See an 8m and 40s radio interview with New York Times science writer Andrew C. Revkin. The interview was conducted by Brooke Gladstone of National Public Radio for the weekly radio program "On the Media." It aired on December 8, 2006, and it was prompted by expressions of concern - and a congressional hearing - over media coverage of climate change by the then-chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Senator Jim Inhofe (R-Okla), now the ranking Republican on that committee. The site provides a direct link to Revkin's chapter in the second edition of the National Association of Science Writers's (NASW) "Field Guide for Science Writers."

Want to cozy up by the fire place with a hot toddy for a good journalism read, one that got under the skin of a lot of media establishment types when it was published in July 21, 2005, in The New York Times? Take a look at Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Richard A. Posner's "Bad News." The judge's intellectual brilliance - and, critics say, also his ideological bent - make for a pleasurable and provocative read.

This site has a wealth of information about the climate change issue, and what the state is doing to reduce emissions. The "Documents" link is instructive for reporters covering other states and their efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Many-a-journalist will tell you that one of the perils of their jobs involves throwing a massive boulder into a lake and waiting for the resulting waves. Only to find nary a ripple. That's one of the upsides of writing on climate change and global warming. It appears there are few better ways to provoke a tide of letters to the editor, tirades, and outbursts than to report on the issue. Don't believe us? Ask some environmental and science reporters. Or ask, for instance, Editor & Publisher regular columnist Steve Outing. His August 28, 2007, column in the newspaper editors' publication of record was headlined "Climate Change: Get Over Objectivity, Newspapers." Outing defended journalistic objectivity as an essential tool in reporting on "controversial issues where there is a significant split of opinion." But not so with climate science, where "there's clearly scientific consensus that humans are altering the planet's climate, and that the effect is accelerating." His piece - but not the pro and con (apparently mostly con) letters to the editor it provoked - is at the site. You'll have to be a subscriber to E&P to see the letters to the editor.

An expansive website that aggregates climate news, blogs, Web links and other developments spanning the climate change field.

A site run by the statistician Steve McIntryre devoted to auditing the methods used in climate science. It provides a fascinating, if often controversial, discussion of some of the perceived flaws and limitations in the discipline.

Former Washington Post and Washington Star science writer Cristine Russell, now president of the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing, covers a wide range in "Covering Controversial Science: Improving Reporting on Science and Public Policy," written in the fall of 2006 as a fellow at Harvard University's Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics, and Public Policy.

The Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, N.Y., was founded by one of the scientists most deserving of credit for identifying acid rain, Dr. Gene E. Likens. Among the many research projects going on there are several related to climate change. From the main page, click on research and read the overviews.

The New York Times' science writer, Andrew C. Revkin, in October 2007 launched Dotearth, a valuable resource for those wanting to stay abreast of global change and sustainability (climate change and more) and journalism on the subject.

This site is one place to read articles from multiple sources about world energy supplies. Three editors from California and Australia review and post the articles. The site has a clear bias: that the world is using too much energy and that policies should change. Many headlines on the opening pages appear to be articles written by "Energy Bulletin Staff," but if you click on them, you see these articles are really compilations of major media outlets' coverage of energy and climate. Articles come from such outlets as Time, CNN, the Guardian, Bloomberg.com, and The Wall Street Journal, to name only a few. The site receives funding and technical support (as they put it) from the Canadian non-profit Post Carbon Institute, which posts Energy Bulletin headlines at the bottom of its own site.

The Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center is the primary climate-change data and information analysis center of the U.S. Department of Energy.

Time magazine's Jeffrey Kluger cover story "Global Warming Heats Up," with its "Be Worried. Be VERY Worried" cover drove so-called climate "contrarians" up the wall with anger over what they virtually described as journalistic malpractice. The March 23, 2006, cover story has become one of the standards illustrating what many see as a major change in how much of the media treat climate change science - giving less attention in the name of "balance" to the contrarians and accepting at least two key aspects of climate change as virtually established science: the earth is getting warmer, and human actions are a significant cause of the warming.

In 1960, a group of scientists began studying a small watershed in a tract of the White Mountain National Forest in central New Hampshire to try to understand the relationship of forests to streams and flooding. Consistent research since then has produced one of the longest records of temperature and precipitation data available. Reporters may download actual temperature data from the research group's website, and also learn more about the work there and the names of scientists to contact.

