Second International Workshop on Software Research and Climate Change

Second International Workshop on

Software Research and Climate Change

Cape Town, South Africa
3 May, 2010

Detailed overviews of the basic science

The 2007 IPCC Reports. Comprehensive, UN sponsored, state-of-the-art survey, now considered to be out of date by many climate scientists.
The 2009 Copenhagen Synthesis Report. Update to the IPCC report put together at the March 2009 Copenhagen conference on climate science.
The 2009 Copenhagen Diagnosis. Scientific briefing put together in November 2009 for the Copenhagen meeting.
Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States. June 2009 report on regional impacts in the US.

Key peer-reviewed papers on the basic science

James Hansen, et al. Global Temperature Change. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the US (PNAS), September 26, 2006 vol. 103 no. 39 14288-14293.
T. Lenton et al, Tipping elements in the Earth's climate system. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the US (PNAS), February 12, 2008 vol. 105 no. 6 1786-1793
V Ramanathan & Y Feng, On avoiding dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system: Formidable challenges ahead. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the US (PNAS), September 23, 2008 vol. 105 no. 38 14245-14250.
S. Solomon et al. Irreversible climate change due to carbon dioxide emissions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the US (PNAS), February 10, 2009 vol. 106 no. 6 1704-1709
M. Allen et al. Warming caused by cumulative carbon emissions: towards the trillionth tonne. Nature 458, 1163-1166 (30 April 2009)
M. Meinshausen et al. Greenhouse-gas emission targets for limiting global warming to 2°C. Nature 458, 1158-1162 (30 April 2009)

Multimedia

Wake Up, Freak Out - then Get a Grip. Short (11.5 min) animated film about climate feedback loops. Or read the transcript which comes with an extensive set of references to the peer-reviewed literature;
The Eleventh Hour. Longer (92 min), polished Hollywood documentary. Complete with Leonardo DiCaprio as narrator;
Climate Wars. Three podcasts produced by the CBC, based on Gwynne Dyers' book. If you really want to understand the full implications of climate change, this is essential listening.

Books (focussing on solutions)

Heat: How to stop the planet from burning, by George Monbiot. Sets out to design a solution to the challenge of 90% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 using only existing technologies (focussed primarily on Britain).
Hell and High Water, by Joseph Romm. Detailed analysis of climate and energy policy, and the politics of getting the right policies in place (focussed primarily on the US).
Sustainable Energy without the hot air. by David MacKay. Roadmap for building a decarbonized society, available as a free download.
Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization, by Lester R. Brown. Another roadmap for building a decarbonized society, also available as a free download.

Blogs