The Climate Change 2001 volumes of the Third Assessment Report of the IPCC provide the most comprehensive assessment of climate change since its second report, Climate Change 1995. This Synthesis Report gives a comprehensive summary of the main points of the three separate volumes of the Report: The Scientific Basis; Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability; and Mitigation.

Scientific evidence linking chlorofluorocarbons and other ozone-depleting substances to global ozone depletion led to the initial control of chemicals under the 1987 Montreal Protocol. Since then it has been realized that some actions taken to reduce future depletion of the ozone layer could also influence global warming. When the Kyoto Protocol was negotiated in 1997, countries had new incentives to take account of how choices among substitutes could affect the objectives of both Protocols. This report provides the scientific context required for consideration of these choices; potential...