Who pays the most attention to IPCC reports?
The media occasionally picks up on particularly sensational bits of information presented in the IPCC assessment reports. For instance, following the release of the next IPCC report in 2007, we will be sure to hear all about how extreme weather events are likely to become more severe and more frequent, especially in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Next in line are politicians. The IPCC assessment reports are intended to provide unbiased input into national climate change policies, but are often reduced to fuel for necessarily biased and inflammatory political agendas (oddly, both pro- and anti-climate policy camps effectively utilize the reports to suit their needs). Next are experts who have contributed to the work of the IPCC and would like to give their own work a dose of worldly glamour and credibility. Finally, the IPCC work occasionally trickles down to astute and determined non-experts who are considering the climate change problem for themselves, as well as eager social scientis
