On this day, November 9-11 in 1988 the IPCC held its first meeting (invites to be part of the IPCC had been sent out by the World Meteorological Organisation in March of 1988)
“The IPCC first met on November 9-11, 1988, in WMO offices in Geneva. At this meeting it agreed its work programme, and what its main tasks were.”
Paterson, M (1996: 43)
[The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was 351ppm. At time of writing it was 416ppm- but for what it is now,well, see here for the latest.]
The context was this –
The IPCC had been set up after bargaining and debate within the US state (James Baker, the EPA etc etc). The point was, as far as the US was concerned, was to avoid a situation where independent and uncontrollable scientists could tell stark unvarnished facts without it all getting watered down. The US didn’t want to get “bounced” into another all-encompassing treaty, as they (felt they) had been on ozone…
Why this matters.
It doesn’t so much. We’re toast.
What happened next?
The IPCC produced its first Assessment Report in mid-1990. And has kept churning them out, alongside various special reports. All good (if inevitably conservative) work. The problem for inaction is not really with the scientists. It’s not, despite what some folks seem to need to believe.