Climate Change 2014 : Impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability. Part A: Global and sectoral aspects : Working Group II contribution to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Abstract

Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability is the second volume of the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) — Climate Change 2013/2014 — and was prepared by its Working Group II. The volume focuses on why climate change matters and is organized into two parts, devoted respectively to human and natural systems and regional aspects, incorporating results from the reports of Working Groups I and III. The volume addresses impacts that have already occurred and risks of future impacts, especially the way those risks change with the amount of climate change that occurs and with investments in adaptation to climate changes that cannot be avoided. For both past and future impacts, a core focus of the assessment is characterizing knowledge about vulnerability, the characteristics, and interactions that make some events devastating, while others pass with little notice.