The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) - an international group of scientists - has been providing science-based assessments of climate change to policy makers regularly since 1988. In 2021 they released their sixth assessment report. Key findings include:

• Climate change is intensifying the water cycle. This brings more intense rainfall and associated flooding, as well as more intense drought in many regions.
• Coastal areas will see continued sea level rise throughout the 21st century, contributing to more frequent and severe coastal flooding in low-lying areas and coastal erosion.

Explore the IPCC’s 6th Assessment Report website for details and supplementary materials.

The Climate Change 101: climate science basics document presents a short and clear explanation of the mechanisms of climate change and its impacts, with links for more information. Created by the Public Health Institute’s Center for Climate Change and Health, it emphasizes the ways that climate change impacts human health.

The Land Trust Alliance offers the basics with links for more information on the climate change impacts on various land types.

The National Aeronautical and Space Agency has been tracking climate change indicators from orbiting satellites for decades. NASA, an independent agency of the federal government, studies Earth’s climate as a matter of national importance.

Maine Won’t Wait: A four-year plan for climate action was written by a group of scientists, industry leaders, local and state officials, and citizens. The plan presents the urgency and opportunity of climate change in Maine to both protect the character of Maine and create economic activity, and lays out steps to take to dramatically reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions.

The Scientific Assessment of Climate Change and Its Effects in Maine report summarizes how climate change has already impacted our state and how it may continue to do so.

Maine’s Climate Future - 2020 update details the impacts of changing climate on habitats and industries in Maine, as well as the rate of change that is being observed.

The Town of Vinalhaven and the Island Institute are working together to respond to the threat of sea-level change in the island. Learn more about their work in this short video.

A group of Maine non-profits, colleges, and universities came together to form Collaborating Toward Climate Solutions, an effort focused on helping municipalities work together to formulate their response to climate change. Read about their work on Islesboro in this short piece in the Village Soup.

The Fourth National Climate Assessment by the U.S. Global Change Research Program present climate information in accessible, accurate, up-to-date terms, not to mention thorough. We suggest beginning with:

• • The 25-page Executive Summary of Vol I, which focuses on climate science;
  • The 40-page Overview of Vol II, which focuses on impacts, risks, and adaptation; and
  • The 40 FAQs, which cover many of the big questions that you might be asking.

The Climate Change: Evidence and Causes report from the National Academies of the United States and The Royal Society of the United Kingdom offers a very approachable summary of our current understanding of climate science.

The What We Know initiative from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has done a great job communicating climate science and responses; the initiative has evolved into two related efforts: What We Know and How We Respond. There’s even a short video on this work.

Called "one of the nation's most effective communicators on climate change" by The New York Times, Katharine Hayhoe knows how to navigate all sides of the conversation on our changing planet. A Canadian climate scientist living in Texas, she negotiates distrust of data, indifference to imminent threats, and resistance to proposed solutions with ease. Over the past fifteen years Hayhoe has found that the most important thing we can do to address climate change is talk about it--and she wants to teach you how.

Check Our Catalog

Click here for a list of new books on climate change in our collection.

If you know other great resources of climate change understanding, please let us know! Send a message to [email protected].

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