{"id":254987,"date":"2023-04-27T21:30:33","date_gmt":"2023-04-27T19:30:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=254987"},"modified":"2023-04-27T21:30:36","modified_gmt":"2023-04-27T19:30:36","slug":"the-misuse-of-rcp4-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=254987","title":{"rendered":"The Misuse of RCP4.5"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Originally tweeted by The Honest Broker by Roger Pielke Jr. (@RogerPielkeJr<\/a>) on\u00a0April 25, 2023<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n


I talk a lot about RCP8.5, and rightly so<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there is another scenario that is just as widely misused, and that is RCP4.5<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let’s talk a bit about RCP4.5 . . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RCP4.5 is a scenario that includes climate policy which alters the world’s trajectory from a 7.0 W\/m^2 trajectory in the GCAM reference scenario<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/s10584-011-0151-4<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

RCP4.5 is often (maybe even typically) paired with RCP8.5 to demonstrate climate policy success, with RCP8.5 used as a reference scenario (or, as they say, BAU)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A good example of this practice is the 2018 US National Climate Assessment<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is flawed for at least 3 reasons\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

First, as you surely know by now, RCP8.5 is not an appropriate reference scenario for anything, so using that as a baseline for any purpose is methodological malpractice<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, you cannot pair RCP8.5 and RCP4.5 and they are from different IAMs & represent very different worlds<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3rd
The big one \u2013 if RCP4.5 is indeed to be viewed as climate policy success, then we can all go home as according to the UNFCCC the world is currently undershooting RCP4.5 as you can clearly see in figure below (which illustrates SSP2-4.5 trajectory)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/rogerpielkejr.substack.com\/p\/pielkes-weekly-memo-16<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So if you believe climate policy stops today then you can use RCP4.5 as an upper bound scenario (not as a stress test of course, a different discussion)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don’t just take it from me, the Biden administration’s central SCC scenario undershoots RCP4.5 to 2100<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/rogerpielkejr.substack.com\/p\/the-biden-administration-abandons<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Don’t like Biden admin estimates?
Fine
Here is our assessment of plausible IPCC scenarios with SSP2-3.4 at the center and SSP2-4.5 as an upper bound<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/iopscience.iop.org\/article\/10.1088\/1748-9326\/ac4ebf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Why is RCP4.5 not a good proxy for climate policy success?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, according to IPCC AR6 it leads to a central estimate of 2.9C temperature change in 2100, which is not 2.0 or 1.5<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.ipcc.ch\/report\/ar6\/wg1\/chapter\/chapter-4\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So why is RCP4.5 frequently used to represent climate policy success & RCP8.5 used as a baseline, when both uses are scientifically unjustifiable?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, those are the scenarios that are readily available for research, so they get used even though the use is scientifically flawed<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Google Scholar says there are 24,500 studies that pair RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 in research<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just look at the example titles below<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To the extent that this research is supposed to say something about plausible futures, it is of little value to informing policy & may even mislead<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So if you are a researcher and you think, “Hey, maybe I’ll do a comparison of XYZ in RCP8.5 and compare it to RCP4.5 to illustrate the benefits of mitigation”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just say no<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

And if you are a consumer of climate science in your research, as a reporter or in policy and you come across a study that compares the fictional world of RCP8.5 and the false world of RCP4.5 as mitigation success<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Move along, nothing to see here<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

You want to do a proper study of the benefits of mitigation based on today’s view of “current policy” trajectories?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Use RCP4.5 as an upper end and RCP3.4 (or 2.6) as your lower end to represent mitigation success<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guess how many studies exist that perform that analysis?<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

This thread will soon be a post at The Honest Broker, as nerdy as it is, it is a story needed to be told because the misuse of RCP4.5 \u2013 while not as flashy as RCP8.5 \u2013 is important and endemic<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Comments welcome here<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Post coming before long, don’t miss it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/rogerpielkejr.substack.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Originally tweeted by The Honest Broker by Roger Pielke Jr. (@RogerPielkeJr<\/a>) on April 25, 2023<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

RCP4.5 is a scenario that includes climate policy which alters the world’s trajectory from a 7.0 W\/m^2 trajectory in the GCAM reference scenario<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":255007,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691818336,691819140,691819138,691819137,691819139],"class_list":{"0":"post-254987","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-biden-administration","9":"tag-climate-science","10":"tag-rcp4-5","11":"tag-rcp8-5","12":"tag-researcher","14":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/00Screenshot-2023-04-27-212420.png?fit=881%2C545&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-14kH","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":227206,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=227206","url_meta":{"origin":254987,"position":0},"title":"Coverage of Climate Shifts as More Scientists Admit to Problems with RCP8.5","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"03\/11\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The mainstream media is currently awash with articles from prominent journalists on how the global warming threat is less than we thought.\u00a0","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/image-129.png?fit=1200%2C782&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/image-129.png?fit=1200%2C782&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/image-129.png?fit=1200%2C782&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/image-129.png?fit=1200%2C782&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/image-129.png?fit=1200%2C782&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":385718,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=385718","url_meta":{"origin":254987,"position":1},"title":"Agriculture: It\u2019s Worse Than We Thought,\u00a0Again","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"29\/06\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"A week ago, the compliant media was happily swallowing, and regurgitating, yet another \u201cworse than we thought\u201d study, this time on the topic of how future climate change was going to starve humanity.","rel":"","context":"In \"carbon dioxide (CO\u2082)\"","block_context":{"text":"carbon dioxide (CO\u2082)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=carbon-dioxide-co%e2%82%82"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0globalgreening_tamo_2017_lrg.png?fit=1200%2C648&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0globalgreening_tamo_2017_lrg.png?fit=1200%2C648&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0globalgreening_tamo_2017_lrg.png?fit=1200%2C648&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0globalgreening_tamo_2017_lrg.png?fit=1200%2C648&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0globalgreening_tamo_2017_lrg.png?fit=1200%2C648&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":227087,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=227087","url_meta":{"origin":254987,"position":2},"title":"The climate \u2018crisis\u2019 isn\u2019t what it used to be","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"02\/11\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The world has always suffered from weather and climate extremes, and it always will; 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