IPCC report: Overview of the Overviews

In addition to the hundreds of blog reviews and comments on the IPCC report the newspapers have been full of doomsday scenarios and impending catastrophic events that will inevitably kill us all.

This post is to provide a series of links for those wanting further reading:

Reactions to UN Climate Panel Report


Reactions to the report from various luminaries (Planetark summary).

The IPCC Fourth Assessment SPM

Provides a "first cut" at a summary of the Policy makers summary.

IPCC: Now that we've all agreed, let's disagree

A good series of links from Kate Sheppard at Gristmill.

Who and what are the IPCC - FAQ

Linking from Grist this is a good post by Sarah Burch on Terry. Anything you want to know about the IPCC answered. Good resource.

Global warming: the final warning [Independent Front Page]

In this article the Indy describes the effects of different rises in temperature. I quote just the last two as they provide a particularly bleak picture.

Two lines that stand out are: "World food supplies run out" and "Most of life on Earth has been snuffed out". Cheery stuff.

+5.4°: Sea levels rise by five metres

The West Antarctic ice sheet breaks up, eventually adding another five metres to global sea levels. If these temperatures are sustained, the entire planet will become ice-free, and sea levels will be 70 metres higher than today. South Asian society collapses due to the disappearance of glaciers in the Himalayas, drying up the Indus river, while in east India and Bangladesh, monsoon floods threaten millions. Super-El Niños spark global weather chaos. Most of humanity begins to seek refuge away from higher temperatures closer to the poles. Tens of millions of refugees force their way into Scandanavia and the British Isles. World food supplies run out.

+6.4°: Most of life is exterminated

Warming seas lead to the possible release of methane hydrates trapped in sub-oceanic sediments: methane fireballs tear across the sky, causing further warming. The oceans lose their oxygen and turn stagnant, releasing poisonous hydrogen sulphide gas and destroying the ozone layer. Deserts extend almost to the Arctic. "Hypercanes" (hurricanes of unimaginable ferocity) circumnavigate the globe, causing flash floods which strip the land of soil. Humanity reduced to a few survivors eking out a living in polar refuges. Most of life on Earth has been snuffed out, as temperatures rise higher than for hundreds of millions of years.