[1] Clear-sky longwave radiative feedback processes depicted in climate models prepared for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) are investigated using satellite observations of the clear-sky outgoing longwave radiation (OLR). Estimates of clear-sky longwave radiative damping are derived from regional, seasonal, and interannual sources of variabili...

“Earth Science for Society” is the tagline for the International Year of Planet Earth (IYPE). This joint initiative by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and the International Union of Geological Sciences, aims to promote the activities of Earth scientists and encourage effective use of their knowledge by society. The fourth assessment report (AR4) of ...

Good assessment of environmental issues, such as climate change, requires effective communication of the degree of uncertainty associated with numerous possible outcomes. One strategy that accomplishes this, while responding to people’s difficulty understanding numeric probability estimates, is the use of specific language to describe probability ranges. This is the strategy adopted by the Inte...

We propose a methodological framework aimed at obtaining projections of the Human Development Index (HDI) that can be used to assess the degree of vulnerability of future societies to extreme climatic events. By combining recent developments in the modeling and projection of population by age, sex, and educational attainment, our modeling set-up ensures that the different components of the HDI ...

global temperature has increased from 13.7 to 14.3 degrees Celsius. The 1990s were, in many respects, the warmest years of the 20th century. Most of the world’s glaciers have receded over the last few decades. The concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere—the chief cause of the greenhouse effect—has risen from 280 parts per million (ppm) to 360 ppm since the start of the Industria...

global warming is one of the major concerns in environmental issues. its effects are being exposed faster than anticipated recently. it causes adverse ecological and socioeconomical effects. the 4th assessment report issued by the u. n.’s intergovernmental panel on climate change (ipcc) states that it is appropriate to define global warming was caused by greenhouse gases due to human activities...

Regional and coastal mean sea level projections in the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) account only for vertical land motion (VLM) associated with glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA), which may significantly under- or over-estimate sea level rise. Here we adjust AR5-like regional projections with the VLM from Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) meas...