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Understanding Climate Change
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Causes of Climate Change
Abrupt climate change
Webpage produced by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.Abrupt climate change
R.B. Alley et al. Science (2003) 299(5615):2005-2010. Large, abrupt, and widespread climate changes with major impacts have occurred repeatedly in the past, when the Earth system was forced across thresholds. Although abrupt climate changes can occur for many reasons, it is conceivable that human forcing of climate change is increasing the probability of large, abrupt events.Advancing the science of climate change
National Academy of Sciences, 2010. This report, part of the America's Climate Choices suite of studies requested by Congress, examines the status of the nation's climate change research efforts and recommends steps to improve and expand current understanding.Black carbon: The dark horse of climate change drivers
C.W. Schmidt. Environmental Health Perspectives (2011) 119(4):A172-A175. For decades, efforts to slow global warming have mostly aimed to limit heat-trapping emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2). Now scientists are pointing to a different class of warming agents they say also must be targeted to keep global temperatures in check. Dubbed "short-lived climate forcings" (SLCFs), these other emissions—namely, black carbon particles, methane, hydrofluorocarbons, and tropospheric ozone—are even more powerful than CO2 in terms of their warming potential.The causes of global climate change
Pew Center on Global Climate Change, Science Brief No. 1, August 2008. Science has made great strides recently in determining which potential causes are responsible for the climate change that occurred during the twentieth century, providing strong evidence that greenhouse gases released to the atmosphere by human activities are the main cause of contemporary global warming. (PDF 2.16 MB)Changing Planet
This video series, produced in 2011 by NBC Learn in partnership with the National Science Foundation, explores the impact that climate change is having on our planet.Climate change: Science and impacts
Fact sheet published by Center for Sustainable Systems, September 2009. Climate change is altering temperature, precipitation, and sea levels, and will adversely impact human and natural systems including waster resources, human health, human settlements, ecosystems, and biodiversity.Climate change 101: Understanding and responding to global climate change
To inform the climate change dialogue, the Pew Center on Global Climate Change and the Pew Center on the States have developed this series of brief reports, which provide a reliable and understandable introduction to climate change. They cover climate science and impacts, technological solutions, business solutions, international action, recent action in the U.S. states, and action taken by local governments.Climate commitment in an uncertain world
K.C. Armour, G.H. Roe. Geophysical Research Letters (2011) doi:10.1029/2010GL045850. Climate commitment—the warming that would still occur given no further human influence—is a fundamental metric for both science and policy. It informs us of the minimum climate change we face and, moreover, depends only on our knowledge of the natural climate system.Climate literacy: The essential principles of climate sciences
This guide, published in 2009 by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program, presents important information for individuals and communities to understand Earth's climate, impacts of climate change, and approaches for adapting and mitigating change. (PDF 14.67 MB)Facts on Arctic climate change: A summary of the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment
Pamphlet produced by GreenFacts and International Polar Foundation. (PDF 705 KB)Frequently asked questions about global warming and climate change: Back to basics
Illustrated guide to basic information about climate change published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (PDF 1.6 MB)Global pollution and its effect on the climate of the Arctic
G. Weller. Science of the Total Environment (1995) 160-161:19-24.Climate models indicate an amplification of greenhouse warming in the Arctic, but there are still many uncertainties about the magnitude and timing of the expected change.Global warming
Webpage produced by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.How aircraft emissions contribute to warming
R. Dalton, Nature News, December 21, 2009. Aviation contributes up to one-fifth of warming in some areas of the Arctic.Impacts of the oceans on climate change
P.C. Reid et al. Chapter 1, Advances in Marine Biology (2009) 56:1-150. The oceans play a key role in climate regulation especially in part buffering (neutralizing) the effects of increasing levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and rising global temperatures. This chapter examines how the regulatory processes performed by the oceans alter as a response to climate change and assesses the extent to which positive feedbacks from the ocean may exacerbate climate change.The influence of human activity in the Arctic on climate and climate impacts
H.P. Huntington et al. Climatic Change (2007) 82(1-2):77-92. Human activities in the Arctic are often mentioned as recipients of climate-change impacts. Although human activities in the Arctic are generally assumed to be modest, this analysis suggests that those activities may have larger influences on the arctic system than previously thought.A review of recent developments in climate change science. Part I: Understanding of future change in the large-scale climate system
P. Good et al. Progress in Physical Geography (2011) 35(3):281-296. This article reviews some of the major lines of recent scientific progress relevant to the choice of global climate policy targets, focusing on changes in understanding since publication of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report (IPCC AR4). Developments are highlighted in the following major climate system components: ice sheets; sea ice; the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation; tropical forests; and accelerated carbon release from permafrost and ocean hydrates.What is global warming?
