in the trenches/climate
2. Web Resources
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change posts the full text of the climate agreement adopted in Kyoto, as well as a useful "Beginner's Guide".
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the authoritative group of scientists appointed in 1988 under the auspices of the UN to assess the problem of climate change, has many useful documents on-line, including the First Assessment Report (1990) , the Second Assessment Report (1995), and the Summary for Policymakers (1995), which contained the influential statement, "The balance of evidence suggests a discernible human influence on global climate".
The best place for non-experts to get an understandable overview of the problem is "Common Questions About Climate Change", written by scientists involved in the IPCC process and published by the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Meteorological Organization.
The Environmental Protection Agency maintains a website full of information on global warming, including domestic impacts and policy recommendations, as well as an excellent quarterly journal, Inside the Greenhouse.
The US Global Change Research Information Office (GCRIO) offers tons of features related to global change research, adaptation/mitigation strategies, and educational resources, and links to numerous scientific publications, including the journal Consequences, with timely, comprehensive, and very readable articles by experts on climate change.
The US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) sponsors research on climate change, and provides access to many informative programs and data, as well as a calendar of conferences taking place around the country dealing with the regional impacts of climate change.
The Climate Institute, a private non-profit group, offers a selection of articles from its publications, Climate Alert and the Climate Report, as well as helpful information on upcoming events related to global warming.
The Rocky Mountain Institute, a nonprofit research and educational foundation established by Hunter and Amory Lovins, has several climate-related features on-line, including the recently published "Climate: Making Sense and Making Money" , which argues that money-saving opportunities exist to protect the climate through energy efficiency measures, but are being blocked by market barriers.
Another non-profit organization, the World Resource Institute , has an excellent website full of information related to the costs and impacts of global warming.. Check out "The Costs of Climate Protection: A Guide for the Perplexed" , which shows how the assumptions of different economists determine their predictions about how much it will cost to implement policies to control climate change.
Global Change is a journal published by the Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment, and Security, dealing with issues associated with global warming and ozone depletion. Its website also provides clear summaries of many of the recent scientific articles and policy statements related to climate change, for example, last spring's Economists' Statement on Climate Change, signed by over 2000 economists, declaring that "as economists, we believe that global climate change carries with it significant environmental, economic, social, and geopolitical risks, and that preventive steps are justified."
Global Warming Central is run by the Pace Energy Project, featuring timely articles and discussion of climate change issues.
Tiempo is a niftily laid-out resource center, a collaborative project undertaken by the University of East Anglia and the International Institute for Environment and Development, focusing on the impact of global warming on the third world.
Weathervane, operated by Resources For the Future, a Washington think-tank, regularly posts articles which analyze the economic and policy implications of climate change.
Finally, you can also check the on-line version of The World Climate Report, the major contrarian journal, which represents the views of the small group of scientists who disagree with the conclusions of the IPCC and oppose concerted action on climate change. Funding for the publication is provided by the Western Fuels Association, with additional backing by "associated companies."