Climate Change: Essential Documents

• IPCC Assessment Reports - The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was set up jointly by the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme to provide an authoritative international statement of scientific understanding of climate change. The IPCC’s periodic assessments of the causes, impacts and possible response strategies to climate change are the most comprehensive and up-to-date reports available on the subject, and form the standard reference for all concerned with climate change in academia, government and industry worldwide.
• Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis – This IPCC assessment report forms the standard scientific reference for all those concerned with climate change and its consequences. The report confirms that our scientific understanding of the climate system and its sensitivity to greenhouse gas emissions is now richer and deeper than ever before.
• Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability - This IPCC assessment illustrates the impacts of global warming already underway and the potential for adaptation to reduce the vulnerability to, and risks of climate change.
• Climate Change 2007: Mitigation of Climate Change – This IPCC assessment report provides an in-depth analysis of the costs and benefits of different approaches to mitigating and avoiding climate change.
• Climate Change 2007: Synthesis Report – This IPCC assessment draws together and integrates for the benefit of policy makers and those from others professions, up to date policy-relevant scientific, technical and socio-economic information on climate change. This report is intended to assist governments and other decision-makers in the public and private sector in formulating and implementing appropriate responses to the threat of human-induced climate change.
• EPA 2009 US Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report - This report presents estimates by the United States government of U.S. anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and sinks for the years 1990 through 2007. To track the national trend in emissions and removals since 1990, the EPA develops the national greenhouse gas inventory each year, which is submitted to the United Nations in accordance with the Framework Convention on Climate Change.
• US Global Change Research Program - The USGCRP coordinates and integrates federal research on changes in the global environment and their implications for society.
• Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States (2009)– This USGCRP report summarizes the science and the impacts of climate change on the United States, now and in the future. It focuses on climate change impacts in different regions of the U.S. and on various aspects of society and the economy such as energy, water, agriculture, and health. It is also written in plain language, with the goal of better informing public and private decision making at all levels.
• Synthesis and Assessment Products - The U.S. Climate Change Science Program series of Synthesis and Assessment Products integrate research results focused on important science issues and aimed to support informed discussion and decision making regarding climate variability and change by policy makers, resource managers, stakeholders, the media, and the general public.
• US National Assessment of the Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change (2000) – This report is part of the ongoing effort to understand what climate change means for the US. Climate science is developing rapidly and scientists are increasingly able to project some changes at the regional scale, identifying regional vulnerabilities, and assessing potential regional impacts.