PBS NewsHour Science Report, updated March 17, 2009. Most scientists believe human activity has caused much of the rise in temperature over the past few decades. The increased emission of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide from car exhaust, and methane and nitrous oxide from industrial plants and agricultural activities, has trapped more heat close to the planet's surface.What's up with the weather?
Transcript of the NOVA program that aired on PBS on April 15, 2000.Monitoring, Modeling, and Forecasting
Alaska's climate: Too hot to handle
J. Whitfield. Nature (2003) 425(6956):338-339. Alaska is warming up more than anywhere else on Earth. Climate researchers are now turning to regional models to find out why—and how to deal with it.Applying climate change science in Alaska
Lecture #2 in U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's Climate Change Lecture Series, presented March 12, 2009, by Wendy Loya, PhD, of the Wilderness Society. Click here for the audio portion.Biodiversity: Climate change and the ecologist
W. Thuiller. Nature (2007) 448:550-552. The evidence for rapid climate change now seems overwhelming. Global temperatures are predicted to rise by up to 4°C by 2100, with associated alterations in precipitation patterns. Assessing the consequences for biodiversity, and how they might be mitigated, is a grand challenge in ecology.Building sustainable regional climate information systems
R.M. Güingla. Climate Research (2011) 47(1-2):41-45. Regionally oriented services will be key elements within the proposed Global Framework of Climate Services, the main outcome of World Climate Conference-3. Regional services may be substantially different from both global and national climate services. This paper elaborates on some of the conditions necessary to develop and deliver sustainable regional climate information systems and services.Built for stability
P. Valdes. Nature Geoscience (2011) 4(7):414-416. State-of-the-art climate models are largely untested against actual occurrences of abrupt change. It is a huge leap of faith to assume that simulations of the coming century with these models will provide reliable warning of sudden, catastrophic events.CAM3 bias over the Arctic region during northern winter studied with a linear stationary model
R. Grotjahn et al. Climate Dynamics (2011) 37(3-4):631-645. This study builds upon two prior papers that examine Arctic region bias of CAM3 (NCAR Community Atmosphere Model version 3) simulations during winter. CAM3 output is compared with ECMWF (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts) 40 year reanalysis (ERA-40) data.Can scientists look at next year's climate?
Science Daily, September 13, 2011. UCLA atmospheric scientists report they have now made long-term climate forecasts that are among the best ever -- predicting climate up to 16 months in advance, nearly twice the length of time previously achieved by climate scientists.Climate change scenarios for the Nordic countries
T. Jóhannesson et al. Climate Research (1995) 5:181-195. A climate change scenario for the Nordic countries has been defined for application in hydrological models in the Nordic research project 'Climate Change and Energy Production.' The scenario is based on a subjective evaluation of several recent results from global coupled atmosphere and ocean general circulation models (GCMs) and on a statistical downscaling of the model results.Climate model genealogy
D. Masson, R. Knutti. Geophysical Research Letters (2011) 38:doi:10.1029/2011GL046864. Findings provide insight into intermodel relationships, into how models evolve through successive generations, and suggest that assuming model independence in such ensembles of opportunity is not justified.Climate science: Elusive extremes
G.C. Hegerl et al. Nature Geoscience (2011) 4(3):142-143. Extreme climate events can cause widespread damage and have been projected to become more frequent as the world warms. Yet as discussed at an interdisciplinary workshop, it is often not clear which extremes matter the most, and how and why they are changing.The complexity of predicting climate-induced ecological impacts
K. Mustin et al. Climate Research (2007) 35:165-175. The anticipated future increases in global surface temperatures are likely to have major impacts on the distribution of species. Predicting future species' distributions is largely being addressed through the use of climate envelope models, which may indicate the broad direction of likely changes in distribution, but they fail to incorporate the non-climatic factors that are important determinants of species' distributions within their current range.Coordinated approaches to quantify long-term ecosystem dynamics in response to global change
Y. Luo et al. Global Change Biology (2011) 17(2):843-854. Many serious ecosystem consequences of climate change will take decades or even centuries to emerge. Future research programs with coordinated long-term experiments, process studies, and modeling have the potential to be the most effective strategy to gain the best information on long-term ecosystem dynamics in response to global change.Data rescue initiatives: Bringing historical climate data into the 21st century
M. Brunet, P. Jones. Climate Research (2011) 47(1-2):29-40. The currently limited availability of long and high-quality surface instrumental climate records continues to hamper our ability to carry out more robust assessments of the climate. Such assessments are needed to better understand, detect, predict and respond to global climate variability and change. The present paper discusses the usefulness of undertaking integrated data rescue (DARE) activities by showing several climate assessments as examples.Discriminating between climate observations in terms of their ability to improve an ensemble of climate predictions
Y. Huang et al. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2011) 108(26):10405-10409. In view of the cost and complexity of climate-observing systems, it is a matter of concern to know which measurements, by satellite or in situ, can best improve the accuracy and precision of long-term ensembles of climate projections. The authors follow a statistical procedure to evaluate the relative capabilities of a wide variety of observable data types for improving the accuracy and precision of an ensemble of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) models.Early warning of climate tipping points
T.M. Lenton. Nature Climate Change (2011) 1:201-209. A climate 'tipping point' occurs when a small change in forcing triggers a strongly nonlinear response in the internal dynamics of part of the climate system, qualitatively changing its future state. Recent work shows that early warning of an approaching climate tipping point is possible in principle, and could have considerable value in reducing the risk that they pose.Effective media reporting of sea level rise projections: 1989-2009
U.K. Rick et al. Environmental Research Letters (2011) 6(1):014004. This study examines how sea level rise projections—in IPCC Assessment Reports and a sample of the scientific literature—have been represented in seven prominent United States (US) and United Kingdom (UK) newspapers over the past two decades.80 percent of world climate data are not computerized and readily available
Science Daily, July 20, 2011. In order to gain a better knowledge of climate variations, such as those caused by global warming, and be able to tackle them, we need to understand what happened in the recent past. This is the conclusion of a research study led by the Rovira i Virgili University (URV), which shows that the scientific community today is only able to access and analyze 20% of the recorded climate information held. The remaining data are not accessible in digital format.Evolution of extreme temperatures in a warming climate
C. Simolo et al. Geophysical Research Letters (2011) 38:doi:10.1029/2011GL048437. The ongoing increase in extremely warm temperature events across large areas of the globe is generally thought to be a signature of a more extreme climate. Here, the authors uncover the way probabilities of extremes are being influenced by temperature evolution.Future climate change: Modeling and scenarios
Chapter 4 (pages 99-150) of ACIA Scientific Report, Cambridge University Press, 2005. Atmosphere-ocean general circulation models are widely acknowledged to be the primary tool for projecting future climate. As understanding of the earth's climate system increases and computers become more sophisticated, the scope of processes and feedbacks simulated by AOGCMs is steadily increasing. In addition to representing the general circulation of the atmosphere and the ocean, AOGCMs include interactive components representing the land surface and cryosphere. (PDF 4.89 MB)How much climate change can be avoided by mitigation?
