Multiple U.S. governmental agencies and non-governmental organizations have joined together and released a booklet detailing the fundamentals of climate science. The booklet, entitled Climate Literacy: The Essential Principles of Climate Science, is an effort by the contributing organizations to put forward an easily readable and understandable foundation of knowledge on the subject that is shared by the nation’s top federal science agencies and leading non-governmental science centers and associations.
“Human activities have affected the land, oceans, and atmosphere, and these changes have altered global climate patterns. Burning fossil fuels, releasing chemicals into the atmosphere, reducing the amount of forest cover, and rapid expansion of farming, development, and industrial activities are releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and changing the balance of the climate system.”
– Excerpt, “Climate Literacy: The Essential Principles of Climate Science”
The booklet is available in hi-res, low-res, and MS Word formats and can be found at both the NOAA and U.S. Climate Change Science Program web sites.
The booklet promotes the following principles:
GUIDING PRINCIPLE FOR INFORMED CLIMATE DECISION:
- Humans can take actions to reduce climate change and its impacts.
CLIMATE LITERACY: The Essential Principles of Climate Science
- The Sun is the primary source of energy for Earths climate system.
- Climate is regulated by complex interactions among components of the Earth system.
- Life on Earth depends on, is shaped by, and affects climate.
- Climate varies over space and time through both natural and man-made processes.
- Our understanding of the climate system is improved through observations, theoretical studies, and modeling.
- Human activities are impacting the climate system.
- Climate change will have consequences for the Earth system and human lives.
Participating organization include:
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
- U.S. Department of Agriculture
- U.S. Department of Commerce
- U.S. Department of Defense
- U.S. Department of Energy
- U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
- U.S. Department of the Interior
- U.S. Department of State
- U.S. Department of Transportation
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- National Science Foundation
- Smithsonian Institution
- USAID
- American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Fresh Air. The Scent of Pine. 
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