Kyle,

the place I always send people to start is the NCDC / NOAA site:

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/globalwarming.html

I''ll pull a quote out of that main page:

"According to the range of possible forcing scenarios, and taking into
account uncertainty in climate model performance, the IPCC projects a global
temperature increase of anywhere from 1.4 - 5.8°C from 1990-2100. However,
this global average will integrate widely varying regional responses, such
as the likelihood that land areas will warm much faster than ocean
temperatures, particularly those land areas in northern high latitudes (and
mostly in the cold season)."

It's not all doom and gloom, but it's not good.  The scientific consensus
seems to be that if we start to act now we can avert the worst consequences
over the long run.

If you want to watch the scientists report on and debate the actual research
then:

http://www.realclimate.org/

is a pretty accessible site.  From there you'll find links to all the peer
reviewed scientific research on climate change with often very long analysis
and  commentary on each article if you drill down.  The author of the site
is definitely biased (on the side of thinking climate change is a big
problem), but the content there is about as good as it gets, you just have
watch out when he gets political instead of scientific.

Lately I've been finding that I don't have time to keep up with all this in
detail anymore (two kids, one with CP among other things) so I've given up
subscriptions to Nature and Science which are in my opinions the best
sources for peer reviewed scientific research.  However, Scientific American
does seem to fill the gap somewhat and I'd encourage anyone who wants to
remain informed on the current state of scientific research (on all topics)
at a layman's level to subscribe to that publication.

On 11/6/07, Cleveland, Kyle E. <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> Peter,
>
> I'll concede your subject matter expertise here.  I've returned to the
> C-Palsy list after a hiatus of several years and have not seen your
> "basics".  I would be most appreciative if you could provide links to me
> for the layman's overview.  In simplest terms, what's the timeline we're
> dealing with for substantive climate change--enough to cause major
> societal upheaval?  If the climate does change in the manner predicted,
> is it all "doom and gloom" or are their potential positives?
>
>
-- 
Peter Hunsberger

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