Global opvarmning – hvordan kommer man i gang?

Jeg tror, der er mange, der hurtigt kan blive forvirrede over diskussionen om global opvarmning, især hvis bølgerne begynder at gå højt fra diverse “klimaskeptikere” (læs: konspirationsteoretikere). Hvor finder man reel oplysning om, hvad der er op og ned? Klimadebat.dk er et dansk bud. Men læser man engelsk, har RealClimate.org det ultimative bud på, hvordan man kommer i gang, up to speed og ud i overhalingsbanen – også selv om man ikke ved specielt meget i forvejen.

Denne liste er ordnet efter hvor man er og hvad man har brug for:

For complete beginners:

NCAR: Weather and climate basics
Oxford University: The basics of climate prediction
Pew Center: Global Warming basics
Wikipedia: Global Warming
NASA: Global Warming update
National Academy of Science: Understanding and Responding to Climate Change
Encyclopedia of Earth: Climate Change Collection
Global Warming FAQ (Tom Rees)
Global Warming: Man or Myth? (Scott Mandia, SUNY Suffolk)

There is a new booklet on Climate Literacy from multiple agencies (NOAA, NSF, AAAS) available here (pdf).

Those with some knowledge:

The IPCC AR4 Frequently Asked Questions (here) is an excellent start. That covers:

• What Factors Determine Earth’s Climate?
• What is the Relationship between Climate Change and Weather?
• What is the Greenhouse Effect?
• How do Human Activities Contribute to Climate Change and How do They Compare with Natural Influences?
• How are Temperatures on Earth Changing?
• How is Precipitation Changing?
• Has there been a Change in Extreme Events like Heat Waves, Droughts, Floods and Hurricanes?
• Is the Amount of Snow and Ice on the Earth Decreasing?
• Is Sea Level Rising?
• What Caused the Ice Ages and Other Important Climate Changes Before the Industrial Era?
• Is the Current Climate Change Unusual Compared to Earlier Changes in Earth’s History?
• Are the Increases in Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide and Other Greenhouse Gases During the Industrial Era Caused by Human Activities?
• How Reliable Are the Models Used to Make Projections of Future Climate Change?
• Can Individual Extreme Events be Explained by Greenhouse Warming?
• Can the Warming of the 20th Century be Explained by Natural Variability?
• Are Extreme Events, Like Heat Waves, Droughts or Floods, Expected to Change as the Earth’s Climate Changes?
• How Likely are Major or Abrupt Climate Changes, such as Loss of Ice Sheets or Changes in Global Ocean Circulation?
• If Emissions of Greenhouse Gases are Reduced, How Quickly do Their Concentrations in the Atmosphere Decrease?
• Do Projected Changes in Climate Vary from Region to Region?

We’ll link to the individual pages once the report is available in html.

RealClimate: Start with our index

Informed, but in need of more detail:

Science: You can’t do better than the IPCC reports themselves (AR4 2007, TAR 2001).

History: Spencer Weart’s “Discovery of Global Warming” (AIP)

Art: Robert Rohde’s “Global Warming Art‘

Informed, but seeking serious discussion of common contrarian talking points:

All of the below links have indexed debunks of most of the common points of confusion:

• Coby Beck’s How to talk to Global Warming Skeptic
• New Scientist: Climate Change: A guide for the perplexed
• RealClimate: Response to common contrarian arguments
• NERC (UK): Climate change debate summary
• UK Met Office: Climate Change Myths
• Brian Angliss A Thorough Debunking
• John Cross Skeptical Science
• The Global Warming Debate

Link: RealClimate: Start here