A tongue-in-cheek, but relevant, "confesson" on April 1, 2005, by the editors of Scientific American. Remember, it was published on April Fool's Day. An important clue.

Look at columnist Christopher Shea's "In the Balance: Is Balanced Journalism to Blame for the Lack of Action on Global Warming?"

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's website will be essential for journalists wanting to go to the source on the latest consensus on climate change science.

The "State of the News Media" link at the top of the page will take you to the annual reports for 2007, 2006, 2005, and 2004. Annual updates are published in March.

This study published jointly by the prestigious partnership of McKinsey & Company and the Conference Board - along with environmental organization and company sponsors - could figure large in eventual serious talks on costs of achieving significant greenhouse gas emissions. It has not yet attracted the widespread media interest some might have anticipated, given the potential influence of McKinsey and the Conference Board and sponsorship by groups including Environmental Defense, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Honeywell, PG&E, and Shell. The study's "basic conclusion" in its own words: "The United States could reduce GHG emissions in 2030 by 3.0 to 4.5 gigatons of CO2e using tested approaches and high-potential emerging technologies. These reductions would involve pursuing a wide array of abatement options with marginal costs less than $50 per ton, with the average net cost to the economy being far lower if the nation can capture sizable gains from energy efficiency. Achieving these reductions at the lowest cost to the economy, however, will require strong, coordinated, economy-wide action that begins in the near future." Visitors to the site can download a PDF of the executive summary (460 KB) or the full report (4.11 MB), watch a video presentation, or see a slideshow (7 MB).

Stephen H. Schneider of Stanford University is one of the most highly visible and most respected - and, among those dismissing much of the so-called "settled science," among the most daunting - climate scientists. The influential Schneider, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, maintains a sophisticated climate science/journalism website - "Mediarology," a play on words symbolic of his quick mind and sharp tongue.

Part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an excellent online source of global climate and weather data.

"The news behind the science and the science behind the news" is how Nature Publishing Group promotes its online resource on what it calls "arguably the most far-reaching challenge of this century." A complement to the respected Nature magazine, the site provides free access to all content and PDF downloads. Updated monthly, the advertising-supported site provides ways for readers to comment or access pieces through podcasts.

The websites of the National Center for Atmospheric Research and its management organization, the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, provide a wealth of background information on climate science and a steady stream of news about research findings. Colorado-based NCAR works with university scientists at numerous institutions on "research topics in atmospheric chemistry, climate, cloud physics and storms, weather hazards to aviation, and interactions between the Sun and Earth." NCAR is sponsored by the National Science Foundation.

The Regional Integrated Sciences & Assessments program of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration supports research by university scientists and others on "climate sensitive issues" at the regional level at eight programs around the U.S. Links to the eight programs are on the RISA home page. Research areas include fisheries, water, wildfire, agriculture, public health, and coastal restoration. The NOAA program also formerly supported work at the New England Integrated Sciences and Assessments program.

Since 1998, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit providing "credible information, straight answers, and innovative solutions in the effort to address global climate change." Regarded as credible and authoritative, publishes timely in-depth reports, often written by well recognized outside experts.

The Poynter Institutute's News University marked Earth Day 2008 with the posting of a 48-minute video of a September 2007 "Covering Climate Change" session for senior news executives, held at Stanford University. Organized by Yale Forum Editor Bud Ward and sponsored by the Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ) and the Metcalf Institute for Marine and Environmental Reporting, the unique day-long session brought 18 top news executives together with preeminent climate change scientists and researchers to address media coverage of climate change issues. The program was conducted with financial support from the Energy Foundation and the Heinz Family Philanthropies and with financial and in-kind support also from the Yale Project on Climate Change, publisher of The Yale Forum on Climate Change and the Media, and from Stanford University's Woods Institute for the Environment. Established in April 2005, News University is an online project of The Poynter Institute for Media Studies funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. NewsU describes itself as "committed to providing interactive, inexpensive courses that appeal to journalists at all levels of experience and in all types of media." The initiative is supported by a grant from Knight Foundation as part of its Newsroom Training Initiative.

Columbia Journalism Review Managing Editor Brent Cunningham in the May 6,2005, issue took on the issue of journalistic balance - its strengths and its limitations - in a piece entitled "Rethinking Objective Journalism."

As also is former "Science Times" Editor Cornelia Dean's November 11, 2003, commentary in The New York Times. Dean's piece, headlined "Rousing Science Out of the Lab and Into the Limelight," takes off from Yankelovich’s report and takes the message to a broader audience, and taking on the subject from a journalist's perspective.

