| 英文摘要: | How should the IPCC communicate its findings, not just to policymakers, but to a wider audience? In today's online environment, readers demand an open and transparent interaction, but the responses must be both rapid and authoritative. As the IPCC debates its future, it must be bold in engaging with social media. In September 2013, the IPCC published The Physical Science Basis, the Working Group I contribution of the IPCC's Fifth Assessment Report (AR5)1. The 1,552-page report was 6 years in the making and the collective work of more than 600 scientists2. Its headline findings were reported around the world3: “Warming of the climate system is unequivocal”; “Human influence on the climate system is clear”; and “Continued emissions of greenhouse gases will cause further warming and changes in all components of the climate system.” A week later at a two-day conference held at the Royal Society in London, scientists gathered to discuss the findings and also to debate possible next steps for both the IPCC and climate science more broadly. Sir Mark Walport, the UK government's chief scientific adviser, told the audience that “science is not finished until it's communicated”4. To reinforce his point, he projected one of the report's complex figures on a screen. “We can't show graphs like these,” he said. Walport was highlighting a problem with the IPCC that has long been discussed by journalists, civil society representatives and even many scientists themselves: how do you best communicate the IPCC's often dense, highly technical findings, not just to policymakers, but to the wider world?
MAXIM BASINSKI / ALAMY
- Stocker, T. F. et al. (eds) Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis (IPCC, Cambridge Univ. Press, 2013).
- Working Group 1 Fact Sheet (IPCC WGI Technical Support Unit, 2013); http://www.climatechange2013.org/images/uploads/WG1AR5_FactSheet.pdf
- IPCC Headline Statements from the Summary for Policymakers (WGI Technical Support Unit, 2013); http://www.climatechange2013.org/images/uploads/WG1AR5_Headlines.pdf
- Yeo, S. 'Science is not finished until it's communicated' — UK chief scientist. RTCC (3 October 2013); http://www.rtcc.org/2013/10/03/science-is-not-finished-until-its-communicated-uk-chief-scientist
- Principles Governing IPCC Work (IPCC, 2013); http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/ipcc-principles/ipcc-principles.pdf
- Decisions Taken with Respect to the Review of IPCC Processes and Procedures: Communications Strategy (IPCC, 2012); http://www.ipcc.ch/meetings/session35/IAC_CommunicationStrategy.pdf
- Review of the IPCC (InterAcademy Council, 2010); http://reviewipcc.interacademycouncil.net
- Hawkins, E., Edwards, T. & McNeall, D. Nature Clim. Change 4, 154–156 (2014).
- http://www.realclimate.org
- http://www.skepticalscience.com
- https://twitter.com/richardabetts
- http://www.youtube.com/user/IPCCGeneva/videos
- Donald, R. BBC most likely to portray IPCC science as 'contested': how old and new media covered the IPCC. CarbonBrief (19 May 2014); http://go.nature.com/6SsHrQ
- Task Group on the Future Work of the IPCC Future Work of the IPCC TGF-II/Doc. 2 (IPCC, 2014); http://go.nature.com/MCYYHn
- Task Group on the Future Work of the IPCC Consideration of Options Paper Prepared by the Task Group Co-Chairs TGF-II/Doc. 3 (IPCC, 2014); http://go.nature.com/KL5f34
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Affiliations
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Leo Hickman is at Carbon Brief, 40 Bermondsey Street, London SE1 3UD, UK
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