Everyone Loves The Chat Box: How Climate Science Moved Online

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The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change met in Incheon, South Korea in October 2018. The pandemic has forced scientists around the world to write the latest U.N. climate report without meeting in person.

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Edward Byers, an author of the latest U.N. climate report and an energy researcher, participated in a virtual meeting with other report authors in April.

Samantha Byers/Courtesy of Edward Byers

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Samantha Byers/Courtesy of Edward Byers

Edward Byers, an author of the latest U.N. climate report and an energy researcher, participated in a virtual meeting with other report authors in April.

Samantha Byers/Courtesy of Edward Byers

«I think it was good that we’ve all had the opportunity to meet each other on previous occasions and at previous meetings in person, says Edward Byers, an IPCC chapter scientist and energy researcher at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Austria.

Byers thinks a mix of online and in-person meetings could work well even after the pandemic is over, especially if virtual meetings were shorter and happened more often.

Right now, scientists meet approximately every 9 months, which means deadlines for drafts and revisions are also spread out, and scientists procrastinate just like everyone else. «There is always work going on, but you really get that flurry of activity in the few weeks before the deadline, says Byers. «Perhaps more frequent meetings online every two months or something, maybe that would keep more of the momentum going.