Photograph by Raymond Gehman,
copyright National Geographic Society

This month Earthscape adds the recently published IPCC Fourth Assessment Report, Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis - Summary for Policymakers.  This report assesses the current scientific knowledge of the natural and human drivers of climate change, observed changes in climate, the ability of science to attribute changes to different causes, and projections for future climate change.

Also updated this month is the collection of papers from the Pew Center on Global Climate Change and the NRDC.  A new contributor, Ceres, is a national network of investors, environmental organizations and other public interest groups working with companies and investors to address sustainability challenges such as global climate change.  Their research reports help investors better understand the implications of global warming. 

We’ve also added AIT in the Classroom, a teacher’s guide to the film “An Inconvenient Truth”. This curriculum was designed for high school science classrooms such as Earth Science, Environmental Science, and Physics, but the materials can also be used in Civics classes, middle school science classes and offer Service Learning opportunities as well.

Educational Resources

From the Union of Concerned Scientists, check out “The IPCC: Who Are They and Why Do Their Climate Reports Matter?” for an understanding of the organization, history, members, process of peer review and consensus building.

The Carbon Mitigation Initiative at the Princeton Environmental Institute created the concept of stabilization wedges – 25 billion ton “wedges” that need to be cut out of predicted future carbon emissions in the next 50 years to avoid a doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide over pre-industrial levels.  They also offer Stabilization Wedges: A Concept & Game with materials and instructions for carrying out the “Stabilization Wedges Game,” an activity that drives home the scale of the carbon mitigation challenge and the tradeoffs involved in planning climate policy.

The Earth Day Network has a collection of videos from complete documentaries to film trailers to international news features about various impacts of climate change and associated solutions.

ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability provides technical consulting, training, and information services to local governments around the world that have made a commitment to sustainable development.  Their Cities for Climate Protection™ (CCP) Campaign enlists cities to adopt policies and implement measures to achieve quantifiable reductions in local greenhouse gas emissions.

The European Environment Agency’s website has a Themes tab which arranges information in broad topics and offers in depth information in the form of indicators, reports, links and data.  The Education page offers a few game-like interactive resources for middle and high school students.  The Epaedia has several interactive maps and one “mind stretcher” emissions trading simulation.

Earthscape welcomes new contributors

Ceres

American Energy Now

Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES)

The International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD)

IISD Reporting Services

AIT In The Classroom

HM Treasury

From the Earthscape Archives

Earthscape's Global Warming Course Content

Preparing for Climate Change in the Metropolitan East Coast Region: The Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change

Protecting the Climate While Safeguarding the Economy

An Abrupt Climate Change Scenario and Its Implications for United States National Security

World in Transition 2: New Structures for Global Environmental Policy