W.M. Washington et al. Geophysical Research Letters (2009) doi:10.1029/2008GL037074. A new low emission scenario is simulated in a global climate model to show how some of the impacts from climate change can be averted through mitigation.Improving assessment and modelling of climate change impacts on global terrestrial biodiversity
S.M. McMahon et al. Trends in Ecology & Evolution (2011) 26(5):249-259. Understanding how species and ecosystems respond to climate change has become a major focus of ecology and conservation biology. Modeling approaches provide important tools for making future projections, but current models of the climate-biosphere interface remain overly simplistic, undermining the credibility of projections.IPCC expert meeting on assessing and combining multi model climate projections—Meeting report
T.F. Stocker et al. (eds.), 2010. Climate model results provide the basis for projections of future climate change, and increasing numbers of models are likely to contribute to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC AR5). The heterogeneity in the new generation of climate models and an increasing emphasis on estimates of uncertainty in the projections raise questions about how best to evaluate and combine model results in order to improve the reliability of projections.Is the earth warming?
Presentation by C. Tucker, Stockholm Resilience Centre, February 17, 2011. Dr. Compton Tucker, senior research scientist in the Laboratory for Hydrospheric and Biospheric Sciences at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, describes Earth's climate system as elaborated by satellite and in situ observations, reviews arguments against global warming, and shows the convergence of evidence for human-caused warming of our planet.Model provides successful seasonal forecast for the fate of Arctic sea ice
Science Daily, September 22, 2011. Relatively accurate predictions for the extent of Arctic sea ice in a given summer can be made by assessing conditions the previous autumn, but forecasting conditions more than five years into the future depends on understanding the impact of climate trends on the ice pack, new research shows.Modeling approaches for predicting change under WILDCAST: Making progress in a data-poor world
B.G. Marcot. Alaska Park Science (2009) 8(2):90-94. A basic framework is suggested for knitting together models of climate change, vegetation, and wildlife habitats and species for use in the U.S. Geological Survey, Alaska Science Center's WILDCAST Program. The framework also addresses influence of climate change on key ecological functions of organisms and on ecosystem services of value to people.Modeling marine protected areas for threatened eiders in a climatically changing Bering Sea
J.R. Lovvorn et al. Ecological Applications (2009) 19(6):1596-1613. To assess long-term changes in habitats that will support eiders, the authors linked data on benthic prey, sea ice, and weather from 1970 to 2001 with a spatially explicit simulation model of eider energy balance that integrated field, laboratory, and remote-sensing studies.Modeling ocean circulation in the age of supercomputers
Video of a 2011 lecture by Paola Cessi, Professor of Oceanography, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, as part of the series "Perspectives on Ocean Science." (56:44 min)Numerical investigations of future ice conditions in the Baltic Sea
J. Haapala et al. Ambio (2001) 30(4):237-244. Global climate change is expected to have an effect on the physical and ecological characteristics of the Baltic Sea. Estimates of future climate on the regional scale can be obtained by using either statistical or dynamical downscaling methods of global AOGCM scenario results.Ocean probes to help refine climate change forecasting
Science Daily, August 6, 2011. Though estimates regarding the effect of carbon in the ocean already exist, hard data can help climatologists create more accurate predictions of how carbon will impact global warming.Old weather data aids climate science—one ship at a time
J. Pinkowski, OnEarth, June 7, 2011. By trawling through World War I-era naval logs for forgotten storms, citizen scientists help make global climate models more precise.Present and future climates of the Greenland ice sheet according to the IPCC AR4 models
B. Franco et al. Climate Dynamics (2011) 36(9-10):1897-1918. The atmosphere-ocean general circulation models (AOGCMs) used for the IPCC 4th Assessment Report (IPCC AR4) are evaluated for the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) current climate modelling. The most suited AOGCMs for Greenland climate simulation are then selected on the basis of comparison between the 1970-1999 outputs of the Climate of the twentieth Century experiment (20C3M) and reanalyses (ECMWF, NCEP/NCAR).A probabilistic view on recent and near future climate change in Sweden
