WASCAL SENIOR SCIENTIST INVOLVED IN THE NEXT IPCC ASSESSMENT REPORT
Dr. Mouhamadou Bamba Sylla, senior scientist in
climate modeling and climate change currently leading the research
cluster climate change and climate variability at the WASCAL Competence
Centre has been selected as an author in connection with the preparation
of the next Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Assessment
Report 6 (AR6).
By this appointment, he will be one of the lead
authors for the chapter 12 “Climate Change information for regional
impact and for risk assessment” of the Working Group 1 (WG1)
contribution due in 2021. Together with his co-authors, they will work
on integrating both quantitative and qualitative climate change
information from multiple lines of evidence on changing hazards for the
present day, the near-term and the long-term.
According to Dr.
Sylla, working with IPCC is both exciting and challenging. “In fact, the
task of Lead Authors is a demanding one. It comes with astute
commitment. The workload during the period from the second half of 2018
to 2021 will be in the order of several months and can be particularly
heavy during certain periods. At the same time, it is a big honour to be
selected to contribute to one of the most comprehensive scientific
documents in history” He said.
The IPCC was established in 1988
by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP) and endorsed by UN assembly. The role of
the IPCC is to comprehensively and objectively assess y the scientific,
technical and socio-economic information relevant to understanding
climate change, its potential impacts and options for adaptation and
mitigation. Every 5 to 7 years, IPCC releases an assessment report
written by hundreds of scientists in a very collaborative and collegial
way. This report constitutes the current state of knowledge on climate
change and informs international policy and negotiations on
climate-related issues.
Working Group 1 (WG1) deals with The
Physical Science Basis. Each of the chapters is led by a group of Lead
Authors and Coordinating Lead Authors that are world-leading climate
scientists who represent a broad range of opinion, expertise, gender,
and geographical representation. They come from academia, research
facilities, industry, government, and non-governmental organizations.
The new political developments on climate-related goals (i.e. the Paris Agreement, the launch of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction accord) that forge the context of the next AR6, all the collaboration with expert scientists from all over the planet working towards a common goal as well as the cross-cultural experiences that will be encountered during the process make it an exciting appointment.