Online Resources for Teaching About Climate Change  

General references for climate change

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC): http://www.ipcc.ch/.

            This website provides access to the reports of the IPCC going back to 1990. Working Group I covers the physical science of climate change; Working Group II covers climate change impacts, adaptation and vulnerability; and Working Group III covers climate change mitigation. The most recent published report is the 2007 4^th Assessment Report; the 5^th assessment is just getting underway. If you need graphics for a slide presentation, figures from reports can be downloaded from: http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/publications_and_data_figures_and_tables.htm.

US Global Change Research Program:

http://globalchange.gov/. The USGCRP is a multi-agency program of the federal government on climate change science and impacts. Reports that synthesize information from a wide range of research activities are available from their website, including the 2009 report Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States.  See also their page for the National Climate Assessment: http://globalchange.gov/what-we-do/assessment.

USEPA Climate Change Website: http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/

            The EPA provides access to information about greenhouse gas emissions, climate change science, health and environmental effects of climate change, climate economics, US climate policy, and ideas for what you can do.

Climate and weather data

 National Climate Data Center for paleoclimate data: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/paleo.html

            Site includes data sets from individual researchers and research teams using tree rings, ice cores, pollen, coral, speleothems, etc. and worldwide multi-sourced instrumental climate data (temp, precip. Bar. Press., etc.)

Global Change Master Directory for recent and past climate data: http://gcmd.nasa.gov/index.html. Site provides access to a variety of data sets on agriculture, atmosphere, biosphere, climate indicators, oceans, paleoclimate, land use etc.

Goddard Institute for Space Studies, Station Data: http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/station_data/.   Global data set of weather station temperature records. Access graphs of annual mean surface temperature and download monthly mean temperatures.

GHG emissions and socioeconomic  data

WRI Climate Analysis Indicators Tool (CAIT): http://cait.wri.org/cait.php

Database of greenhouse gas emissions, social & economic data etc for 180+ nations.

WRI-CAIT- V&A: http://cait.wri.org/cait-va.php

Data on national level indicators of vulnerability and adaptation.

WRI EarthTrends: http://earthtrends.wri.org/

Databases, graphics and maps of environmental, social and economic trends by nation.

Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC), Columbia University: http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/. SEDAC holds  a variety of databases of social and economic data and supports integration with earth science data for the study of global environmental change. They are a NASA funded data center.

US Environmental Protection Agency (2010). Inventory of US Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2008. USEPA, Washington, DC. http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/usinventoryreport.html.   This is the definitive, official report of US greenhouse gas emissions. The report includes a description of methodologies, emission trends, and detailed emissions data by sector of the US economy. The full report is 457 pages; check out the shorter 26 page executive summary.

Kaya identity calculator: http://www.wired.com/wired/st_formula.html. Change values of factors in the Kaya identity, see how it changes CO2 emissions.

Carbon budget simulation 1960-2100: http://profhorn.meteor.wisc.edu/wxwise/carboncycle/cc.html. Can change emissions path of emissions from fossil fuels and land use, also C uptake by oceans and land, and see how it affects CO2 concentration. Also has link to EdGCM climate model.

Physical impacts and human vulnerabilities

Union of Concerned Scientists, Climate Hot Map (2011). http://www.climatehotmap.org/.

            UCS has developed an interactive 'climate hot map' that provides information about climate impacts in selected locations around the world, general information about potential impacts to human health, food security, water resources etc, and about possible solutions. A useful resource for introductory overview of climate change impacts and solutions that is organized in a visually appealing way. References are provided for those who want to dig deeper. There are buttons to “take action now” that open draft letters for users to send to various international leaders and organizations. The site is strongly oriented toward advocacy for aggressive climate change policies.

USEPA (2010). Climate Change Indicators in the United States. USEPA, Washington, DC. http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/indicators.html.

            EPA's Climate Change Indicators in the United States report helps “readers interpret a set of important indicators to better understand climate change. The report presents 24 indicators, each describing trends related to the causes and effects of climate change. It focuses primarily on the United States, but in some cases global trends are presented to provide context or a basis for comparison. EPA will use these indicators to examine long-term data sets to (i) track the effects/impacts of climate change in the United States, (ii) assist decision–makers on how to best use policymaking and program resources to respond to climate change and (iii) assist EPA and its constituents in evaluating the success of their climate change efforts.” You can download a slide show about the indicators, as well at the full 80-page report.

Climate change adaptation

weAdapt: http://www.weadapt.org/.  “weADAPT.org is an online ‘open space’ on climate adaptation issues (including the synergies between adaptation and mitigation) which allows practitioners, researchers and policy makers to access credible, high quality information and to share experiences and lessons learnt with the weADAPT community. It is designed to facilitate learning, exchange, collaboration and knowledge integration to build a professional community of practice on adaptation issues while developing policy-relevant tools and guidance for adaptation planning and decision-making.”

UNDP, Adaptation Learning Mechanism. http://www.adaptationlearning.net/. ALM is an interactive online portal for sharing adaptation knowledge and “good adaptation practices.” Can access information about adaptation projects in developing countries.

