Sustainability 101: Free Resources to Build Your Climate Change Knowledge
Climate change is complex, with many intricacies and cascading interactions. There is a wealth of resources available online that teach about the science of climate change and sustainability practices, but it can be difficult to know where to start. The resources below will help you grasp the basic science and provide deep dives within specific areas.
This is the first edition of our four-part series on Sustainability 101: Free and Paid Resources, Courses, Certificates, and Degrees to Build Your Sustainability Knowledge. You can check out parts 2, 3, and 4 at the links below:
Part 2: Low-cost and free courses on sustainability
Part 3: Free and low-cost courses on the business of sustainability
Part 4: Top online executive business courses on sustainability
Climate change resource sites
1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Climate Portal
This is a great place to begin as an overview of the science of climate change. With in-depth explainers on a variety of topics from carbon capture to energy, atmosphere, biodiversity, and more, the website is a rich database of resources written by scientists and experts.
From the space folks themselves, the NASA Global Climate Change site is part resources deep dive, part online tracker with frequently updated stats on global temperatures and the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. With categories such as the evidence for climate change, causes of climate change, effects of climate change, and solutions for climate change, you’ll benefit from insights from one of the premier research agencies in the world. There is also a wealth of scientific resources, including satellite images that are difficult to misinterpret or ignore.
3. The New York Times’ Climate Page
In 2022, the New York Times polled readers to reveal their most pressing questions about climate change. The results informed this in-depth resource, which provides answers to the most common questions. When you’re done with the basics, you’ll definitely want to bookmark this one as a dictionary for all of those sustainability buzzwords that will help you understand the frameworks and speak the language.
Project Drawdown is a series of powerful educational videos organized into courses to take you through an overview of the science of climate through to human impacts and actions to be taken on sustainability immediately. The site draws from the work of leading climate researchers and experts.
5. climate.gov
The climate.gov website is a rich resource highlighting climate tech, climate data, a decision-maker’s toolbox, and climate data. The News & Resources section answers common questions that act as a good introduction to the subject, such as why we still have cold winters if the planet is warming. Head to this one as a way to fight back against climate misinformation.
6. The Climate Reality Project
Founded by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, the mission of the Climate Reality Project is to provide tools, education, training, and networks to help fight climate change. Through training and networking events, this organization brings people together to better understand climate change — and do something about it.
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