In episode 239 of America Adapts, Doug Parsons revisits his conversation with Dr. Katharine Mach, Professor at the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science and a lead author for the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report. Katharine explains the process of drafting that report and how the media both succeeds and fails at communicating its urgency. Doug and Katharine also discussed the need to rethink the role and purpose of the IPCC as it prepares for its next major assessment—especially now, as the Trump administration dismantles the National Climate Assessment and scales back federal climate programs, making the IPCC's global work more important than ever. That makes the IPCC's independent, global work even more vital—providing the scientific foundation the world, and especially the U.S., still needs to understand and respond to climate risk.

Transcript available here.

Topics covered:

• IPCC is a grand partnership between the governments of the world.
• How did the media do in reporting on the IPCC report?
• The IPCC has zero regulatory authority over sovereign nations.
• What does it mean to be a lead author for the IPCC.
• Many developing countries don't have the climate data and experts that developed countries have.
• How can the IPCC be relevant to adaptation planners in the U.S.
• Who is the audience for the IPCC report and how do you communicate to different audiences.
• How can American policymakers make use of the IPCC report.
• Adaptation education at the University of Miami

Key Quotes:

"Adaptation isn't a checklist—it's a continuous conversation about what kind of future we want."

"Climate risk is always filtered through inequality."

"Transformative adaptation is about changing the rules of the game, not just moving the pieces."

"Science must learn to listen before it speaks."

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Links in this episode:

https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-021-01170-y

https://people.miami.edu/profile/kmach@rsmas.miami.edu

https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGII_SummaryForPolicymakers.pdf

https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2021/01/The-concept-of-risk-in-the-IPCC-Sixth-Assessment-Report.pdf

https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:da39e9af-530e-4645-8b71-a254562b9a2a

 

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