”. – J Robert Oppenheimer.
Thoughts On The AR6 Summary for Policymakers
August 27, 2021
tags: IPCC
Guest Essay by Ian Cunningham
Some observations on statements made in the Summary for Policymakers IPCC AR6 WGI
A. The Current State of the Climate
A.1 It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land. Widespread and rapid changes in the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere and biosphere have occurred.
This statement adds nothing to our understanding. Nobody disputes that humans have increased the quantity of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and that given that carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas it should cause some warming. There is also broad agreement that there has been warming but how much of this is natural and how much is human induced? The second sentence would apply to both natural and human induced changes. The use of ‘rapid’ is questionable; a 1.07°C rise (see A.1.3) over about 150 years can hardly be described as such.
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