Encyclopedia of Earth Launches Climate Change Collection

Just got an email from the fine folks over at the Encyclopedia of Earth. They have launched their eagerly awaited Climate Change Collection. If you have not yet visited the Encyclopedia of Earth you should check out this new electronic reference about the Earth, its natural environments, and their interaction with society. The Encyclopedia is a free, fully searchable collection of articles written by scholars, professionals, educators, and experts who collaborate and review each other’s work. The articles are written in non-technical language so anyone can understand the material.

On the new Climate Change Collection:

The last two decades of the 20th century produced mounting evidence that climate change posed significant risks to society. At the beginning of the 21st century, climate change has become a defining issue of our time. The importance of this issue is underscored by its magnitude and complexity: it is a global problem with wide geographic and economic disparity between the largest sources of the problem and those who will experience the greatest impacts. Many solutions often run counter to powerful entrenched interests and long-held patterns of individual behavior. All of this is happening amidst a global community that is increasingly connected by flows of information, people, commerce and environmental change. This collection brings together some of the world’s leading scientists and organizations and presents the essential knowledge underlying the issue of climate change. — Cutler J. Cleveland, Editor-in-Chief

The Collection is anchored by an electronic version of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Nobel Prize-winning reports. It also includes articles by climate experts, biographies of individuals who have made important contributions to climate science and policy, a timeline of key events in the history of climate science and policy, a climate glossary, and much more.

A few of the features that I really enjoy include:

• Climate Change Timeline – Scientists have been interested in man’s effects on climate for much longer than you may realize.
• Climate change FAQs – What is the difference between weather and climate? What is the greenhouse effect? Can the warming of the 20th century be explained by natural variability? Answers to these and other essential questions from leading climate research centers.
• Climate Change Glossary – An extensive glossary defining some specific terms as the IPCC lead authors intend them to be interpreted in the context of if their Nobel Prize Winning Reports.