Outlook for Earth

This Nature special issue explores the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – an international body of hundreds of scientists and policy experts that regularly assesses the state of knowledge about how climate is changing, what impacts that will have, and how nations can mitigate the problem. A graphical introduction chronicles the history of the IPCC and how climate science has evolved over the past 25 years. One news feature examines the latest research on rising sea levels and another profiles Ottmar Edenhofer, a leader of the IPCC's upcoming report on mitigation. In a Commentary, Elliot Diringer proposes that individual actions by nations to tackle the causes of climate change can set the stage for international action. And K. John Holmes looks at the history of large-scale environmental assessments.

Image credit: Carl De Torres

News

Editorial

  • The final assessment

    The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has provided invaluable evidence for policy-makers, but giant reports should give way to nimbler, more relevant research.

    Nature ( )

Features

  • Outlook for Earth

    As the IPCC finalizes its next big climate-science assessment, Nature looks at the past and future of the planet's watchdog.

    Nature ( )

  • 25 years of the IPCC

    A graphical tour through the history of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the science that underlies it.

    Nature ( )

  • Rising tide

    Researchers struggle to project how fast, how high and how far the oceans will rise.

    Nature ( )

  • The climate chairman

    Getting hundreds of experts to agree is never easy. Ottmar Edenhofer takes a firm, philosophical approach to the task.

    Nature ( )

Comment

  • A patchwork of emissions cuts

    Home-made national approaches can be effective for climate-change mitigation if countries agree on rules and build trust, says Elliot Diringer.

    Nature ( )

  • Pushing the climate frontier

    The first large-scale environmental surveys, carried out on the US arid lands, hold scientific lessons for policy-making still relevant today, explains K. John Holmes.

    Nature ( )