The scientific data demonstrating that the burning of fossil fuels is the main reason for global warming is overwhelming and almost incontrovertible amongst scientists. But reading the news or listening to reports on TV, it is not hard to come away with the impression of “controversy” over the cause of global warming. Furthermore, most of us learn the “facts” about global warming from the daily newspaper, the web or TV. But, as is common in scientific reporting, often these sources of “news” inaccurately report, distort or leave out key information.

The best place to get the facts on global warming and the consequences of rising atmospheric CO2 levels is directly from the source, i.e., from the scientific journals and societies that publish the data. And, as best we can, that’s what we’re going to try to do here - provide you with the scientific data directly from major peer-reviewed scientific journals such as Science, Nature and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. What we plan to do is provide the abstracts of key papers, as well as the link to the full paper if it is published as open access. This will provide you an opportunity to see the words and conclusions directly from the source. We’ll do our best to explain the meaning of the abstract/paper; comments and explanation from those with expertise are certainly appreciated. We will also provide links to presentations and information from organizations such as the Union of Concerned Scientists that summarize the conclusion of these scientific studies.

Reading the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2007 report (IPCC Fourth Assessment Report: Climate Change 2007) is highly recommended if you’re really interested in knowing more about the science and consequences of global warming - at least read the summary report entitled The AR4 Synthesis Report. Regarding the IPCC 2007 report it is important to know that the data cutoff for generating the report was 2005 and the report conclusions are considered conservative. Current data strongly suggests that the IPCC conclusions underestimate the degree and consequences of global warming. Finally, a great source for global warming related scientific information and discussion is the blog ClimateProgress.