Write a general overview of the IPCC Fifth Assesment Report

Climate change paper and rubric

Use the SafeAssignment tool in BB to check your paper for plagiarism. (Look for “IPCC term paper” in the Homepage.) I set up SafeAssignment so you can check your paper repeatedly. Use SafeAssignment also to submit your final draft.

The paper specifications:

1. Go to the IPCC website and spend some time familiarizing yourself with its contents. Much of the material is very technical, but go to Reports, then to Fifth Assessment report 2014. You will find there the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report, one publication from each of the Working Groups. (You do not have to buy the books from Cambridge University Press.) Each of the publications has a section called Summary for Policy Makers. This is nicely written material that can be understood by a well-educated non-expert.

2. You can pick any topic related to the information on the website, or you can write a general overview of the IPCC, but at the minimum, your paper must address the following issues and topics. Where appropriate, make sure you provide your reasons for your arguments.

* The composition of the panel. Who are they?
* Describe what is the mission, structure, and procedures of the panel.
* What are the Working Groups and the Task Force, and their functions.
* Say something about the history of the panel.
* Do you think the IPCC is biased? why?
* It has been said that the IPCC is so large, the interests and points of view so diverse, that the final conclusions are very conservative in order to come to an agreement within the IPCC. This makes the published conclusions too timid. Thus, the reality of climate change is worse than in the panel’s reports. Comment on this opinion.
In addition, during your paper:

Explain why climate is a unique and complex system (CO5).
Explain how humans are affecting climate (CO5).
Explain how geologic contributions affect climate (CO5).
Distinguish how climate models differ from weather models (CO5).
Explain why rising sea level is one of the foremost hazards in a changing climate (CO5).

3. You will need to write a 3-4 page 1-1/2 spacing paper on the subject posted on that website, i.e. climate and climate change, and how the sobering conclusions of the IPCC have been reached.

4. Write good, clear English, without writing errors.

5. An abstract is not required, but if you have one, it is not included in the 3-4 page requirement.

6. Your paper should have an introduction and a conclusion. The main body of the paper should be comprised of one or several sections, depending on what you want to say, and how you want to convey it. Note that these are not scientific paper formatting requirements (where you need a Materials and Methods section, a Results section, etc.) I am asking you to write any references using in textcitations (see below), but the actual paper is formatted like you would a paper for your English class.

7. You can use graphs if that helps your arguments, but you must cite your sources properly.

8. You can refer to other articles, books, etc. but you are not required to go outside the IPCC website. If you do cite other works, use the author-date in text citation system such as is used in the American Psychological Association (APA) style. If in doubt, go to apastyle.org to find out the details. You will need a References section, which goes at the end of the paper, with the references in alphabetical order. This section also does not count towards the 3-4 page requirement.