IPCC WGI Fifth Assessment Report

22 Oct 2013

At the end of September, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group I (WGI) Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) was released. The IPCC report was entitled "Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis". It presents a synthesis of current climate science research and an assessment of the extent to which the climate changes can be attributed to human activity. The IPCC report is crucial for informing the climate policies adopted by governments.

With the use of PSMSL data, the IPCC WGI AR5 concluded that "It is very likely that the mean rate of global averaged sea level rise was 1.7 [1.5 to 1.9] mm/yr between 1901 and 2010, 2.0 [1.7 to 2.3] mm/yr between 1971 and 2010 and 3.2 [2.8 to 3.6] mm/yr between 1993 and 2010. Tide-gauge and satellite altimeter data are consistent regarding the higher rate of the latter period" (www.climatechange2013.org).

Tide gauge data from PSMSL was used in Chapter 3 (Observations: Ocean) and Chapter 13 (Sea Level Change). Scientists from PSMSL had major contributions to the Sea Level Change chapter, with Dr. Svetlana Jevrejeva as a lead author and Prof. Philip Woodworth as a review editor.