The Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change "Climate Change 2007 - The Physical Science Basis" was launched on 2 February 2007 in Paris. The report includes information on changes in greenhouse gases and aerosols in the atmosphere and the extent to which they affect climate. It provides details of recent changes in air, land and ocean temperatures, rainfall, glaciers and ice sheets and considers a large amount of new satellite and other data that have not been assessed previously. A paleoclimatic perspective considers the Earth's past cold and warm periods and the understanding of climate processes that can be gained from these. New information on feedbacks arising from the interaction of climate change with the biosphere and geochemistry is also considered. The most recent climate models were evaluated in detail, as is their use to explain observed climate change in terms of different driving factors. Projections of future climate change using climate models are considered broadly and cover near term climate change, the degree to which this is 'committed' due to past increases in greenhouse gases, and a range of potential longer term climate changes. Patterns of future climate change are considered both globally and regionally.
The report is available in print and electronic formats. The printed publication, along with the companion CD-ROM, may be purchased from Cambridge University Press. The Summary for Policymakers (SPM), Technical Summary (TS), individual Chapters, and other materials of the Working Group I report are available in pdf format. Supplementary Material is provided in a mixture of pdf and online formats. The FAQs are available in online and pdf formats
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