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The search for extraterrestrial life with SETI@Home perhaps popularized the idea of distributed computing projects. Now NASA has plans to undertake a similar project, using that model not to look for aliens but to help perform research on climate change models.

The initiative is called Climate@Home and is collaboration between NASA, over a dozen Federal agencies, and several universities and private organizations. Goddard Space Flight Center's Robert Cahalan is serving as the project scientist and has assembled an international team of scientists to help set science goals and determine which parameters to run.

Excuse the pun, but while climate change isn't usually a hot topic during the winter months, a number of companies have released environmental resources in conjunction with this week's United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. World leaders are currently convening in Copenhagen to tackle our toughest environmental issues and provide positive solutions to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. Below are just some of the resources netizens can consult to learn about the issues.

In January 2009, only 41% of US voters believed that global warming was caused by fossil fuel emissions and other man-made causes. According to a recent Rasmussen national report, the majority of those surveyed over the phone believed that global warming was part of a natural planetary trend that will reverse itself over time. In a panic to sway public perception and environmental decision making, the United Nations Climate Change Secretariat recently teamed up with Google to create a Greenhouse Gas Map detailing man's environmental pollution. The map is a color-coded Google Maps mash up that pulls national greenhouse gas inventory and Kyoto Protocol data to display toxic emissions in industrialized nations. The tool was created in anticipation of the UN's Climate Change Conference to be held at the end of this year.