Journalists might want to remember that there are many major scientific research institutions studying climate change across the many disciplines needed to describe and understand it. Many of these are attached to universities -- but others are consortiums of labs or partnerships between federal and private entities. There are too many to list, but below you will find some of the weightiest. Whenever possible, we have listed contact info for the director and a link to the faculty directory, so you can go straight to the source.

Climate Crash: Abrupt Climate Change and What It Means for Our Future [7]

(National Academies, 2005) The fossil record of ancient climate suggests that some climate change happens abruptly, rather than gradually as our basic models predict. This report explores some of the many processes, like ocean currents, which could cause abrupt change. One implication is that our generation could discover that we have less time than we think to address manmade greenhouse warming.

US Global Change Research Information Office [13]

The US is required by a 1990 law to maintain the GCRIO to disseminate scientific research and other information useful in preventing, mitigating, or adapting to the effects of global change. Unable to disband the office, the Bush administration has given it little funding support. Its online library of key studies and documents from past years is still valuable.