Against the backdrop of the final draft of the Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 ºC, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has said that it is committed to an open, robust and transparent assessment process.

The scientific and intergovernmental body under the auspices of the United Nations recently circulated the Final Draft of the report to governments, with a request for comments on the Summary for Policymakers from June 4 to July 29, 2018.

The full title of the report is: “Global Warming of 1.5 ºC, an IPCC special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5 ºC above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty”.

The IPCC says that it, during the review stages, actively seeks the collaboration of researchers and practitioners across a broad range of expertise to provide expert comments on the draft reports. As with the normal practice of peer review, this process is designed to ensure that the report is as accurate, comprehensive and objective as possible, it adds.

“The report undergoes revisions between the first and second order draft, and between the second order draft and the final draft. This is in response to thousands of review comments and also because the authors have assessed new literature that has been accepted for publication since the previous draft and before the final cut-off date.

“Draft reports are provided to governments and reviewers as confidential working documents and must not be publicly distributed, quoted or cited. This is out of respect for the authors and to give them the time and space to finish writing before making the work public.”

For these reasons, the IPCC says it does not comment on the contents of draft reports while work is still ongoing.

The IPCC approval session of the Summary for Policymakers of the report is due to take place from October 1 to 5, 2018 in Incheon, Republic of Korea. The IPCC says it looks forward to presenting and discussing the report findings, subject to approval by the Panel, on October 8 and thereafter.

Ice melt has caused sea levels to rise by eight mm since 1992, according to leading scientists on Thursday, June 14, 2018.

Australian scientists from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) teamed up with international researchers to study the Antarctic and concluded that the eight-mm rise in sea levels corresponded to approximately three trillion tonnes of ice melt.

Their research was published in the scientific journal Nature on Thursday.

Using 24 different satellite-based estimates, the group demonstrated a tripling of ice-loss in western Antarctica between 1992 and 2017.

Lead author and senior scientist, CSIRO Oceanographer Steve Rintoul, expressed concerns over the Antarctic ice sheet, commenting that “the largest mass loss is observed where relatively warm ocean waters are melting floating ice shelves from below.”

“As the ice shelves thin and weaken, they provide less resistance to ice flow from the continent to the sea,” Rintoul said.

“A critical question for the future is how ocean-driven melting of Antarctic ice shelves will change as the earth warms.”

“Continued high greenhouse gas emissions risk committing us to changes in Antarctica that will have long-term and far-reaching consequences for Earth and humanity.”

The study is part of a special collection of articles on Antarctica that includes Australian research on the role of the Southern Ocean in sea-level rise.

It explores how Antarctica and the Southern Ocean will change over the next 50 years, and how those changes will impact the rest of the globe.

Two scenarios are considered: one in which greenhouse gas emissions remain unchecked, and one in which strong action is taken to limit emissions and to manage increased human use of Antarctica.

If the high emissions continue, major ice shelves will collapse by 2070, according to the report, which also suggests sea level rise would accelerate to rates not seen in 20,000 years.

Furthermore, ocean acidification and over-fishing will alter Southern Ocean ecosystems, and a failure to manage increased human pressures will degrade the Antarctic environment, the report indicates.

Duanne White, associate professor at the University of Canberra, commended the paper as “a thorough assessment of the current state of knowledge of Antarctic ice loss.”