The ongoing debate concerning global warming and its effects on the planet continues at all levels of society and in all forms of media. It is a scientific discussion that affects all aspects of the human condition, and therefore it is especially important that library communities have access to current research to understand the issues at hand and realize the consequences for the future.

General Editor, S. George Philander has gathered approximately 230 academic writers and scientists to create a three-volume work of 800 signed entries. This new title is the second edition of Philander’s earlier 2008 work and he indicates that “some 50 percent of the contents have been updated and revised and 40 entirely new articles have been added” (xxxiv). Entries are two to five pages in length with a list of further readings and are complimented by black and white photography. In addition to the usual list of resources and index, the final volume includes an important appendix of graphic plots detailing actual long-term data on climate change with explanatory summaries.

Philander states in the introduction that the goal of this encyclopedia is “to bridge the gulf between laymen and scientist” and in this author’s estimation Encyclopedia of Global Warming and Climate Change is an important effort as an introductory reference work to engage the general reader regarding global warming and explain its implications for all facets of our environment and civilization (xxxiii). In comparison, Lerner and Lerner’s Climate Change in Context (Gale, 2008) and Dutch’s Encyclopedia of Global Warming (Salem Press, 2010) are similar reference titles in scope, coverage, and audience.

However, the second edition of Encyclopedia of Global Warming and Climate Change is the most current reference work on this scientific topic and this author recommends it for public, school, and academic libraries.