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