Trent University physical geographer Dr. J. Graham Cogley is one of 831 experts from around the world to be selected by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to be a main contributor for the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report, due out in 2013/14.

The IPCC announced in a press release that it has selected a final list of coordinating lead authors, lead authors and review editors to provide contributions to the Synthesis report to be finalized and published in 2014. The team of specialists, including Professor Cogley and comprising 831 international climate change experts, will dedicate almost four years to three working groups of the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report (AR5).

As a lead author, Prof. Cogley has been assigned the task of assessing the vulnerability of socio-economic and natural systems to climate change, negative and positive consequences of climate change, and options for adapting to it. He will also consider the interrelationship between vulnerability, adaptation and sustainable development.

Upon receiving the news of his appointment as a lead author, Prof. Cogley said, “I am honoured by the confidence placed in me by the IPCC Bureau and I will do my very best over the next four years to justify it. It will be an interesting departure for me, moving on from the assessment of global glacier mass-balance observations to which I contributed for the IPCC's Fourth Assessment.”

Commenting on the new challenge with the IPCC, Prof. Cogley added, “I am part of a team focussed on the impact of climatic change on freshwater resources. I will be assessing not just the present state of glacier meltwaters, but also their availability to human society in the coming decades. It will be hard work, but also fun.”

In March 2010, the IPCC received approximately 3,000 nominations for each of the coveted positions. The Bureau held a conference in May 2010 to allow for three working groups to present their selected authors and review editors for AR5. Each of the selected scientists, specialists and experts was nominated in accordance with IPCC procedures, by respective national IPCC Focal Points, approved observer organizations, or by the Bureau itself.

Two Trent University alumni were also chosen by the IPCC as contributors to the AR5. Dr. Terry Prowse, who received a Master of Science in Watershed Ecosystems from Trent, will contribute to the Review as a lead author and Dr. Mike Brklacich, who received a Bachelor of Science in Geography degree from Trent, is charged with the role of a review editor. Dr. Prowse is currently a professor and chair in Climate Impacts on Water Resources in the Department of Geography at the University of Victoria and Environment Canada and Dr. Brklacich is the chair of the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at Carleton University in Ottawa.

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