Global warming: the complete briefing

Global warming and climate change

Is the climate changing?

The remarkable last decades of the twentieth century

El Nino events

The effect of volcanic eruptions on temperature extremes

Vulnerable to change

The problem of global warming

Adaptation and mitigation

Uncertainty and response

How the earth keeps warm

The greenhouse effect

Mars and Venus

The 'runaway' greenhouse effect

The enhanced greenhouse effect

The greenhouse gases

Which are the most important greenhouse gases?

Radiative forcing

Carbon dioxide and the carbon cycle

Future emissions of carbon dioxide

Other greenhouse gases

Gases with an indirect greenhouse effect

Particles in the atmosphere

Estimates of radiative forcing

Climates of the past

The last hundred years

The last thousand years

The past million years

How stable has past climate been?

Modelling the climate

Modelling the weather

Seasonal forecasting

The climate system

Feedbacks in the climate system

Models for climate prediction

Validation of the model

Comparison with observations

Is the climate chaotic?

Regional climate modelling

The future of climate modelling

Climate change for the twenty-first century and beyond

Emission scenarios

Model projections

Projections of global average temperature

Regional patterns of climate change

Changes in climate extremes

Regional climate models

Longer-term climate change

Changes in the ocean thermohaline circulation

Other factors that might influence climate change

The impacts of climate change

A complex network of changes

How much will sea level rise?

The impacts of sea level rise

Increasing human use of fresh water resources

The impact of climate change on fresh water resources

Impact on agriculture and food supply

The impact on ecosystems

The impact on human health

Adaptation to climate change

Costing the impacts: extreme events

Costing the total impacts

The overall impact of global warming

Why should we be concerned?

Earth in the balance

Exploitation

'Back to nature'

The technical fix

Future generations

The unity of the earth

Environmental values

Stewards of the earth

The will to act

Weighing the uncertainty

The scientific uncertainty

The IPCC assessments

Narrowing the uncertainty

Sustainable development

Why not wait and see?

The precautionary principle

Principles for international action

Some global economics

A strategy for action to slow and stabilise climate change

The climate convention

Stabilisation of emissions

The Montreal protocol

The Kyoto protocol

Forests

Reduction in the sources of methane

Stabilisation of carbon dioxide concentrations

The choice of stabilisation level

Realising the climate convention objective

Summary of the action required

Energy and transport for the future

World energy demand and supply

Future energy projections

Energy conservation and efficiency in buildings

Energy savings in transport

Energy savings in industry

Capture and storage of carbon dioxide

Renewable energy

Hydro-power

Biomass as fuel

Wind energy

Energy from the sun

Other renewable energies

The support and financing of renewable energy

Nuclear energy

Technology for the longer term

The global village

The challenges of global warming

Not the only global problem

The conception and conduct of environmental research

The goal of environmental stewardship.

Global warming and climate change

The greenhouse effect

The greenhouse gases

Climates of the past

Modelling the climate

Climate change under business-as-usual

The impacts of climate change

Why should we be concerned?

Weighing the uncertainty

Strategy for action to slow and stabilize climate change

Energy and transport for the future

The global village.