The Birch Aquarium, at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, CA, has an informative website with links to information on a wide range of climate, oceanography, and related topics.

The Society of Environmental Journalists has substantially strengthened its guide to climate change on its website. Recent additions include a summary description, with links, explaining the 2007 reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Other sections of the guide help reporters, particularly those unfamiliar with the climate issue, better understand basic scientific concepts and findings.

Terry Eastland has long been active politically, and some will say his conservative politics flow readily into his Spring 2005 guest column for The Wilson Quarterly, published by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. Eastland, publisher of the conservative newspaper The Weekly Standard, wrote the piece in his capacity as a member of the board of directors for the Center for Individual Freedom Foundation, on whose website the piece can still be found.

One of the unequivocal "must reads" for those new to - or needing a refresher on - climate change. The author is Spencer R. Weart, director of the Center for History of Physics of the American Institute of Physics (AIP) in College Park, Md. The site, a hypertext history, is a companion piece to Weart's longer Harvard University Press (2003) book of the same title. The site is updated annually. An opening "summary of the history" of climate change science. From there, things get much more interesting and intriguing.

You might think of this site as an Earth sciences version of Wikipedia, with a bit more of a moderated and expert technical editing role to help assure the technical accuracy (even beyond that that Wikipedia's own sizeable army of strong adherents attributes to it). Get your feet wet here by familiarizing yourself first with who and what is behind this online initiative and their commitment to "articulating the whole truth about all subjects." You can do that by going to the "About Us" link on the home page. (Hint: The National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE) and the the Department of Geography and Environment and the Center for Energy and Environmental Studies at Boston University provide editorial support. The motive behind their effort? Here's how they describe it: "The motivation behind the Encyclopedia of Earth is simple. Go to Googletm and type in climate change, pesticides, nuclear power, sustainable development, or any other important environmental issue. Doing so returns millions of results, some fraction of which are authoritative. The remainder is of poor or unknown quality. This illustrates a stark reality of the Web: digital information on the environment is characterized by an abundance of "great piles of content" and a dearth of "piles of great content." In other words, there are many resources for environmental content, but there is no central repository of authoritative information that meets the needs of diverse user communities. Our goal is to make the Encyclopedia of Earth the largest reliable information resource on the environment in history." Pretty lofty goals, huh? So judge for yourself. It's well worth a visit to the site, and you may find yourself returning often.

Matt Bai writes this lengthy New York Times Magazine entry on the importance of "framing" when dealing with public policy issues. Good background on the effective ... and ineffective ... packaging, or "framing," of controversial issues ... and how that affects public opinion, political responses, media coverage, and more.

Talk about getting the contrarians' goat. Veteran and highly respected science writer Sharon Begley, in Newsweek, did at least that much with the newsweekly's "The Truth About Denial," focusing on what she described as the contrarians/skeptics spin machine against evolving science on climate change. The magazine's cover for this piece: "Global Warming is a Hoax.*" That asterisk is all important, as explained also on the cover: "Or so claim well-funded naysayers who still reject the overwhelming evidence of climate change." That piece, like the Time climate change cover, brought forth a splurge of pro and con letters to the editors. Interestingly, Begley's Newsweek cover also brought forward, and also in Newsweek, a stinging rebuttal in a column by financial columnist Robert Samuelson, along with a defense by Newsweek Editor Jon Meacham. [ Also see: Samuelson's column and Meacham's column, in the same issue with Samuelson's column, on the intramural warfare on his pages. ]

The Post's portal for its stories on climate change.

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory compiles this material for the federal government. Dating from 1976, the site compiles energy statistics from many sources in an easy-to-view format. The entire book is available, chapter by chapter, as a PDF. In Chapter 11, on greenhouse gas emissions, reporters can quickly verify important facts. For instance: that the United States is the leading emitter of greenhouse gases; that the percentage of greenhouse gases that come from transportation continues to rise (right now it's almost 33 percent of the country's greenhouse gas emissions); that different greenhouse gases have different warming potentials in the atmosphere; and that automobile gasoline provides most of the carbon emissions in the transportation sector. And lots, lots, more.

Daniel Yankelovich's "Winning Greater Influence for Science," published in the National Academy of Science's Issues in Science and Technology in September 2003 is a clarion call to the science community to go beyond their lab and field research and carry their results and findings into the public arena where its impacts can, and must, be felt.