Contact: Sondra Lancaster FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Office of Global Program 10/15/97
NOAA RELEASES OUR CHANGING CLIMATE, AN EDUCATIONAL TOOL ON GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released a new educational tool today, Our Changing Climate, a publication designed to raise the level of public awareness on issues dealing with global environmental change.
"The public is becoming increasingly aware of climate issues and people are interested in understanding how these issues will affect their lives," said D. James Baker, NOAA administrator. "This new publication serves as an important tool to educate the public on a topic of rising concern."
More than 400,000 copies of Our Changing Climate will be shared with science teachers, educators and libraries through a collaborative effort of NOAA's Office of Global Programs and the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research's Office for Science Support. University of Washington professor Dennis Hartmann is the primary author of the publication.
Through the use of vividly colored graphics and input from the scientific community, Our Changing Climate discusses historical events attributed to climate such as the American Ice Age, the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, and phenomena such as the Greenhouse Effect. The publication also discusses socio-economic impacts that result from climate patterns such as El Ni¤o, where abnormal temperature and precipitation patterns result in flooding or drought.
Our Changing Climate is the fourth publication in the award-winning series "Reports to the Nation on Our Changing Planet."
Note to Editors: A "class set" of up to 30 publications is available to teachers who make a request on their school letterhead to the UCAR, Joint Office for Science Support, P.O. Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80307-3000; (303) 497-8666; fax (303) 497-8633; e-mail: rtn@joss.ucar.edu. Once such a request are made, the teachers' names are added to the mailing list and they automatically receive future publications. The publication also is available on the worldwide web at: