The physical basis of climate change was the focus of the recent contribution
from Working Group 1 to the Sixth Assessment Report of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (I IPCC, 2021 ). Alarming
information was presented concerning the current state of the climate,
the human influences affecting climate and the potential deleterious impacts
on life in the biosphere. The report notes that carbon dioxide levels
in the atmosphere exceed levels at any point over the past 2 million
years, global surface temperatures have increased by over 1.1 °C (compared
to the period 1850-1900), and global sea levels have risen by
more than 200 mm (since 1901). Extremes of heat and heavy precipitation
events are more frequent. Extreme weather events and the risk of
compound extreme events have also increased. The scale of the changes
in the climate system that have already occurred are unprecedented in
recent human history (I IPCC, 2021 ).
