A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook page during the past week. Articles of high signifigance are highlighted in the Editor's Picks' section.
Editor's Picks
No country on Earth is taking the 2 degree climate target seriously
(One of the morbidly fascinating aspects of climate change is how much cognitive dissonance it generates, in individuals and nations alike.
The more you understand the brutal logic of climate change — what it could mean, the effort necessary to forestall it — the more the intensity of the situation seems out of whack with the workaday routines of day-to-day life. It’s a species-level emergency, but almost no one is acting like it is. And it’s very, very difficult to be the only one acting like there’s an emergency, especially when the emergency is abstract and science-derived, grasped primarily by the intellect.
This psychological schism is true for individuals, and it’s true for nations. Take the Paris climate agreement.
In Paris, in 2015, the countries of the world agreed (again) on the moral imperative to hold the rise in global average temperature to under 2 degrees Celsius, and to pursue "efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees." To date, 62 countries, including the United States, China, and India, have ratified the agreement.
Are any of the countries that signed the Paris agreement taking the actions necessary to achieve that target?
No country on Earth is taking the 2 degree climate target seriously by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Apr 29, 2017
It can’t just be a march. It has to be a movement.’ What’s next for climate activists?
“Okay, so what’s next?” said Gene Karpinski, president of the League of Conservation Voters, on Sunday morning as he looked out at the nearly 100 women gathered inside a meeting room at Union Station.
Less than 24 hours earlier, they had joined tens of thousands of demonstrators on a sweltering day in the nation’s capital for the latest mass protest of the Trump era. The Peoples Climate March had been a chance to push for action on climate change and to oppose what activists see as an unprecedented assault on environmental protections during President Trump’s first 100 days. Protesters had chanted and sung, carried clever signs, Snapchatted and tweeted their way down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House.
Now, the streets of Washington were quiet. The crowds had mostly gone home. Trump was still in the White House. Republicans still controlled Congress. And the entire climate movement, which had seen the Obama era as a time of progress in combating global warming and prioritizing environmental safeguards, faced the question Karpinski had posed: What’s next?
‘It can’t just be a march. It has to be a movement.’ What’s next for climate activists? by Brady Dennis, Energy & Environment, Washington Post, May 1, 2017
Global warming scientists learn lessons from the pause that never was
‘Despite all the other indicators of global warming showing business as usual, a fixation on the average temperature of the globe stuck firm.’ Photograph: Philippe Huguen/AFP/Getty Images
People don’t talk about how global warming has stopped, paused or slowed down all that much any more – three consecutive hottest years on record will tend to do that to a flaky meme.
But there was a time a few years ago when you couldn’t open your news feed without being told global warming had stopped by some conservative columnist, climate science denier or one of those people who spend their waking hours writing comments on stories like this.
The issue at hand was one of the multiple measurements used by scientists to monitor the state of the planet – the globally averaged temperature.
Depending on which particular set of data you looked at, and how you calculated trends, there was an argument that temperature rises had slowed over a period of about 15 years.
Global warming scientists learn lessons from the pause that never was by Graham Readfearn, Planet Oz, Guardian, May 3, 2017
Negative emissions tech: can more trees, carbon capture or biochar solve our CO2 problem?
Reforestation is the least controversial negative emissions technology - but a substantial amount of good quality land is needed. Photograph: Jenny Bonner/Getty Images
In the 2015 Paris climate agreement, 195 nations committed to limit global warming to two degrees above pre-industrial levels. But some, like Eelco Rohling, professor of ocean and climate change at the Australian National University’s research school of earth sciences, now argue that this target cannot be achieved unless ways to remove huge amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere are found, and emissions are slashed.
This is where negative emissions technologies come in. The term covers everything from reforestation projects to seeding the stratosphere with sulphates or fertilising the ocean with iron fillings.
It’s controversial – not least because of the chequered history of geoengineering-type projects, but also because of concerns it will grant governments and industry a licence to continue with business as usual. But many argue we no longer have a choice.
“Most things are not applied yet on larger scales but we have a pretty good feeling of things that will work and we can quantify roughly how much carbon we should be able to remove from the atmosphere with them,” says Rohling.
