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pg22

Twentieth online page shows physician explaining that IPCC scientists are volunteers then teacher introducing the "summary for policymakers" concept
Dialogue:
But do you authors get together?
Oh, yea, looong meetings, combing through and debating every detail.
So this is like an uber peer review of scientific knowledge that’s mostly already peer reviewed and even stood the test of time with citations and all that?
Yup.
How much do you get paid for this?
What? No! IPCC scientists are volunteers.
Volunteers!
Well thank you.
Thanks to all of you IPCC scientists.
With all that feedback the authors could write the final report.
But a big, fat, densely written scientific report didn’t meet the need.
The whole point of the IPCC was to deliver scientific information that governments could use to govern better; to avoid the climate crisis. — 20 of 31

October 1, 2020October 29, 2021

pg23

Twenty-first online page shows teacher introducing scientist who studies storms who describes how summary for policymakers is reviewed once more.
Dialogue:
Next we’ll be hearing from Dr Tempestas, who studies weather and storms.
He’s going to explain how the IPCC handled that little problem of speaking science to power.
Well, we wrote a second, shorter report, in language non-scientists could understand, but strictly reflecting the scientific report.
Those were called the Summary for Policymakers.
We sent the full report and the Summary for Policymakers to all the governments for their review and comments, then did another round of responses. — 21 of 31

October 1, 2020October 29, 2021

pg24

Twenty-second online page shows scientist in a small plane over a stormy earth distributing draft reports while IPCC discussions take place below.
Dialogue:
But it wasn’t over yet.
There were these big plenaries - meetings that went on for days, often all night.
With both scientists and governments in the room we’d go over the Summary for Policy Makers line-by-line and word-by-word.
Boy, there were debates; heated debates.
Remember, those governments included countries whose entire economies were based on selling oil, coal and gas; plus countries on small islands that would soon disappear under the waves of the rising oceans.
They all really cared.
Plus they were conferring with the observer groups who also cared. — 22 of 31

October 1, 2020October 29, 2021

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