Publication of the 6th IPCC report on climate change: BIRA-IASB states its position

2021-08-11

Peer-reviewed research conducted by many independent parties worldwide, including the Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy, has presented firm evidence that mankind’s activities are the main cause of currently observed rapid climate changes. The IPCC published a new synthesis of this evidence, highlighting again the urgency of this message. Dr Jean-François Müller, a scientist of the Institute, contributed to chapter 6 of the report, which addresses the impact on climate of other atmospheric pollutants than carbon dioxide.

Climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing our and future generations. Observations from the ground and from space of our atmosphere, the oceans and the Earth's land provide unique information that is of great importance for understanding and addressing climate change.

BIRA-IASB position statement on climate change
The missions of the Institute include(*):
- performing long-term measurements that contribute to the detection and attribution of the observed climate changes,
- improving our understanding of the mechanisms that cause these changes,
- assessing their possible future consequences, insofar as they relate to the composition of the atmosphere, and its relation to our environment and to space.
Also sharing these scientific findings and derived information with the scientific community, the citizen and policy makers belongs to the Institute’s tasks (*).
In view of the above, the Institute joins the calls from the scientific community and the society for urgent action to mitigate our impact on climate.
The Institute is ready to provide scientific knowledge and information in its domains of expertise to support policies of mitigation and adaptation to climate change.
(*) Royal Decree of April 8, 2002

The above position statement on climate change was adopted by the Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA-IASB) to clarify its ambition and its role in climate change research. It confirms the scientific basis for the consensus among Earth scientists that human activities are the primary cause of recent global warming, and that the provision, validation and interpretation of climate data records is part of the Institute’s missions.

The position statement forms the basis for dialogue with the stakeholders on climate change issues: the scientific community, the citizen as well as policy makers. The Institute is ready to support any intiative taken by belgian governments in order to strengthen our climate-change related research and services.

The 6th IPCC report on climate change, containing severe warnings about the evolution of our climate, its consequences and the necessary measures to prevent them.
BIRA-IASB scientists are strongly involved in the data processing from the TROPOMI instrument on board ESA's Sentinel-5P satellite. With it we are able to measure a range of chemical species crucial to the climate and other atmospheric processes, of the entire globe every 24 hours, at an unprecedented scale of detail.
The fleet of international Earth observation satellites which allow us to closely monitor the state of the global climate and its evolution.
Related articles