Getting a reliable sense of what the science is telling us can be hard for non-experts, particularly on shouty social media. It is important to go back to the established experts, not those non-experts that set themselves up as arbiters of the science.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is an international body whose work is the product of an international team of scientists from over 60 countries who give their time voluntarily to review the published literature and produce in depth reports. The Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) is the latest and covers different aspects: causes, impacts, adaptation and mitigation, both globally but also from a regional perspective.

Some summaries can be useful (not least in reducing the word count!) as long as they do not try to selectively spin the science in a direction to support a particular marginal or biased framing.

• A) The Energy & Climate Intelliengence Unit (ECIU) have published a visual summary by John Lang of the IPCC’s Synthesis Report from 2023. The full 6th Assessement Report (AR6) is monumental so condensing the essence into this highly digestible and brief form is a work of art as much as science! https://eciu.net/analysis/infographics/ipcc-explainer-infographic-synthesis-report-climate-2023 For many, this visualisation may sate your appetite, but there are additional accessible resources.

• B) CarbonBrief do a great job summarising the science such as here: In-depth Q&A: The IPCC’s sixth assessment report on climate science, Carbon Brief, 9th August 2021 https://www.carbonbrief.org/in-depth-qa-the-ipccs-sixth-assessment-report-on-climate-science/

• C) One of the reasons people go to secondary sources is because of the huge size of the IPCC reports. But the IPCC itself provides summaries. The single key one is the Synthesis Report https://www.ipcc.ch/report/sixth-assessment-report-cycle/ that aims to summarise the findings from the individual working group assessments.

  If you are interested in delving a bit deeper, parts I, II, III themselves each have focused summaries as follows:

  • i) Part I: Physical Science Basis Report assesses the causes, and possible future scenarios.

  • An accessible summary is available as a short video: https://youtu.be/e7xW1MfXjLA

  • A written Summary for Policymakers is available here https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/chapter/summary-for-policymakers/

  • ii) Part II: Impacts, Adaptation & Vulnerability Report assesses ecosystems, biodiversity, and human communities at global and regional levels. It also reviews vulnerabilities and the capacities and limits of the natural world and human societies to adapt to climate change.

  • An accessible summary is available as a short video: https://youtu.be/SDRxfuEvqGg

  • A written Summary for Policymakers is available here https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/chapter/summary-for-policymakers/

  • iii) Part III: Mitigation of Climate Change Report assesses ways to reduce carbon emissions.

  • An accessible summary is available as a short video: https://youtu.be/7yHcXQoR1zA

  • A written Summary for Policymakers is available here https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg3/chapter/summary-for-policymakers/

• D) Some views do not “follow the science” that the IPCC has established and need to be challenged, because they undermine the climate movement. Climate change is so serious we do not need to embellish the science with poorly evidenced opinions. Here is an example of a riposte to some widely circulated opinions: The faulty science, doomism, and flawed conclusions of Deep Adaptation, Thomas Nicholas, Galen Hall, Colleen Schmidt, Open Democracy, 14 July 2020, https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/oureconomy/faulty-science-doomism-and-flawed-conclusions-deep-adaptation/