J. Räisänen, H. Alexandersson. Tellus: Series A (2003) 55:113-125. The decade 1991-2000 was warm and wet in Sweden, with 10-station mean temperature 0.8°C above and 20-station mean precipitation 6% above the mean for 1961-1990. The authors study the question if such changes should be seen as a symptom of anthropogenic climate change or if they might be of purely natural origin.Relevance of hydro-climatic change projection and monitoring for assessment of water cycle changes in the Arctic
A. Bring, G. Destouni. Ambio (2011) 40(4):361-369. Process-based hydrological modeling and observations, which can resolve changes in evapotranspiration, and groundwater and permafrost storage at and below river basin scales, are needed in order to accurately interpret and translate climate-driven precipitation changes to changes in freshwater cycling and runoff.Researchers ponder a 4°C temperature rise
M. Gross. Current Biology (2010) 20(24):R1052-R1053. As the 2°C target in the Copenhagen Accord begins to appear increasingly elusive, researchers have drawn up an overview of the challenges the world will face if global temperatures rise by 4°C or more.The Rossby Centre Regional Atmospheric Climate Model Part II: Application to the Arctic climate
C.G. Jones et al. Ambio (2004) 33(4):211-220. The Rossby Centre regional climate model (RCA2) has been integrated over the Arctic Ocean as part of the international ARCMIP project.Runaway heat? A darkening Arctic may accelerate warming trends there
S. Perkins. Science News (2005) 168(20):312,314,317. Among the effects that scientists have recorded in the Arctic are earlier snowmelt in the spring, the spread of shrubs into tundra areas once hospitable only for grasses, and the dwindling of sea ice coverage in the summer.The science behind measuring Arctic ice
K. Leitzell, Alaska Dispatch, August 16, 2011. Ice thickness is hard to measure, especially on a large scale. While some newer satellites can provide estimates of ice thickness, there is no long-term satellite record of ice thickness as there is for ice extent.The Swedish Regional Climate Modelling Programme, SWECLIM: A review
M. Rummukainen et al. Ambio (2004) 33(4):176-182. SWECLIM was a 6.5-year national research network for regional climate modeling, regional climate change projections, and hydrological impact assessment. Most of the program activities focused on the regional climate system of Northern Europe.Towards an enhanced climate system monitoring: Challenges and perspectives
T.C. Peterson, O. Baddour. Climate Research (2011) 47(1-2):21-28. A key aspect of any strategy for improving global climate system monitoring is enhancing the international exchange of climate data. The benefit of this often becomes clear as meteorological services in countries around the world improve the climate information they provide by putting it in the context of larger scale, cross-border climate signals.Uncertain climate models impair long-term climate strategies: New calibration satellite required to make accurate predictions, say scientists
Science Daily, September 20, 2011. Predictions vary wildly about how quickly temperatures will rise, resulting in serious implications for long-term political and economic planning, experts say.Uncertainty in climate change projections: The role of internal variability
C. Deser et al. Climate Dynamics (2012) 38(3-4):527-546. Uncertainty in future climate change presents a key challenge for adaptation planning. In this study, uncertainty arising from internal climate variability is investigated using a new 40-member ensemble conducted with the National Center for Atmospheric Research Community Climate System Model Version 3 (CCSM3) under the SRES A1B greenhouse gas and ozone recovery forcing scenarios during 2000-2060.A vast machine: Computer models, climate data, and the politics of global warming
P.N. Edwards, MIT Press, 2010, 518 pages. Paul Edwards documents the evolution of a broad scientific field that began with the curiosity of a few 19th-century explorers and scholars and now spans a worldwide community of scientists, engineers, and other specialists working with huge quantities of data, immensely complex computer models, and many sophisticated instruments and measurement platforms.Why climate models underestimated Arctic sea ice retreat: No Arctic sea ice in summer by end of century?
