The other features — already mentioned — were the identification
of dominant
regional concerns, the highlighting
of climate change impacts already occurring, and the report's effectiveness as an engagement tool, which Mooney had just commented on, plus one more thing: the focus on extreme events, which are both most noticeable by the public and the primary source
of economic damage in the next several decades, as Dr. Michael Hanemann (author
of this paper) explained to me for a
story I wrote about the California drought.
«Greenland ice takes on a new role in the
climate change story, not just indicating
change and contributing to sea level rise, but possibly playing an important role in destabilizing
regional if not global ocean circulation that naturally exchanges heat north - south,» said Jason Box
of the Geological Survey
of Denmark and Greenland, and a study co-author, in an email to Mashable.