Negative emissions tech: can more trees, carbon capture or biochar solve our CO2 problem? by Bianca Nogrady, Innovations in Renewables, Guardian, May 4, 2017
The Glaciers are Going
The Waggonwaybreen glacier in Svalbard. Photo: Andreas Weith
As can be seen above, the Waggonwaybreen glacier in Svalbard, Norway, has retreated substantially since 1900. Svalbard’s glaciers are not only retreating, they are also losing about two feet of their thickness each year. Glaciers around the world have retreated at unprecedented rates and some have disappeared altogether. The melting of glaciers will affect people around the world, their drinking water supplies, water needed to grow food and supply energy, as well as global sea levels.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates that around the world glaciers (excluding the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets) will decrease in volume between 15 to 55 percent by 2100 even if we are able to limit global warming to under 2˚C; they could shrink up to 85 percent if warming increases much more.
In Earth’s history, there have been at least five major ice ages, when long-term cooling of the planet resulted in the expansion of ice sheets and glaciers. Past ice ages have been naturally set off by a numerous factors, most importantly, changes in the Earth’s orbit around the sun (Milankovitch cycles) and shifting tectonic plate movements that affect wind and ocean currents. The mixture of gases in the atmosphere (such as carbon dioxide and methane) as well as solar and volcanic activity are also contributing factors. Today we are in a warm interval—an interglacial—between ice ages.
The Glaciers are Going by Renee Cho, State of the Planet, Earth Institute, Columbia University, May 5, 2017
Links posted on Facebook
Sun Apr 30, 2017
- WMO Update: 50-60% chance of El Niño later this year, World Meteorlogical Organization (WMO) News, Apr 28, 2017
- The Interior Department Just Quietly Scrubbed Its Climate Change Page by Sarah Emerson, Motherboard, Apr 27, 2017
- Climate March draws massive crowd to D.C. in sweltering heat by Chris Mooney, Joe Heim & Brady Dennis, Health & Science, Washington Post, Apr 29, 2017
- India’s planned coal plants could ‘single-handedly jeopardise’ 1.5C target by Jocelyn Timperley, Carbon Brief, Apr 26, 2017
- U.N. Risk Chief: Put a Price on Disasters by Anastasia Moloney, Thomson Reuters Foundation/Climate Central, Apr 29, 2017
- Some thoughts on Bret Stephens’ misleading climate take by Brian L Kahn, Medium, Apr 29, 2017
- Trump's EPA Wins Advantage in Campaign to Dismantle Clean Power Plan by John H Cushman Jr, InsideClimate News, Apr 28, 2017
- DOE freezes millions in high-tech energy grants and gags staff by Jeffrey Mervis, Science (AAAS), Apr 28, 2017
Mon May 1, 2017
- Climate Change as Genocide: Inaction Equals Annihilation by Michael Klare, Tom Dispatch/Alternet, Apr 29, 2017
- The Climate March's Big Tent Strategy Draws a Big Crowd by Robinson Meyer, The Atlantic, Apr 30, 2017
- How Climate Deniers Try to Sow Confusion by Jeffrey Kluger, Science, Time Magazine, Apr 28, 2017
- As Rising Seas Erode Shorelines, Tasmania Shows What Can Be Lost by Justin Gillis, Climte, New York Times, Apr 26, 2017
- What If Climate Scientists Are Guessing Wrong? by Jonathan Chait, Daily Intelligencer, New York Magazine, May 1, 2017
- How to Reason with the Climate Change Denier in Your Life, Book Review by Mary Catherine O'Connor, Outside Magazine, Apr 25, 2017
- ‘It can’t just be a march. It has to be a movement.’ What’s next for climate activists? by Brady Dennis, Energy & Environment, Washington Post, May 1, 2017
- Congress Just Ignored Trump And Boosted America's Science Funding by Robin Andrews, IFL Science, May 1, 2017
Tue May 2, 2017
- A Cold War theory for why scientists and the government have become so estranged by Brad Plumer, Science & Health, Vox, Apr 26, 2017
- India Added Twice As Much Renewables Capacity As Coal Capacity In 2016-17 by Saurabh Mahapatra, Clean Technica, May 1, 2017
- Why Climate Change is Political by Jack Ryan, The Progressive (Georgetown U College Democrats), Apr 30, 2017
- SkS Team - Marching for Science around the globe by BaerbelW, Skeptical Science, May 1, 2017
- Here’s What Real Climate Scientists Have to Say About Global Warming, Podcast by Ariel Conn, Futurism, May 1, 2017
