date: Mon, 08 Jan 2007 15:09:41 +0000 from: Phil Jones subject: Fwd: Compiled comments on the Final Draft SPM (manual resend) to: k.briffa@uea.ac.uk Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2006 11:31:43 -0700 To: brasseur@dkrz.de, eystein.jansen@geo.uib.no, francis.zwiers@ec.gc.ca, hegerl@duke.edu, hewitson@egs.uct.ac.za, jhc@dmi.dk, jto@u.arizona.edu, jwillebrand@ifm-geomar.de, ken.denman@ec.gc.ca, letreut@lmd.jussieu.fr, meehl@ucar.edu, n.bindoff@utas.edu.au, p.jones@uea.ac.uk, peter.lemke@awi.de, piers@env.leeds.ac.uk, randall@atmos.colostate.edu, richard.wood@metoffice.gov.uk, rsomerville@ucsd.edu, stocker@climate.unibe.ch, trenbert@ucar.edu, v.ramaswamy@noaa.gov From: IPCC WG1 TSU Subject: Compiled comments on the Final Draft SPM (manual resend) Cc: Martin Manning Hello all, I apologize for the difficulties we've been having with the email list server. This email, which should have gone out to you all yesterday, was apparently never processed by the email list server. I'm sending this manually, so that you may have it as soon as possible. -- Roy ---- Original email ---- Dear Colleagues Please find attached a compilation of the comments received from governments and NGOs on the final draft SPM. We may get some further late comments but these are a substantial set (nearly 1000) and probably raise all the major issues. In order to make it easier for you to find your way around them, we are providing 5 separate files corresponding to: General + introduction section; Drivers section; Observations section (inlcuding paleoclimate); Attribution section; and Projections section. Overall we are very happy with the way in which the SPM is being received. Although there are many minor issues where the comments identify misunderstandings that need to be cleared up, or suggest better ways of expressing things, there are only a few major issues. These are consistent with some of the comments on the previous draft and so are not unexpected. As in the work on our previous draft SPM, it's important that we jointly develop responses. Our preparation should work towards a successful process. Many constructive and helpful comments have been made in the attached but there are also constraints of several types. Some of these are practical, procedural, or based upon precedents, and we will need to discuss those. Please note that time will be very limited during the formal IPCC sessions in Paris and will also constrain what is practical. A much longer SPM is simply not an option, and we already have more figures than were in the TAR SPM. Finally, it is important to recognize that at previous IPCC approval processes, some written comments by governments were superceded by quite different stated concerns in the formal session, so the written comments cannot be assumed to be absolute at this stage. As we have mentioned earlier we will use our meeting on Jan 27 and Jan 28 to finalize our jointly proposed revisions to the SPM in response to these comments. The TSU is currently preparing a revision in which all the more mechanical and obvious revisions are made. Early in the new year we will be contacting subgroups among you on specific science points and trying to ensure that we have discussed all the key SPM revisions carefully by email or conference call before arriving in Paris. We will also need to prepare some presentations to the delegates in Paris to assist the process. During Jan 29 to Feb 1 we are planning two types of science presentation by CLAs or LAs. The first type will be given during the 2-hour lunch breaks or in the mornings before the start of the plenary session. These will be open to any delegates who are interested, will be informal in style (no translation) and should be from 15 to 30 minutes long. The aim in these presentations will be to explain some of the underlying science, show typical data or results from the chapters where appropriate, and allow delegates to ask questions. These have been very helpful in the past as they allow delegates to interact with the authors in a seminar type of environment. They help to clear up misunderstandings and can be used to explain why some things being asked for by policymakers can not be provided. E.g in this type of presentation we would hope to explain why observed changes are often expressed probabilistically (which confuses some people) and how the sea level rise projections are derived. We should be able to allocate about 3 or 4 hours in total to these presentations and will cover a range of science topics suggested by the comments so far. In the attached compilation of comments the ones that we think can be assisted through science presentations are highlighted in a cyan color. The second type of presentation will be given as part of the formal plenary session and be used to introduce the key issues as we start each section of the SPM. These presentations should be 5 to 10 minutes long and summarize more specifically what is in the SPM and where it has come from in the chapters. We will only allow a very limited number of questions for these presentations and their main purpose is to orient the delegates to the material they are being asked to approve and remind them that it has to be based on the chapters. E.g this type of presentation could help clarify why we do not mix attribution statements with observation statements. To summarize: We will be contacting a few of you separately today or tomorrow about preparing the longer type of science presentations for Paris, then after Jan 1st we will be contacting subgroups regarding our options for revisions to the SPM. If you have any very specific suggestions for how to deal with particular comments or groups of comments please let us know. In the meantime enjoy the holiday season and we will be in touch again shortly. Regards Susan, Dahe, and Martin -- Recommended Email address: mmanning@al.noaa.gov Dr Martin R Manning, Director, IPCC WG I Support Unit NOAA, Earth System Research Laboratory Phone: +1 303 497 4479 325 Broadway, R/CSD 2 Fax: +1 303 497 5628 Boulder, CO 80305, USA Prof. Phil Jones Climatic Research Unit Telephone +44 (0) 1603 592090 School of Environmental Sciences Fax +44 (0) 1603 507784 University of East Anglia Norwich Email p.jones@uea.ac.uk NR4 7TJ UK ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Attachment Converted: "c:\eudora\attach\AR4FDR_BatchA_Team_Drivers1.doc" Attachment Converted: "c:\eudora\attach\AR4FDR_BatchA_Team_Obs1.doc" Attachment Converted: "c:\eudora\attach\AR4FDR_BatchA_Team_General1.doc" Attachment Converted: "c:\eudora\attach\AR4FDR_BatchA_Team_Proj1.doc" Attachment Converted: "c:\eudora\attach\AR4FDR_BatchA_Team_Attrib1.doc"