ABSTRACT
Climate analysis requires an understanding of both economics and science. Climate science is a rapidly evolving field, rich with new areas of research, important advances that refine our understanding of well-established facts, and an increasing reliance on interdisciplinary approaches to complex research questions. Every few years, this body of knowledge is pulled together, subjected to additional layers of peer review, and published in Assessment Reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The latest of these – the Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) – was released in 2007 (IPCC 2007b), reflecting the peer-reviewed research literature through 2006. The next IPCC Assessment is expected in 2013-14.