Science Daily, October 6, 2011. Researchers argue that climate models underestimate the rate of ice thinning, which is actually about four times faster than calculations, and that this model bias is due to the poor representation of the sea ice southward drift out of the Arctic basin through the Fram Strait.Books and Reports
Arctic climate impact assessment—Scientific report
The ACIA Scientific Report (2005) is the first comprehensive, integrated assessment of climate change and ultraviolet (UV) radiation across the entire Arctic region. The intended audience is the international scientific community, including researchers and directors of research programs. See here a video from the C-Span Video Library (November 8, 2004) where scientists talk to reporters at the National Press Club about the ACIA report (1:42:04). Read a review of the report by New York Times climate writer Andrew Revkin. See also PBS' review, which includes a link to a teacher resource.An sssessment of emissions and mitigation options for black carbon for the Arctic Council
Technical report of the Arctic Council Task Force on Short-Lived Climate Forcers, 2011. Although this report focuses on black carbon (BC), this focus does not represent a judgment by the Task Force that BC is the most important climate forcer in terms of Arctic climate change. Consistent with the Task Force's mandate, this report does not produce new scientific findings regarding the role of BC in Arctic climate change; rather, the available science presented herein provides an important context for the report's emissions and mitigation assessment.The atlas of climate change: Mapping the world's greatest challenge
K. Dow, T. Downing, University of California Press, 2007. This atlas examines the causes of climate change and considers its possible impact on subsistence, water resources, ecosystems, biodiversity, health, coastal megacities, and cultural treasures.Climate change 2007: The physical science basis
Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2007. This is one of three main volumes under the umbrella title Climate Change 2007.Climate change 2007: Synthesis report
An Assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2007. This synthesis report is based on the assessment carried out by the three working groups of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It discusses observed changes in climate, their effects, their causes, and projections of future climate changes and their impacts. Also available here is a brochure published by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution summarizing key climate change impacts identified by the 2007 IPCC report.Communicating on climate change: An essential resource for journalists, scientists, and educators
B. Ward. Metcalf Institute for Marine & Environmental Reporting, 2008. Metcalf Institute intends for this book to be used as a resource by all parties who are trying to more accurately and clearly relate the science of climate change and the myriad impacts of this global phenomenon. (PDF 7.07 MB)Congressional research reports on global climate change
The Congressional Research Service (CRS), part of the Library of Congress, prepares reports for the U.S. Congress. This is National Council for Science and the Environment's portal to downloadable CRS reports related to climate change.The encyclopedia of weather and climate change: A complete visual guide
J.L. Fry et al., University of California Press, 2010, 512 pages. This book explores where weather comes from and the roles played by oceans and water cycles, and explains such related phenomena as the shaping of landforms, the creation of biological provinces, and the lasting ramifications of climate change. It also discusses how humans have survived and adapted in extreme climates such as deserts, jungles, and icy regions.High-Arctic ecosystem dynamics in a changing climate: Ten years of monitoring and research at Zackenberg Research Station, Northeast Greenland
H. Meltofte et al., eds. Advances in Ecological Research No. 40 (2008). This book is based on data collected during the past 10 years by Zaceknberg Ecological Research Operations (ZERO) at Zackenberg Research Station in Northeast Greenland. The volume offers a comprehensive and authoritative analysis of how climate variability is influencing an Arctic ecosystem and how Arctic ecosystems have inherent feedback mechanisms interacting with climate variability or change.IPCC expert meeting on assessing and combining multi model climate projections—Meeting report
T.F. Stocker et al. (eds.), 2010. Climate model results provide the basis for projections of future climate change, and increasing numbers of models are likely to contribute to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC AR5). The heterogeneity in the new generation of climate models and an increasing emphasis on estimates of uncertainty in the projections raise questions about how best to evaluate and combine model results in order to improve the reliability of projections.IPCC expert meeting on detection and attribution related to anthropogenic climate change—Meeting report
