Trent University’s Professor Chris Furgal from the Departments of Environmental and Resource Science and Indigenous Studies was involved in the Nobel Prize-winning work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as a leading scientific expert.
Prof. Furgal was one of only two Canadians on the international research team who wrote a chapter for the IPCC’s April 2007 report presenting the latest effects of climate change on the world’s polar regions. Entitled Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, this summary report provides a detailed analysis of observed and projected impacts on natural and human systems in response to actual and expected climate change stimuli. The report further addresses key vulnerabilities as well as adaptation measures for main sectors and regions. The complete summary report is the second of three volumes comprising the IPCC’s fourth climate change assessment report and was written by more than 450 of the world’s leading scientists. The final summary report was released in June 2007.
Prof. Furgal’s expertise was called upon to synthesize and assess current research into the impact of climate change on human communities in northern regions. “What we’ve learned is that climate change is already having a negative impact particularly on the health of smaller and remote indigenous communities,” he explained. “People in the north are already having to adapt to risks posed by more unpredictable weather, stresses on aspects of their food security related to changes in animal migrations and distribution, and infrastructure loss due to coastal erosion, and increased wave action as ice cover decreases over the oceans.”
"This is an honour that goes to all the scientists and authors who have contributed to the work of the IPCC, which alone has resulted in enormous prestige for this organization and the remarkable effectiveness of the message that it contains," said Mr. Rajendra Pachauri, the Chairman of the IPCC. The IPCC was established by the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme to assess scientific, technical and socio- economic information relevant for the understanding of climate change, its potential impacts and options for adaptation and mitigation.
Posted on Monday, October 29, 2007.