Justice and equity

EcoEquity. http://www.ecoequity.org/ .  Opinions and analysis on equity aspects of climate change. “EcoEquity is focused on developing and promoting climate solutions that are just enough to actually work.  Through our participation in both domestic and international networks of both activists and scholars, we argue for emergency climate strategies that protect the poor, and more generally protect the rights of all people to dignified levels of just and sustainable development.  In other words, we focus on the development and promotion of new approaches in which the politics of economic justice (global as well as domestic) and the politics of emergency climate mobilization are one and the same.”

Policy, Politics and Solutions

Resources for the Future (RFF) Weathervane: http://www.rff.org/wv/default.aspx.

             A climate policy blog from RFF. Short, good quality posts about US and international climate policy, with links to more detailed information.

Yale environment 360: http://e360.yale.edu/. An online publication of Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies that includes opinion, analysis, reporting and debate on a wide range of environmental issues, including climate change.

Council on Foreign Relations, Climate Change: http://www.cfr.org/issue/climate-change/ri20. Online international relations articles on climate change policy, negotiations and politics.

Curricula, syllabi, pedagogy, teaching assignments, games etc.

Climate Adaptation Mitigation e-Learning (CAMEL): http://www.camelclimatechange.org/topics/view/65945/.

             An online resource for educators to enable effective teaching about climate change causes, consequences and solutions. CAMEL provides a platform to share articles and other materials. This is an NSF funded project of the National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE). Use this site to find resources to use in your teaching, and to share resources with others.

NASA Global Climate Change Education (GCCE): https://gcce.larc.nasa.gov/. From this site you can learn about climate change education programs funded by NASA and access the sites of the individual projects. “Cooling the Liberal Arts Curriculum” is funded under the NASA GCCE program. Follow the ‘Resources’ link to find information about NASA data and more.

Climate Literacy: http://www.globalchange.gov/resources/educators/climate-literacy. "The Essential Principles of Climate Science," developed by NOAA, AAAS and others provide a guide to climate literacy that can be used to develop climate change science learning goals and curricula.

Science Education Resource Center (SERC), Carleton College: http://serc.carleton.edu/teachearth/site_guides/climate.html and

            http://serc.carleton.edu/climatechange/index.html. Collections of resources for teach Earth sciences and climate change.

Digital Library for Earth System Education:

http://www.dlese.org/library/index.jsp. The Digital Library for Earth System Education (DLESE) is a distributed community effort to improve the quality, quantity, and efficiency of teaching and learning about the Earth system at all levels. “DLESE resources include electronic materials for both teachers and learners, such as lesson plans, maps, images, data sets, visualizations, assessment activities, curriculum, online courses, and much more.”

Wedges game: http://cmi.princeton.edu/wedges/game.php. Hosted by Princeton U, Carbon Mitigation Project. Players choose technology options (wedges) to reduce projected 2055 emissions to present level.

Climate challenge game: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/hottopics/climatechange/climate_challenge/. Hosted by BBC. Policy game, play online. Players select policies, participate in international negotiations to set targets etc. Game runs from 2000 to 2100, played in 10 year turns.

Educational applets on various climate and weather topics:

http://profhorn.meteor.wisc.edu/wxwise/

Student Action:

350.org: http://www.350.org/. “350.org is an international campaign that's building a movement to
 unite the world around solutions to the climate crisis--the solutions that science and justice demand.”

Campus2Congress: http://www.bard.edu/cep/campus2congress/. C2C is a national public policy initiative of the Bard Center for Environmental Policy.  C2C engages students at colleges and high schools across the country with members of Congress, U.S. Senators, and their D.C. staff through video dialogues and conference calls on climate policy between students and their representatives.

Pennsylvania and Climate Change:

Pennsylvania Climate Change Advisory Committee. http://www.depweb.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/climate_change_advisory_committee/10412. The State of Pennsylvania has established a Climate Change Advisory Committee and four working groups to plan for adaptation to climate change (infrastructure, public health and safety, natural resources, and tourism & outdoor recreation). The working groups have public meetings about once every 3 months. The website provides information about the Advisory Committee and the adaptation working groups, access to Pennsylvania’s Climate Change Action Plan, and Pennsylvania’s Climate Change Impact Assessment, as well as information about climate change related legislation and regulation.

Pennsylvania Climate Change Impact Assessment Report (2009): http://www.depweb.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/climate_change_advisory_committee/10412. This report from the Environment and Natural Resources Institute of The Pennsylvania State University was prepared for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. It presents an overview of climate change projections and potential impacts for Pennsylvania.

Climate Change in Pennsylvania, Impacts and Solutions for the Keystone State (2008): http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/science_and_impacts/impacts/climate-change-pa.html.  Another report on climate change impacts in Pennsylvania, this one from the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Analytic Tools

Educational Global Climate Model (EdGCM): http://edgcm.columbia.edu/. EdGCM is a research climate model with a user-friendly interface that enables teachers and students to design and run climate change experiments on a desktop computer.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS):

http://www.esri.com/industries/climate/index.html

Access to GIS-based climate change resources for scientific analysis, project planning, and decision making.