In honour of National Poetry Day and inspired by the Royal Society meeting on “Next Steps in Climate” here is my rather un-sophisticated summary of the meeting in poem form.
The climate is a-changing
We observe that it is so
Surface temperatures are rising
AND there is less of ice and snow
We climate scientist are (95%) confident
That human emissions are involved
But there is still room for further study
Some puzzles remain unsolved
Aerosols and fluffy cloud
Deep ocean heat uptake too
Need more obs and better models
I accept the challenge. Do you?
elliehighwood 
Climate Scientists postulate,
The world is warming. It’s too late
To save mankind.
We’ve been so blind.
Cut CO2
Is the only view.
Our models told us to.
But AR5
Comes alive.
The IPCC
Removes the “C”.
It’s unlikely
Temps get spikey
We’ve exaggerated “slightly”
Atlantic MOC collapse, very unlikely
Ice sheet collapse, exceptionally unlikely
Methane release, very unlikely
No summer Arctic ice, likely
Permafrost carbon release, low confidence
Tropical forest dieback, low confidence
Confidence in IPCC, 95% no confidence
Because, you see,
Climate sensitivity
Is low, not high
So it’s IPCC bye bye
Because they’ve said
Scary projections dead
Table 12.4, perhaps you’ve read?
Mango (somebody else who should stick to the day job 😉 )
Thank you. Approved in the spirit of open discussion rather than because I agree with the text.
Also, it’s not just the extreme and abrupt changes that you refer to that are important. The climate response to an increase in the energy being kept in the planetary system due to increased greenhouse gases is more pervasive than that. Increases in rainfall events, heatwaves, melting glaciers, and sea level all have the potential to disrupt our lives. This is what we do have confidence in.
he is right about IPCC Table 12.4 though… maybe you should check for yourself…
Thanks Barry, and of course I have seen that table. In my poem I don’t refer to any of those rapid or abrupt events that we have lower confidence in. I stick to the high confidence statements.
Ellie,
Could you cite the evidence that shows CO2 is responsible for the your list of weather events?
TIA
I should add that I do accept CO2 is a GHG and has the ability to raise temperatures
In my poem I don’t cite any weather events. We have always been less confident in these. I refer you to the discussions in the full IPCC report which clearly states the medium to low confidence.
Ellie,
but in your response you do
Pingback: Poetry please | The IPCC Report
CAGW floated my boat
As part of a mighty flotilla
But as weather turns out year after year
Our ideas keep looking sillier
Our critics can gloat
And there is not a scintilla
Of doubt or of faith or of fear
As they laugh at our would-be Godzilla