- The problem with calling Bret Stephens a climate change ‘denier’, Analyis by Callum Borchers, The Fix, Washington Post, May 1, 2017
- Climate contrarians want to endanger the EPA climate endangerment finding by Dana Nuccitelli, Climate Consensus - the 97%, Guardian, May 2, 2017
- Debate Over Paris Climate Deal Could Turn on a Single Phrase by John Schwartz, Climate, New York Times, May 2, 2017
Wed May 3, 2017
- The Larsen C Ice Shelf Crack Just Sprouted a New Branch by Brian Kahn, Climate Central, May 2, 2017
- Canada 200M tonnes away from meeting international emissions promise by Mia Rabson, Canadian Press/Brandon Sun, May 2, 2017
- High Ground Is Becoming Hot Property as Sea Level Rises by Erika Bolstad, ClimateWire/Scientific American, May 1, 2017
- There's No Science Behind Denying Climate Change, Opinion by Ethan Siegel, Starts With A Bang, Forbes, May 2, 2017
- In the Trump White House, the momentum has turned against the Paris climate agreement by Juliet Eilperin, Energy & Environment, Washington Post, May 2, 2017
- The 1981 TV documentary that warned about global warming by Leo Hickman, Carbon Brief, May 2, 2017
- Caribbean Rolls Out Plans to Reduce Climate Change Hazards by Desmond Brown, Inter Press Service (IPS), Apr 30, 2017
- When Teaching Climate Change, Knowledge Is Power by Madeline Bodin, Education Update (ASCD), May 2017 | Volume 59 | Number 5
Thu May 4, 2017
- The Very Survival of Africa’s Indigenous Peoples ‘Seriously Threatened’ by Baher Kamal, Inter Press Service (IPS), May 3, 2017
- Identifying logical fallacies and scientific misdirection in a CO2 video by Callan Bentle, Mountain Beltway, AGU Blogosphere, Apr 27, 2017
- Q&A; Detailed look at the global warming ‘hiatus’ again confirms that humans are changing the climate by Amina Khan. Los Angeles Times, May 3, 2017
- The New York Times should not have hired climate change bullshitter Bret Stephens by David Roberts, Energy & Enviornment, Vox, May 1, 2017
- Climate confusion is back, and it's dangerous by John D Sutter, CNN Politics, May 2, 2017
- Could making climate change a 'pro-life' issue bring conservatives on board? by Ben Rosen, Energy/Environment, Christian Science Monitor, May 2, 2017
- New publication: Does it matter if the consensus on anthropogenic global warming is 97% or 99.99%? by Andy Skuce, Skeptical Science, May 3, 2017
- New York Times wants to offer diverse opinions. But on climate, facts are facts by Jane Martinson, Climate Change, Guardian, May 3, 2017
Fri May 5, 2017
- Global warming is reshaping the world’s forests by Bob Berwyn, Deutsche Welle (DW), May 4, 2017
- NATO urges global fight against climate change as Trump mulls Paris accord by Tomothy Gardner, Reuters, May 3, 2017
- Is the climate consensus 97%, 99.9%, or is plate tectonics a hoax? by Dana Nuccitelli, Climate Consensus - the 97%, Guardian, May 4, 2017
- Medical scientists report on the impact climate change is having on health by John Abraham, Climate Consensus - the 97%, Guardian, May 5, 2017
- There Are Lots of Climate Uncertainties. Let’s Acknowledge and Plan for Them With Honesty. by Andy Revkin, ProPublica, May 3, 2017
- Why is the Arctic melting faster than the Antarctic?, Deutsche Welle (DW), May 3, 2017
- We would need 1.7 Earths to make our consumption sustainable by Dennis Lu, Washington Post, May 4, 2017
- Arctic Sea Ice Keeps Scraping the Bottom of the Barrel by Brian Kahn, Climate Central, May 3, 2017
Sat May 6, 2017
- Inside the White House War Over the Paris Climate Treaty by John H Cushman Jr & Marianne Lavelle, Climate Central, May 5, 2017
- No country on Earth is taking the 2 degree climate target seriously by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Apr 29, 2017
- US tells China it has ‘no plan yet’ to meet its 2020 climate target by Simon Evans, Carbon Brief, May 4, 2017
- Negative emissions tech: can more trees, carbon capture or biochar solve our CO2 problem? by Bianca Nogrady, Innovations in Renewables, Guardian, May 4, 2017
- The Glaciers are Going by Renee Cho, State of the Planet, Earth Institute, Columbia University, May 5, 2017
- The EPA just buried its climate change website for kids by Juliet Eilperin, Energy & Environment, Washington Post, May 6, 2017
- The great climate silence: we are on the edge of the abyss but we ignore it by Clive Hamilton, Guardian, May 4, 2017
- Global warming scientists learn lessons from the pause that never was by Graham Readfearn, Planet Oz, Guardian, May 3, 2017