How can climate models benefit you 2/3

IPCC scenarios: Understanding future climate pathways

Envisioning the conditions of future Earth can be challenging, given the complexity and uncertainty of climate change. For this reason, the IPCC developed Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) and Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) as foundational frameworks for modeling potential climate futures. RCPs focus on greenhouse gas concentration trajectories, while SSPs explore different socioeconomic development scenarios. Together, they provide a comprehensive basis for research across a wide range of climate-related fields. Here’s an image on SSPs with some drivers that characterize these narratives.

Shared socioeconomic pathways, Credits: Baste et al. 2021