ANN ARBOR—Government representatives and scientists are meeting in Stockholm this week to finalize the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report assessing the evidence for climate change and its causes. The University of Michigan has experts who can discuss various aspects of climate change and respond to the new report’s Summary for Policymakers once it is released Friday at 4 a.m. ET (10 a.m. Stockholm time).

The U-M experts include editors and contributing authors of the IPCC’s soon-to-be-released Working Group 1 report on the physical science basis of climate change, as well as authors of the recently released draft U.S. National Climate Assessment. They are:

Joyce Penner is a professor of atmospheric, oceanic and space sciences and review editor of the new report’s chapter on clouds and aerosols—suspended particles such as soot from coal burning. She can discuss the effects of aerosols and clouds on climate and how scientists’ views of their impacts are changing. Penner, who was among the IPCC recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore in 2007, has urged state and national policymakers to take action on climate. She can be reached at (734) 936-0119 in her office or penner@umich.edu.

Mark Flanner is an assistant professor of atmospheric, oceanic and space sciences and a contributing author of the report’s chapter about clouds and aerosols. He can discuss the current knowledge of how aerosol particles that come to rest on snow and sea ice change how those surfaces reflect sunlight and contribute to climate change. He can be reached at (734) 615-3605 or flanner@umich.edu.

Barry Rabe is a professor at the Ford School of Public Policy and a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. He was the first social scientist to receive a Climate Protection Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2006 and is a member of the National Research Council committee on Risk Assessment and Risk Governance for Shale Gas Development. Rabe is available for interviews on Obama administration climate initiatives and programs the EPA has launched in recent years, as well as the evolving role of U.S. states in climate policy. He can be reached at (734) 765-1677 or brabe@umich.edu.

Donald Scavia is director of the Graham Sustainability Institute and a lead convening author of the Midwest chapter of the recently released draft National Climate Assessment. Scavia can discuss the anticipated effects of human-caused climate change on the Midwest, which include more frequent and more intense heat waves, as well as an increased frequency of intense rainstorms and floods. He can be reached at (734) 615-4860 or at scavia@umich.edu.

Andrew Hoffman, director of the Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise, can talk about climate change as a market shift and the strategies that companies use to adjust to a carbon-constrained world. He can also field questions about the social debate over climate change, why people reject the scientific consensus and how to communicate and frame the issue for public and political audiences. Hoffman is the Holcim Professor of Sustainable Enterprise, a position with joint appointments at the Ross School of Business and School of Natural Resources and Environment. He can be reached at (734) 763-9455 or at ajhoff@umich.edu.

Henry Pollack, professor emeritus of earth and environmental sciences, was among the U-M scientists who contributed to the IPCC’s 2007 climate reports. That year, the United Nations-sponsored IPCC shared the Nobel Peace Prize with former Vice President Al Gore. Pollack is also a scientific adviser to Gore’s Climate Reality Project. He can be reached at (734) 763-0084 or hpollack@umich.edu.