Climate Change

Statewide/Regional

• Midwest Regional Climate Center's Climate Change & Variability in the Midwest


• A report prepared by a group of scientists, including Professor John Magnuson of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, was released in 2003. The title of this report is "Confronting Climate Change in the Great Lakes Region: Impacts on Our Communities and Ecosystems". If projections of increased warming are correct, this report addresses the implications for the Great Lakes and Wisconsin.


• Shorter river ice seasons confirm global warming - CNN features UW-Madison research

National

• National Climatic Data Center's Global Climate Change


• Scientists at the National Climatic Data Center recently announced that based upon their preliminary analysis of available weather data for 2006, the just completed year was the warmest nationwide since relatively comprehensive records began in 1895. The coterminous US annual average temperature was 55 degrees Fahrenheit, or 2.2 Fahrenheit degrees above the 20th century long term average temperature and 0.07 Fahrenheit degrees above the previous highest nationwide temperature set in 1998. [NOAA News]


• NOAA issued its 2005 Annual Greenhouse Gas Index, which is based upon benchmark measurements of atmospheric gases that could affect the planetary climate. For 2005, the index indicated an increase in carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide, little change in methane, and a decrease in two types of chlorofluorocarbons. [NOAA News]


• The US Climatic Change Science Program issued a report in early May 2006 that is the first of 21 "Synthesis and Assessment S&A Products". This first report entitled "Temperature Trends in the Lower Atmosphere: Steps for Understanding and Reconciling Differences" is meant to improve understanding of atmospheric temperature change in the context of global climate change and how humans have an influence upon these temperature trends. [NOAA News]


• NOAA working to improve understanding of climatic change [NOAA News]


• NOAA documents World's Oceans Warming over the past 40 years [News Release]


• American Association of State Climatologists' Policy Statement on Climatic Variability and Change


• American Meteorological Society's Policy Statements: On Global Climate Change and Climate Change Research: Issues for the Atmospheric and Related Sciences

Global

• IPPC 2007 Report
  1. The first part of the new Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change IPCC 2007 Report - Physical Science Basis (21 page pdf file) was issued on 2 February 2007 that describes the latest on human-caused global warming and its future worsening. This most authoritative report is based on six years of new observations and analyses. The last report by this panel was IPCC 2001 Summary: "The Definitive Scientific Basis for Global Warming".
  2. A second part of the IPCC 2007 Report, "Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability" (21 page pdf file), was issued on 6 April 2007 that describes what the effects of the projected increases in global temperatures during the rest of the century would have upon societies, ecosystems, and the hydrologic cycle. Adaptation and vulnerability of these systems to climatic change are also addressed.
  3. The third part of the IPPC 2007 Report, entitled "Climate Change 2007: Mitigation of Climate Change" (35 page pdf file) was released on 4 May 2007 in Bangkok, Thailand. This part of the IPCC report focuses upon the scientific, technological, environmental, economic, and social aspects of mitigating projected climate change. It is intended as a summary for policymakers. Delegates contend that the technology and money are currently available for aggressive actions to limit emissions of greenhouse gases, improve fuel efficiency, and utilize renewable energy resources such as solar power in order to avoid some increases in global temperatures and associated climate-related disasters.
  4. The fourth and final part of the IPCC 2007 Report was issued in -November 2007 and the 20-page pdf file called Summary for Policymakers of the Synthesis Report of the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report, serves as a scientific "instant guide" for policymakers.
     
     Note: the entire IPCC Report including scientific details is available from the IPCC site.
      
• The American Meteorological Society's Information Statement on Climate Change [4 pages] was issued on 1 February 2007. This short report summarizes many topics covered in the IPCC report, in a shorter text and without figures.


• National Climatic Data Center's Global Climate Change


• NOAA documents World's Oceans Warming over the past 40 years [News Release]


• Shorter river ice seasons confirm global warming - CNN features UW-Madison research


• Global Change Master Directory (NASA)


• Climate Variability and Climate Change - Global Hydrology and Climate Center


• Goddard Institute for Space Studies Datasets and Images

General Information

• National Climatic Data Center's Global Warming Frequently Asked Questions


• A Paleo Perspective on Global Warming, NOAA's Paleoclimatology Program


• UW-Madison professor with IES-SAGE cautions that climate change could bring a wave of new health risks.