Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is a United Nations committee. It provides scientific information to world governments regarding the impact of human activities on global warming. The panel is often called the IPCC. It won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize along with former United States Vice President Al Gore. The prize was awarded for increasing public awareness of global warming.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) established the IPCC in 1988. The panel was set up in response to a growing concern among scientists. Scientists worried about the relationship between human activities and the increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, trap heat in Earth’s atmosphere. They thus contribute to a rise in average temperatures around the planet.
The IPCC has three working groups. Working Group I analyzes scientific data on climate change. Working Group II suggests practical responses to the challenges of global warming for world governments to consider. Working Group III studies the economic and social effects of climate change on society, especially changes arising from human activities. It also studies how to make such effects less severe.
In 2001, the IPCC issued a report stating that there is a clear connection between increases in greenhouse gas emissions and global warming. According to the report, most of the observed warming since the 1950’s is likely due to the increase in concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
In 2007, the IPCC released the results of climate simulations. The report included studies by climate experts from around the world. It supported the earlier findings that human activities, rather than natural forces, are the main reason for the current warming of Earth’s climate. Furthermore, the climate simulations showed that there can be no “quick fix” to global warming. Even if all greenhouse gas emissions were to cease immediately, Earth’s average temperatures would continue to rise. The continuing rise would result from greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere. However, reducing the rate of greenhouse gas emissions can have a long-term effect on lessening the threat of global warming.
