On September 30, 2013, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis, which forms a part of the Fifth Climate Assessment Report or AR 5. Lead Authors of the report, who are faculty at the University of Hawaii briefed the press, faculty and students. Content: Prof. David Karl, Director of the Center for Microbial Oceanography Research and Education (C-MORE), who hosted and moderated the event, presents background information on the IPCC report process. Prof. Axel Timmermann (chapter: Information from Paleoclimate Archives) reviews the main findings of the summary for policy makers, which states that "the warming of climate is unequivocal. It is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century." Prof. Mark Merrifield, Director of the UH Sea Level Center (chapter: Sea Level Change), presents main findings on past and future changes in sea level together with an animation developed by the SOEST, Coastal Geology Group that shows the flooding and inundation of Waikiki should the Report's sea-level rise projections to the end of this century given the various climate change scenarios take place.

• published: 14 Oct 2013
• views: 3365