LibGuides: Climate Change and Environmental Law Guide: Science and Data

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

IPCC website
Through its assessments, the IPCC determines the state of knowledge on climate change. It identifies where there is agreement in the scientific community on topics related to climate change, and where further research is needed. The reports are drafted and reviewed in several stages, thus guaranteeing objectivity and transparency. The IPCC does not conduct its own research. IPCC reports are neutral, policy-relevant but not policy-prescriptive.

Assessment Reports

AR6 Synthesis Report: Climate Change 2023
The latest IPCC Synthesis Report is divided into three sections, after the Introduction: The first section, ‘Current Status and Trends’, covers the historical and present period. The second section, ‘Long-term Climate and Development Futures’, addresses projected futures up to 2100 and beyond. The final section is ‘Near-term Responses in a Changing Climate’, considers current international policy timeframes, and the time interval between now and 2030-2040.
Sixth Assessment Report, Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change
Released in Spring 2022, the Working Group III report provides an updated global assessment of climate change mitigation progress and pledges, and examines the sources of global emissions. It explains developments in emission reduction and mitigation efforts, assessing the impact of national climate pledges in relation to long-term emissions goals.
Sixth Assessment Report on Climate Change
Released in fall 2021, this report addresses 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.
Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (2019)
Climate Change and Land (2019)
Global Warming of 1.5 ºC (2018)

First Global Stocktake Report - Advance Version Published 9/08/2023

Technical dialogue of the first global stocktake
This first stocktake report - the "climate report card" - drafted by the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice was released ahead of COP28 to be held in Dubai.
The world’s brutal climate change report card, explained
Vox article explaining the first stocktake report.

Climate Attribution Database

"Climate attribution science plays a central role in climate litigation and policy-making. The science is central to legal debates on the causal links between human activities, global climate change, and impacts on human and natural systems. This database contains 515 scientific resources organized under four thematic umbrellas".

Climate Attribution Database

World Meteorological Organization (WMO)

WMO - Climate Homepage
Includes reports on the state of the global climate, extreme weather, regional climate outlook, and other information pertaining to global and regional climate change.

WTO

WTO - Climate Change Knowledge Portal
Provides global data on historical and future climate, vulnerabilities, and impacts. Includes synthesized Country Profiles.

IEA (International Energy Agency)

The IEA was created in 1974 to help co-ordinate a collective response to major disruptions in the supply of oil. Today, it examines renewables, oil, gas and coal supply and demand, energy efficiency, clean energy technologies, electricity systems and markets, access to energy, and demand-side management. On its website, you can find information about member states' energy policy frameworks, and reports, data, and analysis on different forms of renewable and carbon-based energy systems, and the energy transition.

UN Climate Reports

Key reports on climate impacts and solutions from around the United Nations.

EU Copernicus Climate Change Service

EU Copernicus Climate Change Service
Copernicus is the Earth Observation component of the European Union's space program. The Copernicus Climate Change Service provides climate change data, reports, and tools such as visual graphics, maps and charts.

Climate Analytics

Climate Analytics
Policy analysis and climate reports.

Eldis Database

Eldis
Open access database to useful and relevant research on global development challenges. Link focuses on climate change.

Climate Watch

Climate Watch
Country-specific data and analysis.

Alaska Arctic Observatory and Knowledge Hub

AAOKH
AAOKH coordinates observations from Indigenous Knowledge holders in communities in the Alaska-Arctic to provide a broad view of changing coastal conditions and impacts on access to traditional marine resources.

NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)

NOAA - Climate Homepage
NOAA - Maps and Data
Arctic Report Card
The Arctic Report Card is issued annually and provides clear, reliable and concise environmental information on the current state of different components of the Arctic environmental system relative to historical records.

NASA

EPA

EPA - Ozone Layer Protection
This site addresses stratospheric ozone issues, including the science of ozone depletion, EPA's regulatory approach to protecting the ozone layer, EPA-approved alternatives to ozone-depleting substances, and sun safety.

Print & E-Books

Climate Change: The Science of Global Warming and Our Energy Future by Jason Smerdon
ISBN: 9780231547871
Publication Date: 2018-09-11
Climate Change: What It Means for Us, Our Children, and Our Grandchildren by Joseph F. C. DiMento
ISBN: 0262322307
Publication Date: 2014-03-28