Climate Thematic Portal: Related Resources
Web Resources
NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) at Columbia University: A key objective of GISS research is prediction of atmospheric and climate changes in this century. The research combines analysis of comprehensive global data sets, derived mainly from spacecraft observations, with global models of atmospheric, land surface, and oceanic processes. GISS works cooperatively with area universities and research organizations, especially Columbia University, including Columbia’s Center for Climate Systems Research (CCSR, The Earth Institute, and Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory.
National Centre for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Climate Change Research and UCAR GIS Climate Change Scenarios project: The GIS Climate Change Scenarios project conducted by the NCAR GIS Initiative is intended to serve a community of GIS users interested in global climate change. This GIS data portal provides access to free global data sets of climate change scenarios generated for the upcoming 4th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) by the Community Climate System Model (CCSM). The data sets can be downloaded in a common GIS format (i.e., shapefiles) or text file and used for further visualization, analysis, and mapping of global climate change. The Project is intended to complement other climate data distributing centers (IPCC Data Distribution Centre (DDC), Program for Climate Model Diagnosis and Intercomparison, and the Community Data Portal.)
NOAA National Climatic Data Center (NCDC): The NCDC develops and holds both national and global data sets that have been used by government and the private sector to maximize climate resources and minimize the risks of climate variability and weather extremes. NCDC’s climate data have been used in a variety of applications including agriculture, air quality, construction, education, energy, engineering, forestry, health, insurance, landscape design, livestock management, manufacturing, recreation and tourism, retailing, transportation, and water resources management.
UNEP.Net Socioeconomic portal: Provides major sources of social and economic assessment information used by UNEP and its partners for integrated environment assessments as part of the GEO process.
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC): Contains numerous resources ranging from introductory to in-depth publications, the official UNFCCC and Kyoto Protocol texts, and a search engine to the UNFCCC library.
U.S. Climate Change Science Program: Integrates federal research on climate and global change, as sponsored by thirteen federal agencies and overseen by the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Council on Environmental Quality, the National Economic Council, and the Office of Management and Budget.
U.S. Global Change Research Information Office (GCRIO): GCRIO provides access to data and information on climate change research, adaptation/mitigation strategies and technologies, and global change-related educational resources on behalf of the various U.S. Federal Agencies that are involved in the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP).
WDC for Climate (WDCC) : Here, data for climate research are collected, stored, and disseminated in order to serve the scientific community. Restricted to climate data products.
WWF Climate Change Programme: WWF supports a wide range of climate change projects and reports.
Discussion Lists, Forums, and Blogs
Climate-L: Climate-L is a moderated electronic mailing list that disseminates information on climate change policy and international negotiations to approximately 5,000 subscribers.
Climate Action Network Europe:A worldwide network of more than 365 Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) working to promote government, private sector, and individual action to limit human-induced climate change to ecologically sustainable levels. CAN-Europe provides a forum for NGOs and as a source of information for its members on International and EU policy developments, through mailing lists, newsletter, Web site, and events. CAN-Europe also ensures that NGO voices are heard in the wider policy arena by acting as a liaison with varied policy stakeholders and Institutions.
HDGEC—Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change list: A SEDAC-sponsored mailing list that serves as a forum for the exchange of information and opinions on the human dimensions of global environmental change. To subscribe, send an email to listserv@ciesin.columbia.edu. The body of the message should read: subscribe hdgec.
RealClimate: A commentary site by working climate scientists, for the general public and journalists. Contributors aim to provide a quick response to developing climate science stories and provide the context sometimes missing in mainstream commentary. The discussion is restricted to scientific topics and does not include any political or economic implications of the science.
FAQs, Encyclopedias, and Glossaries
ESPERE Climate Encyclopedia: Published by Environmental Science for Everyone Round the Earth (ESPERE), a European consortium, this comprehensive encyclopedia is aimed at high school and college level students.
GCRIO Dr. Global Change: Answers to select questions about climate change. Past questions and answers are available in a searchable archive. A typical question is: Where can I learn about permafrost and climate change?
Glossary of Climate Change Terms from Pew Center on Global Climate Change: Intended to provide a basic understanding of some of the more commonly used climate change terms. Each page contains a short glossary of terms box, which provides definitions of terms found on the page.
