Three ISU professors have contributed to two assessment reports on climate change for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC), which was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore on Friday.

The prize was awarded to the organization and Gore for their work informing the public of climate change and ideas to curb it.

Gene Takle, interim director of geological and atmospheric sciences and of agronomy, William Gutowski, professor of geological and atmospheric sciences, and Raymond Arritt, professor of agronomy, were contributing authors to 2001’s third report and 2007’s fourth report.

“It really gives you a good feeling. It really makes you feel good what you are doing is making an impact,” Arritt said.

Gutowski echoed that feeling of satisfaction.

“It’s nice to say that we’re contributors to this research that is now given recognition on the world stage,” Gutowski said.

Both professors stressed that the authors of these reports relied heavily on the contributions of many researchers and scientists the world over to compile data about climate change.

“There were hundreds of researchers who worked on this,” said Gutowski.

The IPCC’s Fourth Assessment Report (AR4), released in 2007, is divided up into three separate reports. The first report, titled Working Group I Report, looks at the “The Physical Science Basis,” which Takle, Gutowski and Arritt worked on.

“The Working Group I report is about the basic science [behind climate change],” said Arritt.

The second and third reports focus on “Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability,” and “Mitigation of Climate Change.”

The work of a contributing author is built around “suggesting results that should be included about [my] knowledge in the field,” Arritt said. Both Gutowski and Arritt said their research in the field of climate change in the Midwest, particularly Iowa, was used in the report.

“What we are talking about is the added influence of humans on the top of the natural weather patterns,” Gutowski said of the general focus of the first report.

Neither professors had qualms about stating humans have influenced the Earth’s climate through the increase in greenhouse gases put into the atmosphere, starting with the industrialization period of the late 1880s, and increasing exponentially in the years thereafter.

“It [climate change] is primarily human caused. The natural fluctuations in weather patterns contribute to it, but its mostly by people,” Arritt said.

Arritt likened looking at climate change over a large period of time to “loading dice,” where in each successive roll or year there will be an increase in the probability of climate changes.

“Over time, things are going to become more biased over the long term. It’s going to get warmer,” he said.

Both professors hoped that the report will give credibility to the research about global warming and show that the science community is mostly convinced global warming is a reality.

“I would urge people to pay attention and to learn about climate change, because ultimately, how we respond is how to this as a community, and ideally a global community, will ideally play out in the political arena in a positive way,” Gutowski said.

At the time of this story, Takle could not be reached for comment.