The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group II Report was released on 31st March 2014. Working Group II assesses the impacts, adaptation and vulnerability to climate change with an emphasis on regional sectoral and cross-sectoral issues. This is the second of three sections within the Fifth Assessment Report that collectively provide an overview of the science, adaptation and mitigation research globally.
The Summary for Policy Makers provides a synthesis of the key findings but even this section is probably only read by a few. What is more interesting is some of the interpretations by the Australian media since its release as this is the only discussion of the Report that the general population are likely to see.
The Australian Guardian refers to the ‘Hellish Monotony‘ of 25 years of IPCC reports. Whilst certain details have become clearer in more recent reports the message is essentially the same. The world is ill-prepared for climate change.
The Sydney Morning Herald attempted to bring these impacts back to an individual level with an article listing the ways you will personally notice climate change. Whilst some of these are deliberately trivial (such as ‘crowded beaches’ from sea level rise) the points speak to our way of life and daily routines.
The Australian coverage focused on the specific impacts this country will feel and dedicated a long article to the addition of a new risk category in the Fifth Assessment Report (initially the most severe was ‘high’ and is now ‘very high’).
Whether stories had a historical, personal or national focus, the messages were consistent with the IPCC’s findings: the effects of climate change are already being felt and that in many cases we are unprepared for these changes.