Researchers say IPCC should report on catastrophic climate change

Researchers who examined the current analytical state of scenario planning as a climate risk management tool have found that the effect of high-impact, catastrophic consequences of global heating on climate change scenarios is “dangerously underexplored”. Writing in the scientific journal, The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers also argued that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) should devote resources towards greater understanding of catastrophic and extreme consequences of climate change. The researchers write: “The IPCC has yet to give focused attention to catastrophic climate change. Fourteen special reports have been published. None covered extreme or catastrophic climate change. A special report on ‘tipping points’ was proposed for the seventh IPCC assessment cycle, and we suggest this could be broadened to consider all key aspects of catastrophic climate change.”