Scope

Global warming, also known as the greenhouse effect, is the warming of the earth's surface and atmosphere that tends to intensify with an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide. This Research Guide includes sources relevant to the investigation for causes and effects on the environment of global warming, the atmospheric greenhouse effect, and global climate change.

Overview

Encyclopedia Americana
College Library Reference Collection: AE 5 E333
Refer to: "Global Warming" in volume 13, page 45

Encyclopaedia Britannica Online 1992 (updated daily)
Britannica Online is a searchable collection of authoritative references, including Britannica's latest encyclopedia articles. Basic instructions for Encyclopædia Britannica Online

Environmental Encyclopedia
College Library Reference Collection: GE 10 E38 2003
Refer to "Climate change," or "Greenhouse effect" in index, volume 2.

McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology
College Library Reference Collection: Q 121 M3 1997
Refer to: "Global Warming " in volume 4, pages 8-9

The New York Public Library Science Desk Reference
College Library Reference Collection: Q173 B25 1995
Refer to "Global Warming," pages 480-481

Pollution A to Z
College Library Reference Collection: TD173 P65 2004
Refer to "global warming" in index, page 369

Oxford Companion to the Earth
College Library Reference Collection: QE5 O94 2000
Refer to "Global Warming," page 1149 (index)

Finding Journal and News Articles

Below are links to databases that cover this subject area. The truncation symbol for all of them is an asterisk (*) unless otherwise noted.

Sample searches for databases:

global warming
greenhouse effect
global climate change
climat* change and environment
ozone and depletion
global temperature changes
glaciers and global warming
fossil fuels and global warming

Recommended Databases:

Academic Search 1984 - to date (updated daily)
This library database indexes approximately 3,100 popular magazines and academic journals and provides the full-text articles from approximately 1,000 journals. Basic instructions for Academic Search

CQ Researcher November 1991 - to date (updated weekly)
Contains weekly reports from Congressional Quarterly that cover the most current and controversial issues. Basic instructions for CQ Researcher

General Science Full Text 1984 - to date (updated monthly)
Indexes 150 popular and scholarly periodicals, as well as the Science section of the New York Times. Subjects include biology, chemistry, earth sciences, environment, nutrition, genetics, medicine and health. Basic instructions for General Science Full Text

Lexis/Nexis Academic Universe Dates Vary (updated daily)
Contains the full-text articles from U.S. and international newspapers (including the New York Times, June 1980 - to date), as well as some news and business magazines and trade journals. The truncation symbol is an exclamation point (!). Basic instructions for Lexis/Nexis Academic Universe

Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center 1990 - to date (updated daily)
Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center (OVRC) includes the acclaimed social issues series published by Greenhaven Press, as well as core reference content from other Gale and Macmillan Reference USA sources and provides viewpoint articles, topic overviews, statistics, primary documents, links to websites, and full-text magazine and newspaper articles.

ProQuest Research Library 1988 - to date (updated daily)
Indexes over 2,000 general-interest and academic journals. Nearly 1,000 periodicals are full-text. Dates vary, but many full-text journals go back to 1988. Basic instructions for ProQuest Research Library

Public Affairs Information Service (PAIS) 1972 - to date (updated quarterly)
Indexes journal articles, books, government documents, statistical compilations, committee reports, directories, serials, reports of public, intergovernmental and private organizations, and most other forms of printed literature from all over the world. The full-text of the articles is not available in the database. Basic instructions for PAIS

More Databases:

Agricola 1970 - to date (updated quarterly)
Indexes 2,500 scholarly and trade journals along with government publications and conference proceedings in animal sciences, agricultural engineering, botany, entomology, plant science, soil science, veterinary management and water management. Basic instructions for Agricola

Biological and Agricultural Index 1983 - to date (updated monthly)
Contains citations to articles, book reviews, symposia, conference papers, and selected letters to the editor in more than 266 English-language periodicals on biology and agriculture. Basic instructions for Biological and Agricultural Index

Readers' Guide Full Text and Retrospective 1890 - to date (updated monthly)
Indexes 240 popular magazines in a wide range of subject areas. Full-text coverage of 131 titles begins with 1994. Basic instructions for Readers' Guide Full Text

Social Sciences Full Text 1983 - to date (updated monthly)
Indexes more than 415 scholarly journals in economics, politics, public administration, public health, sociology, criminology, environmental and urban studies, psychology and anthropology. Basic instructions for Social Sciences Full Text

Finding Books

MadCat
Books on global warming can be found in MadCat, the UW-Madison library catalog.

Sample keyword searches:

"global warming" and climate
"greenhouse effect" and climate
"climate changes"
"ozone depletion"
"global warming" and video? (to find videos)
http and "global warming" (to find electronic resources)

Internet Sites

Climate Change
http://www.marshall.org/subcategory.php?id=9
Information and links from the George W Marshall public policy Institute, established in 1984 as a nonprofit corporation to conduct technical assessments of scientific issues with an impact on public policy. The Climate Change section of their Web site contains an extensive list of publications produced by the Institute.

NCDC: Global Warming
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/globalwarming.html
Frequently asked questions (and answers) about global warming from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC). Data and statistics are based on government climate reports and analysis. NCDC is the world's larges archive of historical weather data and information.

Environmental Protection Agency: Climate Change
http://epa.gov/climatechange/index.html
The United States Environmental Protection Agency provides information and links to other organizations and government departments concerned with climate change. Topics include greenhouse gas emissions, health and environmental effects, U.S. Climate Policy, and a resource center including selected publications related to the issue.

Fuel Economy
http://www.fueleconomy.gov
Here you can find and compare cars to check annual fuel cost estimates, greenhouse gas emissions, and EPA air pollution ratings, as well as background information on the topic of fuel economy. This site is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

Global Warming: Early Warning Signs
http://www.climatehotmap.org
This site displays an interactive map of the world, tracking areas with record temperatures, glacier melts, ocean warming, and arctic and antarctic warming. The map also identifies events in the world that foreshadow the types of impacts likely to become more frequent and widespread with continued warming, such as animal and plant population shifts, flooding, forest fires, and disease. The site is sponsored by a series of environmental and governmental groups.

Global Warming FAQ
http://gcmd.gsfc.nasa.gov/Resources/FAQs/globwarmfaq.html
"NASA's Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) provides descriptions of Earth science data sets and services relevant to global change research. The GCMD database includes descriptions of data sets covering agriculture, the atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere and oceans, snow and ice, geology and geophysics, paleoclimatology, and human dimensions of global change." See the bottom of the page for a link to an extensive list of more climate change Web sites.

Natural Resources Defense Council: The Bush Record
http://www.nrdc.org/bushrecord
"The real story on this administration's dealings on environmental issues, from NRDC's scientists, lawyers and policy experts." Here you will find recent actions taken by the current administration related to the environment, related documents, and an archive of past years. See the left hand navigation and select "global warming" for more background information.

Union of Concerned Scientists: Global Warming
http://www.ucsusa.org/global_environment/globalwarming/index.cfm
Information from the Union of Concerned Scientists, an independent nonprofit alliance of 60,000 concerned citizens and scientists across the country.

What's Up with the Weather?
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/warming
A production of Nova and Frontline, programs produced by the Public Broadcasting System (PBS), this site contains a general summary of the issue of global warming, interviews and debates between scientists, policymakers, and fuel industry representatives, current fossil fuel use, and possible future solutions to using fossil fuels.

Statistics

Statistical Universe 1973 - to date (updated monthly)
Contains the full text of more than 800 U.S. government statistical publications. Lexis-Nexis Statistical Universe is available to UW-Madison registered users.

Videos

Global Warming: The Signs and the Science
College Library Main Collection: QC 981.8 G56 G563 2005

An Inconvenient Truth
College Library Main Collection: QC 981.8 G56 I533 2006

State of the Planet
College Library Main Collection: GE 140 S73 2005

Organizations

Greenpeace
http://www.greenpeace.org
Climate change is one of Greenpeace's major campaigns; this site provides causes and evidence of climate change, predictions, and future solutions. Click on the word "campaigns" and then "climate change" to view. Greenpeace is a non-profit organization, with a presence in 40 countries across Europe, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific.

Institute for Environmental Studies
http://www.ies.wisc.edu
"Grappling with environmental concerns frequently requires knowledge and experience in more than one academic discipline. For this reason, the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1970 established the Institute for Environmental Studies, a special intercollege unit where professors, students, and other professionals with wide-ranging backgrounds could converge to better understand and resolve environmental problems." Here you will find the "Center for Climatic Research" under the general link "Research."

Sierra Club
http://www.sierraclub.org/globalwarming/
Founded in 1892, the Sierra Club is America's oldest and largest grassroots environmental organization. This link will take you to a page with information on global warming.

World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
http://www.panda.org/climate
WWF is an organization devoted to environmental conservation, with about 5 million supporters worldwide. This link will take you to a page with information on climate change.