science resources

The following articles and reports describe the science of climate change, the effects of warming, and government and corporate failures to respond to the catastrophe.

You may choose to use these as evidence to convince a court that direct action is necessary to address the climate crisis. They can be attached as exhibits to motions and briefs. Click on the links to download the files.

Be sure to read XRNYC’s page on The Emergency, which describes the state of the climate crisis and how we got here through industry lies and government inaction.

(1)  We Have 12 Years to Limit Climate Change Catastrophe

A Guardian article about the recent IPCC report that demonstrates we have 12 years to avert catastrophic climate change. This article gives a summary of the findings from that report.

(2)  More Methane: Interior Eases Rules Curbing Leaks from Oil and Gas Leases on Federal Land

A Washington Post article about the rollbacks on methane regulations. Demonstrates the failure of the political establishment to address climate change and its tendency to make things worse.

(3) Trump Administration Sees a 7-Degree Change in Global Temperatures by 2100

A Washington Post article on a statement by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that global temperatures are set to increase so much by 2100 that their rollback on tailpipe emission regulations is justified — they say it wouldn’t make a difference, anyway.

(4) New Studies Increase Confidence in NASA’s Measure of Earth’s Temperature

A NASA press release stating that NASA measurements of global temperatures is accurate to within .09 degrees Fahrenheit, offering further proof that there are no mistakes about climate change’s reality. 

(5) How Climate Activists Failed to Make Clear the Problem with Natural Gas

Bill McKibben writing in Yale Environment 360, explaining the extreme threat of natural gas and the failure of activists to communicate this effectively, thereby allowing the narrative that natural gas is somehow “clean” to become dominant.

(6) Shell And Exxon’s Secret 1980s Climate Warning 

The Guardian on the revelation that Shell and Exxon knew about the dangers of climate change as early as the 1980s, and intentionally obfuscated this.

(7) The Uninhabitable Earth, Annotated Edition

Famous New York article on the worst possible outcomes of climate change if we continue business-as-usual.

(8) Silencing Science and Climate Deregulation Trackers

Columbia tracks both “government attempts to restrict or prohibit scientific research, education or discussion,” and “steps taken by the Trump administration and Congress to scale back or wholly eliminate climate mitigation and adaptation measures.”

(9) Hothouse Earth Study

Study on the potential run-away feedback effects of climate change.

(10) IPCC and NCA Links and Citations

Links to the latest IPCC and NCA reports.

(11) Extreme Weather Event Attribution Science and Climate Change Litigation

A law review article by Sophie Marjanac and Lindene Patton explaining the science of attributing specific weather events and natural disasters to climate change.

(12) As Carbon Dioxide Levels Climb, Millions at Risk of Nutritional Deficiencies 

A Harvard School of Public Health report on the negative effect climate change will have on food production.