Climate Change (old guide)
Provides resources on climate change and global warming from the perspective of the disciplines of science, social science and humanities.
See updated Climate Change guide
ARCHIVE: Guide No Longer Being Updated.
This guide is no longer being updated. See the current guide at guides.pcc.edu/climatechange
Getting started on climate change research
Climate change is an extraordinarily complex issue, affecting all aspects of human life and every academic discipline. This guide provides resources for understanding and researching climate change.
Below are resources for getting started on climate change research. Use the menu to the left to find discipline-specific resources, and specific aspects of the climate change conversation.
Learn the basics of climate change from trusted sources
- What is climate change?Videos, graphics and text from the BBC
- Causes of climate changeFrom NASA
- Effects of climate changeFrom NASA
- Evidence for climate changeFrom NASA
- Climate change solutionsFrom NASA
- Climate change newsFrom NASA
- Addressing Climate Change in OregonFrom Oregon Department of Energy
Going deeper: climate change research
- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, "Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis Report""The Working Group I contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report is the most up-to-date physical understanding of the climate system and climate change, bringing together the latest advances in climate science, and combining multiple lines of evidence from paleoclimate, observations, process understanding, and global and regional climate simulations." Summary from the New York Times, Aug. 11, 2021: "Some devastating impacts of global warming are now unavoidable, a major new scientific report finds. But there is still a short window to stop things from getting even worse."
- Climate Change Indicators in the United StatesExtensive date from the EPA on Greenhouse Gases; Weather and Climate; Oceans; Snow and Ice; Health and Society; and Ecosystems
- Global Climate Report - Annual 2020From National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) - National Center for Environmental Education
- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - Climate PortalAuthoritative scientific data and information, including news, climate maps and data sets.
- Fourth National Climate Assessment - Impacts, Risks, and Adaptation in the United States2018 report to the Congress and President on the science of climate change and
variability and its impacts across the United States, now and throughout this century. - World Scientists’ Warning of a Climate Emergency11,000 scientists from around the world state "clearly and unequivocally that planet Earth is facing a climate emergency." The report presents six steps which should be taken immediately. Published in BioScience Nov. 5, 2019
- Academic Search Premier This link opens in a new windowFull text for more than 4,500 scholarly social sciences, humanities, general science, education and multi-cultural journals. 3,700 are peer-reviewed.
- ScienceDirect This link opens in a new windowFull text for more than 1,000 peer-reviewed life sciences, Health Science, physical sciences, and engineering journals with citation information for thousands more. Look for the "Full-text available" indicators to view articles online. View the Science Direct handout.
Books and ebooks
The Future We Choose : surviving the climate crisis by Call Number: Cascade Main Collection 363.738 F54f 2020Publication Date: 2020-02-25
Climate Change : the science of global warming and our energy future by Call Number: EbookPublication Date: 2018-09-11
The Uninhabitable Earth: life after warming by Call Number: 304.28 W35u 2019Publication Date: 2019-02-19
A Bright Future : how some countries have solved climate change and the rest can followCall Number: Sylvania LibraryPublication Date: 2019-01-08
The Callendar Effect : the life and work of Guy Stewart Callendar (1898-1964), the scientist who established the carbon dioxide theory of climate change by Call Number: Southeast Main Collection 509.2 F54c 2007Publication Date: 2009-01-01
Streaming videos and DVDs
Neil DeGrasse Tyson reveals the causes of man-made Climate Change in a simple way through Carl Sagan, easy to follow explanations, and stunning visual models. (2014, 4 minutes)
Climate activist Greta Thunberg speaking at TEDx Stockholm (2018, 11 minutes)
- THE ICE CREAM CAKE A parody from Hollywood writer Mara Altman about the awkwardness of talking about climate change.Two minute parody video about talking about climate change, from The Nature Conservancy.
Contact the guide editor
Contact librarian Roberta Richards with questions, updates or corrections to this guide.
Portland Community College Library, SE LIB 206
rrichard@pcc.edu