Resources for Increasing Our Awareness about Climate Change
We are in a period when we can have a big influence on the future. The impacts of climate change are showing more intensely, widely, and rapidly than many people had expected. Having some knowledge of how populations around the world, and some of our local communities, are experiencing these changes will help us take action.
What we do or don’t do about climate change matters—and the sooner we act, the more effective our actions will be. While the damage is already happening, we have time to avoid much worse consequences, if we act now.
Below is a summary of some resources on climate change on the RC website. There is information for “beginners” and also for those who want to know more. Discharging about the information is more important than understanding it, so please have sessions on it.
AN INTRODUCTION TO CLIMATE CHANGE
An Introduction to Climate Change in 60 Seconds —a brief video from the Royal Society and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences: www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4e5UPu1co0.
An article ”An Introduction to Climate Change," by Diane Shisk: www.rc.org/introtocc.
Temperature anomalies arranged by country, from 1900 to 2016: www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4Ra2HR27pQ. (This video shows the rhythm of global warming for countries around the world, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe—making it clear that temperatures for more than a hundred countries are climbing ever higher on the back of increasing carbon pollution.)
Our Stories of Climate Change—stories by RCers about the effects of climate change we are seeing in our own communities: www.rc.org/climatechangestories.
BEYOND THE BASICS OF CLIMATE CHANGE
Climate Change, How Do We Know? climate.nasa.gov/evidence/. (This is from the NASA website, an excellent resource for basic and more detailed information that has many videos and graphics on different aspects of climate change.)
Draft Policy on Care of the Environment—the RC Communities’ draft policy on care of the environment, including climate change: www.rc.org/draftpolicycoe.
Multi-media presentation on climate change—Diane Shisk’s summary of the science and key issues, with videos and graphics: www.rc.org/multimedia.
Stories of Hope and Courage—excerpts from writings by RCers and from the news showing hopeful ways that people are organizing: www.rc.org/climatehope.
The article “Why We Prioritize Addressing Climate Change," by Diane Shisk and Tim Jackins: www.rc.org/climatepriority. (This is a summary, updated every few months, of the basic science of climate change, with citations for more resources and a summary of what we can do.)
ADVANCED INFORMATION ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE
A Summary of the Current Science of Climate Change and why immediate action is needed: www.rc.org/sciencesummary. (This is a detailed survey and summary of current peer-reviewed articles on the science of climate change, with citations, that is updated every couple of months.)
A proposed Draft Program for the RC Communities on Climate Change that includes an overall program and specific action steps: www.rc.org/climatechangedraft. (We expect to update this frequently as more information becomes available about the steps we can and should take now. The program was drafted with a global perspective, but people from every country are encouraged to write an addendum about their specific circumstances, since the situation varies so much from country to country.)
Seattle, Washington, USA
(Present Time 193, October 2018)
For easy access to the links, you can find this article at www.rc.org/resourcessummary.