The major points of the first volume of the Fourth Assessment Report (AR4), The Physical Science Basis, by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which was released today can be found in this Summary for Policy Makers.

This summary report itself may seem daunting at 21 pages (I can't even imagine how long the actual volume is, much less the entire Assessment Report), but I urge you to look through this summary and become familiar with the main points, of which you'll be hearing a lot over the next several weeks. As dry as the read is, I still find it to be fascinating, and quite frightening (but not nearly as scary as it would be if I was 30 years younger, looking at my future on this planet).