Masood Mortazavi's Weblog

Saturday February 03, 2007

[ Science ] IPCC

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was set up by WMO and UNEP to "assess scientific, technical and socio- economic information relevant for the understanding of climate change, its potential impacts and options for adaptation and mitigation." The fourth assessment of the IPCC will be released under Climate Change 2007. You can also consult IPCC's February 2, 2007 Paris conference webcast for a preview.

These assessment reports do not come out haphazardly. The third assessment was called Climate Change 2001. So, 6 years of further work and data has gone into the new assessment.

David Adam of The Guardian reports from Paris, summarizing some of the highlights of the recent report releases by IPCC's Working Group I, focused on "Physical Science Basis" of climate change.

Average temperatures could increase by as much as 6.4C by the end of the century if emissions continue to rise, with a rise of 4C most likely, according to the final report of an expert panel set up by the UN to study the problem. The forecast is higher than previous estimates, because scientists have discovered that Earth's land and oceans are becoming less able to absorb carbon dioxide.

You can also listen to Guardian's interview with its reporter, Mr. Adam.

The working group has made available The IPCC Working Group I Fourth Assessment Report Summary for Policymakers (SPM). Page 15 of the report contains green house gas concentration measures based on examination of ice-core going back to 10,000 years.

2007-02-03 15:52:59.0 -- ; Permalink ; Trackback.
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[ Technology ] Ubuntu Laptop

Last year Ubuntu made some moves. This year, the Linux I run on my multi-OS Toshiba Tecra M5 laptop is Ubuntu. My first reaction to Ubuntu on the laptop was that it reminded my of my Mac OS-X machine at home. My second reaction was "let me try this some more" but how surprising can that be? Both have their foundation on Unix and its basic concepts, i.e. the bedrock of of operating systems such as Solaris.

2007-02-03 00:19:10.0 -- ; Permalink ; Trackback.
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