Major Climate Reports (Not IPCC)

• NOAA - State of the Climate 2010

• America's Climate Choices project reports
  

• US Regional Climate Change Impact reports

• United States' Fifth Climate Action Report

• Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States

• State of the Climate in 2009 (NOAA, UK MET)

• The Copenhagen Diagnosis

• The Royal Society Report 2010

• PBL (Netherlands) investigation of IPCC Regional Climate-Change Impacts
  

• For the IPCC reports see HERE
  

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 NOAA - State of the Climate 2010

As appearing in the June 2011 issue (Vol. 92) of the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (BAMS).

Report at a Glance: Highlights (8 pages)

This supplement to the State of the Climate in 2010 draws upon materials from the larger report to provide a summary of key findings.
High Resolution (22.7 MB) | Low Resolution (9.8 MB)

Webinar Slides (12 slides)

Download Entire Document (218 pages)

• High Resolution (147.1 MB)
• Low Resolution (7.3 MB)

Download by Section

1. Front Matter and Abstract (688 KB) [ Hi Rez (4.3 MB) ]
1. Introduction (845 KB) [ Hi Rez (6.8 MB) ] | Figures (coming soon)
   
2. Global Climate (2.1 MB) [ Hi Rez (38.7 MB) ] | Figures (coming soon)
3. Global Oceans (1.6 MB) [ Hi Rez (27.8 MB) ] | Figures (coming soon)
4. The Tropics (1.8 MB) [ Hi Rez (32.6 MB) ] | Figures (coming soon)
5. The Arctic (1.1 MB) [ Hi Rez (14.5 MB) ] | Figures (coming soon)
6. Antarctica (940 KB) [ Hi Rez (12.6 MB) ] | Figures (coming soon)
7. Regional Climates (1.9 MB) [ Hi Rez (32.8 MB) ] | Figures (coming soon)
8. Seasonal Global Summaries (798 KB) [ Hi Rez (9.0 MB) ] | Figures (coming soon)
   
9. References (982 KB) [ Hi Rez (7.3 MB) ]

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America's Climate Choices project

The America's Climate Choices project issued the final 2011 volume of the US National Research Council's most comprehensive study of climate change to date.

Here is the the Press Release:

WASHINGTON — Warning that the risk of dangerous climate change impacts is growing with every ton of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere, a National Research Council committee today reiterated the pressing need for substantial action to limit the magnitude of climate change and to prepare to adapt to its impacts.  The nation's options for responding to the risks posed by climate change are analyzed in a new report and the final volume in America's Climate Choices, a series of studies requested by Congress.  The committee that authored the report included not only renowned scientists and engineers but also economists, business leaders, an ex-governor, a former congressman, and other policy experts.

You can read the book online, free. You can also download it:

PDF Summary
Download the summary in PDF.

Report In Brief
Download report in brief in PDF.

Previously, (May 2010) three reports were issued. These reports can be read free online. Here are the links along with a summary description for each volume: 

1. Advancing the Science of Climate Change

The compelling case that climate change is occurring and is caused in large part by human activities is based on a strong, credible body of evidence, says Advancing the Science of Climate Change, one of the new books in the America's Climate Choices series. While noting that there is always more to learn and that the scientific process is never "closed," the book emphasizes that multiple lines of evidence support scientific understanding of climate change.

The core phenomenon, scientific questions, and hypotheses have been examined thoroughly and have stood firm in the face of serious debate and careful evaluation of alternative explanations, the book says.

2. Adapting to the Impacts of Climate Change

Reducing vulnerabilities to impacts of climate change that the nation cannot, or does not, avoid is a highly desirable strategy to manage and minimize the risks, says the book, Adapting to the Impacts of Climate Change. Some impacts--such as rising sea levels, disappearing sea ice, and the frequency and intensity of some extreme weather events like heavy precipitation and heat waves--are already being observed across the country.

The book notes that policymakers need to anticipate a range of possible climate conditions and that uncertainty about the exact timing and magnitude of impacts is not a reason to wait to act. In fact, it says boosting U.S. adaptive capacity now can be viewed as "an insurance policy against an uncertain future," while inaction could increase risks, especially if the rate of climate change is particularly large.

3. Limiting the Magnitude of Future Climate Change

Substantially reducing greenhouse gas emissions will require prompt and sustained efforts to promote major technological and behavioral changes, says Limiting the Magnitude of Future Climate Change, a new book from the America's Climate Choices study. Although limiting emissions must be a global effort to be effective, strong U.S. actions to reduce emissions will help encourage other countries to do the same.

In addition, the U.S. could establish itself as a leader in developing and deploying the technologies necessary to limit and adapt to climate change.

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US Regional Climate Change Impact reports

HERE from the US Global Research Program are a number of reports, including US Regional Climate Change Impact reports:

• USGCRP Scientific Assessments
  

• Global Climate Change Impacts in the U.S.

  • Key Findings
  • Regional Climate Change Impacts
    • Alaska
    • Coasts
    • Great Plains
    • Islands
    • Midwest
    • Northeast
    • Northwest
    • Southeast
    • Southwest
  • Climate Change Impacts by Sector
  • Newsroom
  • Full Report
  • Download/Order the Report
  • Brochures and Factsheets
  • Production Team

• U.S. National Assessment

• Synthesis and Assessment Products

  • Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Reports
  • National Research Council Reports

• Annual Reporting To Congress
  

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United States' Fifth Climate Action Report

HERE is the US Fifth Climate Action Report to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, 2010. The Fifth U.S. Climate Action Report presents a detailed outline of the actions the U.S. is taking to address climate change, contains updated projections on U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, and underscores the United States commitment to address climate change. Here are the links for downloading the report:

Table of Contents of the Fifth U.S. CAR:

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Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States

Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States (U. S. Global Change Research Program). The most comprehensive, authoritative report on Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States was released on Tuesday June 16th, 2009. This report presents, in plain language, the science and impacts of climate change on the United States, now and in the future. It focuses on climate change impacts on U.S. regions and various aspects of society and the economy such as energy, water, agriculture, and health. A comprehensive series of web-pages were developed that highlight the findings and major conclusions of the report and contain complete downloadable files of the report, as well as a host of additional content on climate change impacts on the U.S. 

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State of the Climate in 2009 (NOAA, UK MET)

From the UK Met Office:

Unmistakable signs of a warming world

Now for the first time, a report has brought together all the different ways of measuring changes in the climate. The ten indicators of climate change include measurements of sea level rise taken from ships, the temperature of the upper atmosphere taken from weather balloons and field surveys of melting glaciers.

New technology also means it is possible to measure the temperature of the oceans, which absorb 90 per cent of the world's heat.

The State of the Climate report shows “unequivocally that the world is warming and has been for more than three decades”.

And despite the cold winter in Europe and north east America, this year is set to be the hottest on record.

HERE is the report which can be downloaded free.

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The Copenhagen Diagnosis

The Copenhagen Diagnosis is an important new report that documents the key findings in climate change science since the 2007 IPCC Science report. The Executive Summary is here, the press report is here, and the full report in high resolution is here. There is also text dealing with some common misconceptions. See HERE for more information.

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Royal Society Report Climate Change - Summary of Science (2010)

Download the guide here (PDF).

HERE is a Guardian article on the report. It says: The document entirely supports the mainstream scientific view of man-made climate change as summarised by the UN's climate science body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

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PBL (Netherlands) investigation of IPCC Regional Climate-Change Impacts

Key findings of IPCC on regional climate-change impacts overall considered well founded

"The PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency has investigated the scientific foundations for the IPCC summary conclusions of the Fourth Assessment Report of 2007 on projected regional climate-change impacts, at the request of the Dutch Minister for the Environment. Overall the summary conclusions are considered well founded, none have been found to contain any significant errors. The Working Group II contribution to the Fourth Assessment Report shows ample observational evidence of regional climate change impacts, which have been projected to pose substantial risks to most parts of the world, under increasing temperatures." HERE is the press release, HERE is the press conference presentation and HERE is the report.

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