Representative Concentration Pathways
Encyclopedia
Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) are four greenhouse gas emissions trajectories adopted by the IPCC
for its fifth Assessment Report (AR5)
.
The four RCPs, RCP2.6, RCP4.5, RCP6, and RCP8.5, are named after a possible range of radiative forcing
values in the year 2100 (2.6, 4.5, 6.0, and 8.5 W/m2, respectively).
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is a scientific intergovernmental body which provides comprehensive assessments of current scientific, technical and socio-economic information worldwide about the risk of climate change caused by human activity, its potential environmental and...
for its fifth Assessment Report (AR5)
IPCC Fifth Assessment Report
The Fifth Assessment Report of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change , will be the fifth in a series of such reports...
.
The four RCPs, RCP2.6, RCP4.5, RCP6, and RCP8.5, are named after a possible range of radiative forcing
Radiative forcing
In climate science, radiative forcing is generally defined as the change in net irradiance between different layers of the atmosphere. Typically, radiative forcing is quantified at the tropopause in units of watts per square meter. A positive forcing tends to warm the system, while a negative...
values in the year 2100 (2.6, 4.5, 6.0, and 8.5 W/m2, respectively).