T.F. Stocker et al. (eds.), 2010. The reliable detection and attribution of changes in climate, and their effects, is fundamental to our understanding of the scientific basis of climate change and in enabling decision makers to manage climate-related risk.NATO LibGuides—Arctic Security
A regularly updated list of reports on international security and strategic issues arising from a melting Arctic.The rough guide to climate change, 2nd edition
R. Henson, Penguin Press, 2008, 341 pages. Henson explains a range of material, starting with the basics of global warming, then moving to discussions of the state of climate science, debates and solutions, and what the reader can do to help address the issue.Scaling studies in Arctic system science and policy support: A call to research
Report from the U.S. Arctic Research Commission, June 2010. This report is a call for action to fill the gaps in the knowledge necessary to reach the goal of developing an understanding of the effects of climate and environmental changes at the scale of the whole Arctic environment, including their atmospheric, marine, terrestrial, and human components.The science of climate change: Global and U.S. perspectives
Report prepared for the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, May 2003. This report seeks to explain how climate is influenced by anthropogenic factors. As part of the Pew Center's series examining the potential impacts of higher atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases on the United States, this paper addresses what is known and not known about the science of climate change. (PDF 9.01 MB)Scientific assessment of the effects of global change on the United States
Report of the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources National Science and Technology Council, May 2008. This assessment analyzes the effects of global change on natural and human environments, agriculture, water resources, social systems, energy production and use, transportation, and human health. (PDF 2.73 MB) Also available is a fact sheet summarizing the findings of the assessment. (PDF 872 KB)State of the climate in 2010
Report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Climatic Data Center.A synthesis of potential climate change impacts on the U.S.
Report prepared for the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, April 2004. This report is the eleventh in a series examining the potential impacts of climate change on the U.S. environment. It provides a synthesis of prior Pew Center reports regarding climate change impacts across a number of sectors and regions. (PDF 756 KB)The weather of the future: Heat waves, extreme storms, and other scenes from a climate-changed planet
H. Cullen, Harper Collins, 2010, 329 pages. Heidi Cullen, climatologist and author, describes how climate change appears to be creating extreme weather in winter and summer. She also discusses U.S. cities likely to be the most vulnerable to extreme weather, one of which she identifies as Fairbanks, Alaska. Listen to Terry Gross's interview with the author on NPR's "Fresh Air" July 25, 2011.A world without ice
H. Pollack, Penguin, 2009, 287 pages. Geophysicist Henry Pollack paints a compelling portrait of the delicate geological balance between ice and climate, and why its rapid disappearance portends serious consequences in our not-so-distant future.Other Resources
Arctic Alive!
Interactive, real-time web-based education program that uses a variety of delivery methods and e-learning strategies to deliver arctic research to the classroom.Climate changes: Alaska, the Arctic and our global environment
UAA Podcast, February 23, 2012. Panelists at this discussion, recorded February 23, 2012, at the University of Alaska Anchorage Bookstore, were Raymond Anthony (Food Security and "Wickedness" in Alaska), Walter Parker (Directions for the Arctic: Future Goals and Obstacles), and Richard Steiner (Toward a Sustainable World: Shifting Geographical Boundaries). (MP3 111:15 min)Climate connections: A global journey
Interactive map tracing NPR's yearlong expedition exploring how climate changes people and how people change climate.Everything you need to know about climate change
Interactive guide to the facts of global warming, from the science and politics to economics and technology, drawn from the Guardian's climate change FAQ.The Arctic: Change at the top of the world
Video by Explore.org, an educational website produced by Annenberg Foundation. Included is a grade 6-12 lesson plan.Frozen Planet
This 8-episode film series ran on "BBC One" from October to December 2011.Science Tracer Bullets Online—Global Warming & Climate Change
Research finding aids from Library of Congress, Science Reference Services.Understanding and responding to climate change
National Academy of Sciences, 2008. This brochure highlights findings and recommendations from National Academies' reports on climate change.