A climate-literate person:

• understands the essential principles of Earth’s climate system,
• knows how to assess scientifically credible information about climate,
• communicates about climate and climate change in a meaningful way, and
• is able to make informed and responsible decisions with regard to actions that may affect climate.

--From "Climate Literacy: The Essential Principles of Climate Sciences" produced by the U.S. Global Change Research Program

The United States Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) works to "build a knowledge base that informs human responses to climate and global change through coordinated and integrated federal programs of research, education, communication, and decision support." Congress mandated the program as part of the Global Change Research Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-606), and it now involves 13 federal agencies. The following are some of these agencies' websites on climate change:

The Library provides access to the Ebrary eBooks Starter Pack on Climate Change and Green Energy. Here are two sample eBook titles:

"The National Academies Press (NAP) was created by the National Academies to publish the reports issued by the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Medicine, and the National Research Council, all operating under a charter granted by the Congress of the United States."

There are more than 300 eBooks and eReports that you can access for free online: