2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #39

A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook page during the past week. 

Editor's Pick

People Are Dying’: Puerto Rico Faces Daunting Humanitarian Crisis
As the full scope of Hurricane Maria's devastation emerges, leaders are calling for urgent help. Many of the risks were spelled out in a 2013 climate assessment.

Hurricane Maria swept mud and debris down streets and into homes across the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, home to 3.4 million people, about 44 percent of whom live below the poverty line. Credit: Hector Retamal/AFP/Getty Images

A public health crisis is unfolding in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria, as millions of people face a frightening array of urgent dangers, some of which may drag on for weeks or months.
Nearly one week after the storm hit, federal emergency response personnel struggled to make contact with remote communities and restore critical medical infrastructure.
As of Monday, the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), already stretched thin by continuing recovery efforts from Hurricanes Harvey in Texas and Irma in Florida, had yet to reach six communities in Puerto Rico and was just sending its first shipment of water to the remote islands of Vieques and Culebra.
"We are in response mode, and our main priority is saving lives, getting generators to the hospitals, and making sure that there is enough fuel for those generators to run," FEMA spokesperson Jose Davila said.
"It is very bad down there right now," said Sven Rodenbeck, chief science officer for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 2017 hurricane response. "For the vast majority of the island, there is no power. They have had flooding, and the health care system—many of the clinics and hospitals are closed. A lot of the drinking water systems are not operational, along with the waste water systems."
Carmen Yulín Cruz, the mayor of San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico, gave a blunt assessment of the situation.
"People are dying," Cruz told CBS news on Tuesday. "This is the reality that we live in, the crude aftermath of a storm, a hurricane that has left us practically paralyzed."
‘People Are Dying’: Puerto Rico Faces Daunting Humanitarian Crisis by Phil Mckenna, Inside Climate News, Sep 27, 2017

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Links posted on Facebook

Sun Sep 24, 2017

• The Climate Swerve: Reflections on Mind, Hope and Survival with Robert Jay Lifton and Bill Moyers, Moyers & Company, Sep 21, 2017
• Simulating The Bodily Pain Of Future Climate Change, Opinion by Lisa Feldman Barrett, NPR News, Sep 23, 2017
• Climate deniers want to protect the status quo that made them rich by John Gibbons, Guardian, Sep 22, 2017
• Silent killer: Sweltering planet braces for deadly heat shocks by Laurie Goering, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Sep 19, 2017
• Solar Panel Tariff Threat: 8 Questions Homeowners Are Asking by Marianne LaVelle, InsideClimate News, Sep 22, 2017
• Global warming presents a clear and present danger to America's national security, world stability by Alice Hall, Houston Chronicle, Sep 23, 2017
• “Eden Is Broken”: A Caribbean Leader Calls for Action on Climate Change by Natalie Meade, New Yorker, Sep 24, 2017
• Cities Cracking Down on Climate Law-Breakers by Courtney Humphries, InsideClimate News, Sep 22, 2017

Mon Sep 25, 2017

• Category 5 hurricanes have hit 6 land areas dead-on in 2017, more than ever before by Jason Samenow, Capital Weather Gang, Washington Post, Sep 22, 2017
• The Weird Way That Climate Change Could Make Earthquakes Worse by Kristin Hugo, Newsweek, Sep 24, 2017
• Extreme weather to cost UK billions and leave 2.5m homes at risk of flooding unless ministers take action, warns WWF by Ian Johnston, Independent, Sep 25, 2017
• Puerto Rico’s Agriculture and Farmers Decimated by Maria by Frances Robles & Luis Ferré-Sadurní, New York Times, Sep 24, 2017
• The Mail's censure shows which media outlets are biased on climate change by Dana Nuccitelli, Climate Consensus - the 97%, Guardian, Sep 25, 2017
• At 2017 minimum, scientists ask: Is Arctic entering the Thin Ice Age? by Gloria Dickie, Mongabay, Sep 25,2017
• Hot, isolated, and running out of supplies, parts of Puerto Rico near desperation by Samantha Schmidt & Joel Achenbach, Washington Post, Sep 24, 2017

Tue Sep 26, 2017

• Kerala trains local leaders on climate change by S. Gopikrishna Warrier, India Climate Dialogue, Sep 25, 2017
• Here's How a Borderline La Niña Could Impact the Rest of the 2017 Atlantic Hurricane Season by Jonathan Erdman, The Weather Channel, Sep 25, 2017
• Trump Is Ignoring Puerto Rico’s Suffering by Phillip Carter, Slate, Sep 25, 2017
• Battered Puerto Rico hospitals on life support after Hurricane Maria by Robin Respaut & Dave Graham, Reuters, Sep 24, 2017
• Anger at EU climate chief’s suggestion US can backtrack on Paris by Arthur Neslen, Climate Home, Sep 25, 2017
• Trump's lack of empathy about Puerto Rico is staggering, Opinion by Paul A Reyes, CNN, Sep 26. 2017
• In Hawaii and the Pacific Islands, 2017 has been anything but normal by Michael Kruk, NOAA's Climate.gov, Sep 26, 2017
• What would an entirely flood-proof city look like? by Sophie Knight, Guardian, Sep 25, 2017

Wed Sep 27, 2017

• Vanishing Antarctic Snowflakes May Alter Sea Level Rise by Chelsea Harvey, E&E News/Scientific American, Sep 26, 2017
• What Happens When a Superstorm Hits D.C.? by Justin Nobel, Rolling Stone, Sep 21, 2017
• How Puerto Rico Is Becoming Trump's Katrina by Tim Dickenson, Rolling Stone, Sep 26, 2017
• Climate change made Lucifer heatwave far more likely, scientists find by Damien Carrington, Guardian, Sep 27, 2017
• Right-wing media could not be more wrong about the 1.5°C carbon budget paper by Dana Nuccitelli, Climate Consensus - the 97%, Guardian, Sep 27, 2017
• One in five Australians believe global warming is a hoax by Felicity Caldwell, Sydney Morning Herald, Sep 27, 2017
• Exxon Aims to Cut Methane Leaks, a Culprit in Global Warming by Clifford Krause, Energy & Environment, New York Times, Sep 25, 2017
• What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster by Brian Resnick & Eliza Barclay, Science & Health, Vox, Sep 27, 2017

Thu Sep 28, 2017

• Warm waters tripled the amount of ice lost in these Antarctic glaciers — and that's bad for sea level rise by Alessandra Potenza, The Verge, Sep 26, 2017
• Do more to help poor nations cope with climate change, IMF tells rich countries by Larry Elliott, Guardian, Sep 27, 2017
• Washington state deals blow to plan for coal export terminal by Rachel La Corte, AP, Sep 26, 2017
• Global carbon emissions stood still in 2016, offering climate hope by Damian Carrington, Guardian, Sep 28, 2017
• Late-September heat wave leaves climate experts stunned by Joe Romm, Think Progress, Sep 27, 2017
• A key Antarctic glacier just lost a huge piece of ice — the latest sign of its worrying retreat by Chris Mooney, Energy & Envronment, Washington Post, Sep 25, 2017
• Maria and Lee are weakening and heading east. What’s next for this hurricane season? by Brian McNoldy, Capital Weather Gang, Washington Post, Sep 28, 2017
• Tropical forests used to protect us from climate change. A new study says they’re now making it worse. by Chris Mooney, Mooney, Energy & Envronment, Washington Post, Sep 28, 2017

Fri Sep 29, 2017

• Hidden Costs of Climate Change Running Hundreds of Billions a Year by Stephen Leahy, National Geographic, Sep 27, 2017
• Climate and energy are becoming focal points in state political races by John Abraham, Climate Consensus - the 97%, Guardian, Sep 28, 2017
• Puerto Ricans Could Be Newest U.S. Climate Refugees by Daniel Cusick Adam Aton, Climate Wire/Scientific American, Sep 28, 2017
• One of the clearest signs of climate change in Hurricanes Maria, Irma, and Harvey was the rain by Umair Irfan, Vox, Sep 28, 2017
• Global Warming Tort Litigation: Two Very Different Approaches by David Bookbinder, Niskanen Center, Sep 28, 2017
• Analysis: What does revised methane data mean for the Paris Agreement? by Daisy Dunne, InsideCarbon News, Sep 29, 2017
• Rick Perry proposes sweeping new steps to support coal and nuclear plants by Steven Mufson & Chris Mooney, Energy & Environment, Washington Post, Sep 29, 2017
• Pruitt Plans to Gut The Clean Power Plan: How Weak Will The New EPA Proposal Be? by Rachel Cleetus, Union of Concerned Scientists, Sep 29, 2017

Sat Sep 30, 2017

• Diesel cars help drive Australia's energy emissions to highest level, report shows by Nicole Hasham, The Age, Sep 29, 2017
• 'Stuck in the dark ages': Pacific Island leader vents after Australia's emissions hit record high by Nicole Ashman, Sydney Morning Herald, Sep 29, 2017
• Pascal’s Wager And Global Climate Change: Hedging Your Bet When the Cost of Error is Too High by Eric K Clemons, HuffPost, Sep 25, 2017
• September is the most energetic month for hurricanes ever recorded in the Atlantic by Matthew Cappucci, Capital Weather Gang, Washington Post, Sep 27, 2017
• ‘People Are Dying’: Puerto Rico Faces Daunting Humanitarian Crisis by Phil Mckenna, Inside Climate News, Sep 27, 2017
• The McKibben effect: a case study in how radical environmentalism can work by David Roberts, Energy & Enviornment, Vox, Sep 29, 2017
• New research, September 18-24, 2017 by Ari Jokimäki, Skeptical Science, Sep 30, 2017
• Climate change burden unfairly borne by world's poorest countries by Stuart Braun, Deutsche Welle (DW), Sep 28, 2017

from Skeptical Science via IFTTT

Lung cancer patients live longer with Chinese herbal medicine… or don’t they?

The claims that are being made for the health benefits of Chinese herbal medicine are impressive. I am not sure that there is even a single human disease that is not alleged to be curable with the use of some Chinese herbal mixture. I find this worrying because some patients might actually believe such outrageous […]

Read the rest here: Lung cancer patients live longer with Chinese herbal medicine… or don’t they?

Antivaxers on Twitter: Fake news and Twitter bots – Respectful Insolence

... It turns out that bots are everywhere. It turns out that there is evidence that Twitter is using them too. I shouldn’t be surprised, and I wasn’t really that surprised, but I was disturbed. Earlier this week I came across an article, SocialBots are Pouring the Pseudo into Science. #Vaccines. It was the product of Mentionmapp Analytics, a company that runs a website called Mentionmapp, which is a tool that looks at connections between accounts and advertises itself as making “finding Twitter’s great stuff easier.” It begins... Antivaxers on Twitter: Fake news and Twitter bots – Respectful Insolence

(Site info) Merger with WWDDTYDTY

Owing to circumstances beyond our collective control, ranging from illness to too much work via “Oh look, real people who aren’t spouting dangerous nonsense for money all day long. I want to spend more time with them”, the WWDDTYDTY blog has come to an end...

(Site info) Merger with WWDDTYDTY by Anarchic Teapot first appeared on Plague of Mice.

Dietary supplements: US consumers waste billions of $s

I have often remarked on the fact that, in alternative medicine, more surveys get published than in any other medical field. Typically these surveys are not just useless but overtly counter-productive:

• they tend to be of very poor quality; 
• their results are not generalizable and thus meaningless; 
• they show that a sizable proportion of the […]

Read the rest here: Dietary supplements: US consumers waste billions of $s

Homeopathy is effective for anxiety and depression disorders!!! Or isn’t it?

The purpose of the study was to compare utilization of conventional psychotropic drugs among patients seeking care for anxiety and depression disorders (ADDs) from general practitioners (GPs) who

• strictly prescribe conventional medicines (GP-CM), 
• regularly prescribe homeopathy in a mixed practice (GP-Mx), 
• or are certified homeopathic GPs (GP-Ho). 

The investigation was an epidemiological cohort study of […]

Read the rest here: Homeopathy is effective for anxiety and depression disorders!!! Or isn’t it?

Encyclopedia of American Loons: #173: Louise Hay

... Louise Hay herself made her success with this kind of bullshit, of course (strongly influenced by “researcher” Ernest Holmes, the delusional Florence Scovel Shinn and snowflake Maharishi Mahesh Yogi) most famously with “You Can Heal Your Life”, from 1984. She is a certified practitioner of “religious science”, mixing Christian fundamentalism with the flakiest ideas from oriental spiritualism, such as reiki. The central tenet of “You Can Heal Your Life” is that those who are sick have themselves to blame for it, and if they are unable to cure themselves, it is because of their psychological shortcomings...

Read the full horror here: Encyclopedia of American Loons: #173: Louise Hay

Bovine mastitis: are homeopathic remedies truly ‘as effective as antibiotics’?

Mastitis is a common disease in dairies. Numerous non-antimicrobial drugs and treatment strategies have been recommended for this condition. Homeopaths in particular have long claimed that their highly diluted remedies are an effective option, and I have reported repeatedly about the evidence – see here, here, and here, for instance. Even though it is far […]

Read the rest here: Bovine mastitis: are homeopathic remedies truly ‘as effective as antibiotics’?

2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #38

A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook page during the past week. 

Editor's Pick

August 2017 was second warmest on record
From NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies

A global map of the August 2017 LOTI (land-ocean temperature index) anomaly, relative to the 1951-1980 August average. Part of Antarctica is gray because data from some stations there were not yet available at the time of this posting. View larger image.

August 2017 was the second warmest August in 137 years of modern record-keeping, according to a monthly analysis of global temperatures by scientists at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York.
The measured value is consistent with the trend in global average surface temperatures that has been observed during the past few decades. Last month was +0.85 degrees Celsius warmer than the mean August temperature from 1951-1980.

The GISTEMP monthly temperature anomalies superimposed on a 1980-2015 mean seasonal cycle. View larger image. 

It was surpassed by August 2016, which was still affected by the 2015-2016 El Niño and was 0.99 degrees Celsius warmer than normal. However, August 2017 was about +0.2 degrees warmer than the August following the last large El Niño event in 1997-1998.
The monthly analysis by the GISS team is assembled from publicly available data acquired by about 6,300 meteorological stations around the world, ship- and buoy-based instruments measuring sea surface temperature, and Antarctic research stations.
The modern global temperature record begins around 1880 because previous observations didn't cover enough of the planet. Monthly analyses are sometimes updated when additional data becomes available, and the results are subject to change.

• August 2017 was second warmest on record, NASA's Global Climate Change, Sep 18, 2017

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Links posted on Facebook

Sun Sep 17, 2017

• What's The Effect Of So Many Wildfires On Global Warming? by Melody Edwards, Wyoming Public Media Statewide Network, Sep 15, 2017
• The Florida Keys are the canaries in the climate-change coalmine by Joanna Guthrie, Guardian, Sep 15, 2017
• Downtown Charleston is flooding more, with or without hurricanes. Here’s why by Sammy Fretwell, The State, Sep 16, 2017
• Trump may replace Obama's big climate rule — not just repeal it by Emily Holden, Politico, Sep 14, 2017
• Yes, climate change made Harvey and Irma worse by Wayne Drash, CNN, Swp 15, 2017
• Maria Threatens Leeward Islands; Jose's Surf Will Batter Northeast U.S. Beaches by Bob Henson, Category 6, Weather Underground, Sep 17, 2017
• U.S. attends meeting on Paris climate accord, still plans to withdraw by Allison Lampert, Reuters, Sep 16, 2017
• Top Trump officials signal US could stay in Paris climate agreement by Joanna Walters, Guardian, Sep 17, 2017

Mon Sep 18, 2017

• Why the wiring of our brains makes it hard to stop climate change, Op-ed by David G. Victor, Nick Obradovich & Dillon Amaya, Los Angeles Times, Sep 17, 2017
• The weather report is climate science, too by Dawn Stover, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Sep 14, 2017
• Hurricane Maria: 'Significant' strengthening likely as storm nears land by Susannah Cullinane and Holly Yan, CNN, Sep 18, 2017
• Real estate industry blocks sea-level warnings that could crimp profits on coastal properties by Stewart Leavanworth, Miami Herald, Sep 13, 2017
• The Real Unknown of Climate Change: Our Behavior by Justin Gillis, Climate, New York Times, Sep 18, 2017
• Next EPA science advisers could include those who question climate change by Chris Mooney, Energy & Environment, Washington Post, Sep 18, 2017
• Hurricane Maria packs a Category 5 punch toward Dominica by Holly Yan & Joe Sterling, CNN, Sep 18, 2017
• Scientific models saved lives from Harvey and Irma. They can from climate change too by Dana Nuccitelli, Climate Consensus - the 97%, Guardian, Sep 18, 2017

Tue Sep 19, 2017

• Press regulator censures Mail on Sunday for global warming claims by Fiona Harvey, Cimate Change, Guardian, Sep 17, 2017
• What will be in the next IPCC climate change assessment, Guest Post by Valérie Masson-Delmotte, Carbon Brief, Sep 15, 2017
• New climate change calculations could buy the Earth some time — if they’re right by Chris Mooney, Energy & Environment, Washington Post, Sep 18, 2017
• Australia's record-breaking winter beats average highs by 2C, Climate Council says by Michael McGowan, Guardian, Sep 18, 2017
• Globe sees 2nd warmest year to date, 3rd warmest August on record, National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, Sep 18, 2017
• August 2017 was second warmest on record, NASA's Global Climate Change, Sep 18, 2017
• The 2017 Hurricane Season Really Is More Intense Than Normal by Maggie Astor, New York Times, Sep 19, 2017
• Ignore Trump’s Words on Climate and the Paris Treaty — Look at What He’s Doing by Heather Hurlbut, Daily Intelligencer, New York Magazine, Sep 19, 2017

Wed Sep 20, 2017

• Justin Trudeau and Theresa May form alliance on climate battlefield by Carl Meyer, National Observer, Sep 18, 2017
• Here’s What Trump’s EPA Boss Was Up to While Disasters Struck by Rebecca Leber, Mother Jones, Sep 18, 2017
• The scariest thing about 2017’s hurricanes: They got really bad really fast by Chris Mooney, Energy & Environment, Washington Post, Sep 19, 2017
• Arctic sea ice summer minimum in 2017 is eighth lowest on record by Daisy Dunne & Robert McSweeney, Carbon Brief, Sep 20, 2017
• I’m a TV weatherman. Here's what happened when I discussed climate change on air. by Sean Sublette, Vox, Sep 19, 2017
• Deniers dismiss link between climate change, super-hurricanes as ‘idle chatter.’ It’s anything but. by Joe Romm, Think Progress, Sep 19, 2017
• Why the 1.5C warming limit is not yet a geophysical impossibility, Guest Post by Richard Millar, Carbon Brief, Sep 20, 2017
• New reports detail how to limit global warming, warn of ‘existential’ risk from not acting soon by Andy Murdock, University of California News, Sep 19, 2017

Thu Sep 21, 2017

• Climate Change Is Already Making People Sicker by Alexandra Sifferlin, Time Magazine, Sep 20, 2017
• So much for the climate change ‘hoax’ by Steven Stomberg, Washington Post, Sep 19, 2017
• How Can U.S. States Fight Climate Change if Trump Quits the Paris Accord? by Brad Plumer, Climate, New York Times, Sep 20, 2017
• Factcheck: Climate models have not ‘exaggerated’ global warming by Zeke Hausfather, Carbon Brief, Sep 21, 2017
• Theresa May speaks out against Trump climate change stance at UN by Heather Stewart, Guardian, Sep 20, 2017
• San Francisco, Oakland Sue Oil Giants Over Climate Change, InsideClimate News, Sep 20, 2017
• New Climate Study Doesn't Contradict Global Warming, No Matter What Breitbart Says by Maddie Stone Gizmodo, Sep 21, 2017
• Administration officials meet to develop climate strategy by Andrew Restuccia & Emily Holden, Politico, Sep 21, 2017

Fri Sep 22, 2017

• The World's Soaring CO2 Levels Visualized as Skyscrapers by John Metcalf, City Lab, Sep 19, 2017
• Mary Robinson on Hurricanes, Monsoons and the Human Rights of Climate Change by Pat Mitchell, Moyers & Company, Sep 21, 2017
• After the storms have passed: Rebuilding with climate change in mind, Analysis by Alice C Hill, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Sep 21, 2017
• Remembering our dear friend Andy Skuce by Dana Nuccitelli, Skeptical Science, Sep 21, 2017
• Devastated Puerto Rico Tests Fairness of Response to Climate Disasters by Phil McKenna, InsideClimate News, Sep 22, 2017
• Is there really still a chance for staying below 1.5 °C global warming? by Stefan Rahmstorf, Real Climate, Sep 22, 2017
• More Havoc as Category 3 Maria Plows Northward by Bob Henson & Jeff Masters, Category 6, Weather Underground, Sep 22, 2017
• One of the most bizarre ideas about climate change just found more evidence in its favor by Chris Mooney, Energy & Environment, Washington Post, Sep 19, 2017

Sat Sep 23, 2017

• Who Should Pay for Damage Associated With Climate Change – and Who Should Be Compensated? by June Javelosa, Earth & Energy, Futurism, Sep 21, 2017
• Human frontiers: How much heat can the body and mind take? by Zoe Tabary, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Sep 22, 2017
• Bureau of Meteorology attacks pushed by 'fever swamp' of climate denial by Graham Readfearn, Planet Oz, Guardian, Sep 21, 2017
• German election 2017: Where the parties stand on energy and climate change by Jocelyn Timperley, Carbon Brief, Sep 21, 2017
• New research, September 11-17, 2017 by Ari Jokimäki, Skeptical Science, Sep 22, 2017
• Next-generation models revealing climate change effect on hurricanes by Richard Gray, Horizon, Sep 22, 2017

from Skeptical Science via IFTTT

The European Academies’ Science Advisory Council’s verdict on homeopathy

The European Academies Science Advisory Council (EASAC) is an umbrella organization representing 29 national and international scientific academies in Europe, including the Royal Society (UK) and Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. One of its aims is to influence policy and regulations across the European Union. Now, the EASAC has issued an important and long-awaited verdict on homeopathy […]

Read the rest here: The European Academies’ Science Advisory Council’s verdict on homeopathy

A $ 200 million donation to medical research is a good thing… or isn’t it?

It has been announced that Susan and Henry Samueli have given US$ 200 million to medical research at the University of California, Irvine (UCI). Surely this is a generous and most laudable gift! How could anyone doubt it?

As with any gift, one ought to ask what precisely it is for. If someone made a […]

Read the rest here: A $ 200 million donation to medical research is a good thing… or isn’t it?

Gwyneth Paltrow and GOOP are empowering women with psychic vampire repellent | Dr. Jen Gunter

Gwyneth Paltrow and the team at GOOP launched their artisanal, coffee table paywall today.  In the magazine we are treated to GP’s view on health, meaning nasty old doctors with board certifications should stop asking questions and women should just empower themselves with cleanses and detoxes. It doesn’t matter, you see, that science says these things are at best worthless and at worst harmful. I mean bowel perforation? Whatever. Gwyneth wants us to know that she has even studied up and is ready for smart aleck retorts about the liver and kidneys from doctors, biologists, and anyone who has completed 5th grade science because yes, yes my precious that was before we had flame retardants. You see flame retardants and PCBS and heavy metals can only be removed with expensive ingredients, special doctors, and a tube up the ass irrigating your colon. Why would you go to a board certified toxicologist if you suspected some kind of chemical poisoning when there is lemon juice, cayenne pepper, silicone tubing, foam rolling, and infrared saunas?

Read the full post, magnificently laced with Olympic-grade snark: Gwyneth Paltrow and GOOP are empowering women with psychic vampire repellent | Dr. Jen Gunter

Probiotics reverse colon cancer… no, no, no! … I was just kidding

Researchers from Texas have recently shown that the administration of hdc+Lactobacillus reuteri in the gut resulted in luminal hdc gene expression and histamine production in the intestines of Hdc-/- mice. 

Would you conclude from this result that human colon cancer can be reversed or prevented by consuming probiotics?

Probably not!

You would need to be […]

Read the rest here: Probiotics reverse colon cancer… no, no, no! … I was just kidding

AVN now trying to access private information about nursing home deaths | reasonable hank

Stop the Australian (Anti)Vaccination Network was basically founded because of the callous antivax opportunism of Australian Vaccination-skeptics Network founder and current committee member, Meryl Dorey.

Back in March 2009, Dorey contacted the then-head of North Coast Area Health Service’s public health unit, Paul Corben, contending that baby Dana McCaffery did not die from whooping cough – she did – and sought access to confidential medical information surrounding Dana’s death. From Toni McCaffery (Dana’s mum)...

Read on: AVN now trying to access private information about nursing home deaths | reasonable hank

Gwyneth Paltrow versus true autonomy

The term autonomy in relation to health care decision-making has recently been used by Gwyneth Paltrow as a defense for the wellness advice offered on her website goop. Paltrow says when doctors, scientists and reporters point out that her claims are biologically implausible, untested and potentially harmful that they are robbing women of their autonomy. That assertion couldn’t be more wrong...

Gwyneth Paltrow versus true autonomy

Insomnia? Avoid alternative therapies!

Insomnia is a ‘gold standard’ indication for alternative therapies of all types. In fact, it is difficult to find a single of these treatments that are not being touted for this indication. Consequently, it has become a nice little earner for alternative therapists (hence ‘gold standard’).

But how good is the evidence suggesting that any […]

Read the rest here: Insomnia? Avoid alternative therapies!

2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #37

Story of the Week... El Niño/La Niña Update... Toon of the Week... Quote of the Week... SkS in the News... Coming Soon on SkS... Poster of the Week... Climate Feedback Reviews... SkS Week in Review... 97 Hours of Consensus...

Story of the Week...

The Window Is Closing to Avoid Dangerous Global Warming

 

Credit: David McNew Getty Images 

Deadly climate change could threaten most of the world's human population by the end of this century without efforts well beyond those captured in the Paris Agreement.

That's the finding of a pair of related reports released yesterday by an international group of climate science and policy luminaries who warned that the window is closing to avert dangerous warming. They say carbon dioxide might have to be removed from the atmosphere.

Scientists Yangyang Xu and Veerabhadran Ramanathan found in a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) that there already exists a 1 in 20 chance that the 2.2 trillion tons of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere could cause an existential warming threat. This "fat tail" scenario would mean the world experiences "existential/unknown" warming by 2100 — defined in the report as more than 5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels.

The Window Is Closing to Avoid Dangerous Global Warming by Jean Chemnick, ClimateWire/Scientific American, Sep 15, 2017

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El Niño/La Niña Update

La Niña is now increasingly possible in the next few months, according to a new reportreleased by NOAA, and may have some impacts on weather in the United States in the fall and winter.

La Niña May Develop By Fall or Winter, NOAA Says; Here's What That Could Mean by Jonathan Erdman, Sep 13, 2017 

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Toon of the Week...

 

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Quote of the Week...

That is one reason many scientists maintain it is critical to use the megaphone that the dual devastation of Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma has provided. People, they note, are finally paying attention.

“We know that as humans, we are all too good at pretending like a risk, even one we know is real, doesn’t matter to us,” Katharine Hayhoe, an atmospheric scientist at Texas Tech University, wrote in an email as Harvey lashed the Texas coast.

“When we try to warn people about the risks, there’s no ‘news’ hook. No one wants to listen. That’s why the time to talk about it is now,” Dr. Hayhoe said. “The most pernicious and dangerous myth we’ve bought into when it comes to climate change is not the myth that it isn’t real or humans aren’t responsible. It’s the myth that it doesn’t matter to me. And that is exactly the myth that Harvey shatters.”

Hurricane Irma Linked to Climate Change? For Some, a Very ‘Insensitive’ Question. by Lisa Friedman, Climate, New York Times, Sep 11, 2017 

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SkS in the News...

In her Washington Post Right Turn Op-ed, Will Harvey and Irma be a wake-up call?, Jennifer Rubin wrote:

And yet Republicans from Texas (both U.S. senators and a slew of congressmen), Florida (most especially Gov. Rick Scott and Sen. Marco Rubio), Alabama and Louisiana, among other locales, refuse to acknowledge the clear cause of rising sea levels and temperatures that add to the destructiveness of hurricanes that devastate their states. The GOP pols like to dodge the question by saying they are not climate scientists — and then refuse to accept the findings of 97 percent of the scientific community. Bluntly put, they’d rather cling to their know-nothingism than take steps to abate a known danger to their states. How is that any different from refusing to build levees and pumps or update building standards? (Of course, the climate-change denier in chief did cancel a flood regulation that took account of global warming, something he should be asked about when he goes for his next photo op.) 

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Coming Soon on SkS...

• Scientific models saved lives from Harvey and Irma. They can from climate change too (Dana)
• Australia's Transition to Renewable Energy (Agnostic)
• New research, September 4-10, 2017 (Ari Jokimäki)
• Guest Post (John Abraham)
• Why the 97% climate consensus is important (Dana, John Cook, Sander van der Linden, Ed Maibach, Tony Lieserowitz)
• 2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #38 (John Hartz)
• 2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Waming Digest #38 (John Hartz)

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Poster of the Week...

 

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Climate Feedback Reviews...

Climate Feedback asked its network of scientists to review the article, Has Climate Change Intensified 2017’s Western Wildfires? by Robinson Meyer, The Atlantic, Sep 7, 2017.

Three scientists analyzed the article and estimate its overall scientific credibility to be ‘very high’.

A majority of reviewers tagged the article as: Accurate, Insightful, Sound reasoning

Review Summary

This story in The Atlantic describes the conditions that have contributed to this year’s widespread wildfires in the western United States, including the influence of a changing climate.

Scientists who reviewed the story found that it was an accurate summary of the factors involved in this fire season—warm temperatures as well as past fire-suppression practices that have increased the density of fuel available for fires to burn. 

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SkS Week in Review... 

• 2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #37 by John Hartz
• New research, September 4-10, 2017 by Ari Jokimäki
• Global weirding with Katharine Hayhoe: Natural Cycles, Video by KTTZ Texas Tech Public Media 
• Video: The Path Post-Paris by Peter Sinclair (Climste Denial Crock of the Week)
• Trump promised to hire the best people. He keeps hiring the worst. Nasa is next by Dana Nucitelli (Climate Consensus - the 97%, Guardian) 
• New research, August 28 - September 3, 2017 by Ari Jokimäki
• 2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #36 by John Hartz

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97 Hours of Consensus...

 

 

Julienne Stroeve's bio page & Quote source 

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2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #37

A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook page during the past week. 

Editor's Pick

Asia's glaciers to shrink by a third by 2100, threatening water supply of millions

High mountains of Asia hold biggest store of frozen water outside the poles and feed many of the world’s great rivers, including the Ganges

The Asian high mountains are already warming more rapidly than the global average. Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo

Asia’s mountain glaciers will lose at least a third of their mass through global warming by the century’s end, with dire consequences for millions of people who rely on them for fresh water, researchers have said.

This is a best-case scenario, based on the assumption that the world manages to limit average global warming to 1.5C (2.7F) over pre-industrial levels, a team wrote in the journal Nature.
“To meet the 1.5C target will be a task of unprecedented difficulty,” the researchers said, “and even then, 36% (give or take 7%) of the ice mass in the high mountains of Asia is projected to be lost” by 2100.
With warming of 3.5C, 4C and 6C respectively, Asian glacier losses could amount to 49%, 51% or 65% by the end of the century, according to the team’s modelling study.
Asia's glaciers to shrink by a third by 2100, threatening water supply of millions, Agence France-Presse/Guardian, Sep 13, 2017

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Links posted on Facebook

Sun Sep 10, 2017

• Heat stress escalates in cities under global warming by Larry O’Hanlon, GeoSpace, AGU Blogosphere, Sep 7, 2017
• Another Way Climate Change Might Make Hurricanes Worse by Faye Flam, Bloomberg News, Sep 8, 2017
• Will Irma Finally Change the Way We Talk About Climate? by David Wallace-Wells, Daily Intelligencer, New York Magazine, Sep 9, 2017
• Irma Slams the Keys; Florida’s Southwest Coast at Risk of Major Storm Surge by Bob Henson, Category 6, Weather Underground, Sep 10, 2017
• Irma and Harvey lay the costs of climate change denial at Trump’s door by Bob Ward, The Observer/Guardian, Sep 9, 2017
• The Houston Flooding Pushed the Earth's Crust Down 2 Centimeters by Alexis C. Madrigal, The Atlantic, Sep 5, 2017
• Why a Hurricane Like Irma Poses a Particular Challenge to Florida by Russell Berman, The Atlantic, Sep 10, 2017
• Trump's Anti-Climate Budget Would Be Disaster for Combating Future Disasters by Julia Conley, Common Dreams, Sep 8, 2017

Mon Sep 11, 2017

• Cartagena struggles to get pioneering climate plan into action by Fabiola Ortiz, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Sep 8, 2017
• Teachers dig in to teach climate change by Karin Kirk, Yale Climate Connections, Sep 7, 2017
• Hurricane Irma Crashes Across Northern Cuba (30 photos) by Alan Taylor, The Atlantic, Sep 10, 2017
• Hurricane Irma Linked to Climate Change? For Some, a Very ‘Insensitive’ Question. by Lisa Friedman, Climate, New York Times, Sep 11, 2017
• Wetlands discovery opens new doors for Australian climate research by Tony Moore, Sydney Morning Herald, Sep 11, 2017
• Pope says humanity will 'go down' if it does not address climate change by Philip Pullella, Reuters, Sep 11, 2017
• Four little discussed ways that climate change could make hurricanes even worse by Chris Mooney, Energy & Environment, Washington Post, Sep 11, 2017
• Hurricanes Irma, Harvey Damages Will Hit U.S. Taxpayers Hard  by Georgina Gustin, InsideClimate News, Sep 11, 2017

Tue Sep 13, 2017

• Global fingerprints of sea-level rise revealed by satellites by Rachael Lallensack, Nature, Sep 11, 2017
• How Much Did These 90 Companies Add to Global Warming and Sea Level Rise? by Nicholas Kusnetz, InsideClimate News, Sep 11, 2017
• How global warming could push hurricanes to new regions by Bob Berwyn, Pacific Standard, Sep 11, 2017
• Hundreds of thousands could be evacuated as ‘giant’ typhoon set to hit southeastern China this week by Stephen Chen, South China Morning Post, Sep 11, 2017
• Area sees 'incredible' flooding as Irma pounds Charleston, coastal South Carolina by Tony Bartelme, Post & Courier, Sep 11, 2017
• Trump promised to hire the best people. He keeps hiring the worst. Nasa is next by Dana Nuccitelli, Climate Consensus - the 97%, Guardian, Sep 12, 2017
• 'I Don't Expect The Season To Be Done': A Hurricane Expert On What's Still To Come by Kate Wheeling, Pacific Standard, Sep 12, 2017
• Wildfires continue to wreak havoc across the West by Melissa Etehad, Los Angeles Times, Sep 12, 2017

Wed Sep 14, 2017

• On The Road To Extinction, Maybe It's Not All About Us by Elizabeth West, Common Dreams, Sep 12, 2017
• Alert: Nature, on the Verge of Bankruptcy by Baher Kamal, Inter Press Service (IPS), Sep 12, 2017
• Irma Won’t “Wake Up” Climate Change-Denying Republicans. Their Whole Ideology Is On The Line. by Naomi Klein, The Intercept, Sep 11, 2017
• Hurricane Jose's strange path may bring it back toward the Bahamas and US by Brandon Miller & Eric Levenson, CNN, Sep 13, 2017
• Scientists say damage to Florida’s coral reef has made the state more vulnerable to storm surges by Chelsea Harvey, Energy & Environment, Washington Post, Sep 12, 2017
• Battered by cyclone, Philippines suffers flooding, landslides by Enrico dela Cruz & Dondi Tawatao, Reuters, Sep 12, 2017
• Houston Officials Hope Harvey Convinces Congress to Fund Coastal Barrier by Kiah Collier & Neena Satija, The Texas Tribune/Pro Publica, Sep 12, 2017
• Rethinking the ‘Infrastructure’ Discussion Amid a Blitz of Hurricanes by Andrew Revkin, ProPublica, Sep 13, 2017

Thu Sep 15, 2017

• Amazonian locals key to saving 'lungs of the planet' says study by Chris Arsenault, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Sep 12, 2017 
• Global warming poses grave threat to the Himalayas, Republica, Sep 12, 2017
• The Rocky Mountains' Largest Glaciers Are Melting with Little Fanfare by Benjamin Storrow, E&E News/Scientific American, Sep 13, 2017
• Asia's glaciers to shrink by a third by 2100, threatening water supply of millions, Agence France-Presse/Guardian, Sep 13, 2017
• Limiting global warming to 1.5C could save two-thirds of Asia’s glacier ice by Daisy Dunne, Carbon Brief, Sep 13, 2017
• Harrowing Storms May Move Climate Debate, if Not G.O.P. Leaders by Alexander Burns, New York Times, Sep 14, 2017
• Pope Calls Out Climate Deniers in Wake of Hurricane Irma, Harvey by Marianne Lavelle, InsideClimate News, Sep 12, 2017
• Taking the Long View: The ‘Forever Legacy’ of Climate Change by Rob Wilder & Dan Kammen, Yale Environment 360, Sep 12, 2017

Fri Sep 16, 2017

• Fisheries in Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific – Immense Opportunities, Critical Challenges by Viwanou Gnassounou, Inter Pres Service (IPS), Sep 13, 2017
• New research, August 28 - September 3, 2017 by Ari Jokimäki, Skeptical Science, Sep 11, 2017
• Swells and Rough Surf from Jose Heading to U.S. East Coast by Bob Henson, Weather Underground, Sep 14, 2017
• Massive jump in solar energy roll-out means scarcity fears unfounded: council by Peter Hannam, Sydney Morning Herald, Sep 14, 2017
• The cost of coastal capitalism: How greedy developers left Miami ripe for destruction by Andrew W. Kahrl, Washington Post, Sep 12, 2017
• U.S. House Votes to Block Climate Rules, Using Critical Budget Bill by Georgina Gustin, InsideClimate News, Sep 13, 2017
• Much more climate finance now! by Anis Chowdhury & Jomo Kwame Sundaram, Inter Press Service (IPS), Sep 12, 2017
• Geothermal energy: Why hasn't it caught on yet? by Dave Keating, Deutsche Welle (DW), Sep 13, 2017

Sat Sep 17, 2017

• The world’s largest car market just announced an imminent end to gas and diesel cars by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Sep 13, 2017
• Scripps says climate change may represent "existential" threat to humanity by Gary Robbins, San Diego Union-Tribune, Sep 14, 2017
• The growing debate about the Arctic’s influence on hurricanes by Chelsea Harvey, Enrgy & Environment, Washington Post, Sep 15, 2017
• Cost of fighting U.S. wildfires topped $2 billion in 2017 by Laura Zuckerman, Reuters, Sep 14, 2017

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Acupuncture-promotion masquarading as research

The goal of this study was to assess clinical outcomes observed among adult patients who received acupuncture treatments at a United States Air Force medical center. 

This retrospective chart review was performed at the Nellis Family Medicine Residency in the Mike O’Callaghan Military Medical Center at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, NV. The […]

Read the rest here: Acupuncture-promotion masquarading as research

Lynne McTaggart and world peace – something to worry about!!!

Yesterday, I received this email from my favourite source of misleading information.

Here it is:  

Dear Friend,   
We wanted to tell you about an unprecedented event that you won’t want to miss: the world’s largest Peace Intention Experiment that’s ever been conducted, webcast FREE on GAIA TV from September 30-October 5. It’s being hosted […]

Read the rest here: Lynne McTaggart and world peace – something to worry about!!!

Do moon phases affect our health?

A sizable proportion of the general population is convinced that certain moon phases and moon signs may impact their health as well as the onset and clinical course of diseases. Those who believe in alternative medicine tend, I guess, to belong to this group. Here is a quote from one of the many websites making […]

Read the rest here: Do moon phases affect our health?

Homeopathy: who needs science when we have the wisdom of politicians?

Politics, politicians and medicine has always been an intriguing mix, particularly when it comes to homeopathy (see for instance here and here).

A recent article in the ‘Navhind Times’ is an excellent reminder of this fact.

Here are a few excerpts:
… Town and Country Planning Minister Vijai Sardesai, on Saturday, appealed to the homeopaths  […]

Read the rest here: Homeopathy: who needs science when we have the wisdom of politicians?

American Loon #1894: G. Gordon Liddy

Although he is mostly a ridiculous and toothless source of hilarity these days, George Gordon Battle Liddy is something of a legend, and certainly deserves an entry. Liddy is a conservative talk radio host, ex-convict and disbarred lawyer, but used to be a an FBI agent, operative in Nixon’s 1972 election campaign, and was one of the Watergate “plumbers”...

Read the full lunacy: #1894: G. Gordon Liddy Encyclopedia of American Loons

2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #36

A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook page during the past week. 

Editor's Pick

6 Questions on Hurricane Irma, Harvey and Climate Change

Hurricane Irma, a Category 5 storm, barrels toward the Florida coast on Sept. 7, 2017. 

Credit: NOAA GOES Project via Getty Images

A third of the way into the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season, NOAA looked at the ocean and air temperatures and issued an ominous new forecast: the region would likely experience "an above normal hurricane season" that "could be extremely active," with more named storms than previously expected—14 to 19 this season—and two to five major hurricanes.

Now, halfway through the season, Hurricane Harvey's destruction stretches along the Texas coast, and Hurricane Irma looks likely to make landfall in Florida after causing mass destruction in the Caribbean. Just a few days behind Irma, Hurricane Jose appears to be following the same deadly path, while Hurricane Katia churns off Mexico's eastern coast.

As global temperatures continue to rise, climate scientists have said this is what we should expect—more huge storms, with drastic impacts.

Though scientists are still wrestling with some of the specifics of how climate change is impacting hurricanes, a lot is known, including the fact that hurricane seasons like this one could be the new norm.

6 Questions About Hurricane Irma, Harvey and Climate Change by Sabrina Shankman, InsideClimate News, Sep 6, 2017

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Links posted on Facebook

Sun Sep 3, 2017

• Tony Abbott to address London climate sceptic group by Karl Mathiesen, Climate Home, Sep 1, 2017 
• Climate change ‘could double’ the number of droughts in Jordan by 2100 by Daisy Dunne, Carbon Brief, Aug 30, 2017 
• We Don’t Deny Harvey, So Why Deny Climate Change?, Opinion by Nicholas Kristof, Sunday Review, New York Times, Sep 2, 2017 
• The Strange Future Hurricane Harvey Portends by Peter Brannen, The Atlantic, Aug 31, 2017 
• Heat, Smoke, and Fire Assault Western States: All-Time Record Heat in California by Bob Henson, Category 6, Weather Underground, Sep 3, 2017 
• Worst floods to hit South Asia in decade expose lack of monsoon planning by Rupam Jain & Tommy Wilkes, Reuters, Sep 1, 2017 
• What Hurricane Harvey says about risk, climate and resilience by Andrew Dressler, Daniel Cohan & Katharine Hayhoe. The Conversation US, Sep 1, 2017 
• Australia has hottest winter on record as climate change drives long-term warming trend by Fiona Keating, The Independent, Sep 2, 2017

Mon Sep 4, 2017

• How the Greenland ice sheet fared in 2017, Guest Post by Ruth Mottram, Peter Langen & Martin Stendel, Carbon Brief, Sep 1, 2017 
• NASA scientists seek to improve sea ice predictions by Maria-José Viñas, NASA's Global Climate Change, Aug 30, 2017 
• Hurricane Irma a Growing Concern For the United States; Potential Serious Threat to Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, Bahamas and Cuba, The Weather Channel, Sep 4, 2017 
• Wildfires across US West force thousands to flee their homes by Christopher Weber & Ellen Knickmeyer, AP/ABC News, Sep 4, 2017 
• Insurance industry prices warming into Hurricane Harvey cost by Fiona Harvey & Jonathan Watts, Guardian, Sep 1, 2017 
• It's Not Going To Be All Right’ by Annie Snider, Politico Magazine, Sep 1, 2017 
• Threat Increasing for Cuba, Florida from Intensifying Irma by Bob Henson, Category 6, Weather Underground, Sep 4, 2017 
• Smoke forces Crystal Mountain to close as fires rage in Central Washington, Oregon and British Columbia by Christine Clarridge, Seattle Times, Sep 3, 2017

Tue Sep 5, 2017

• Climate change increasing the intensity and impact of extreme weather, BOM tells emergency managers by Ben Deacon & Kate Doyle, ABC News, Sep 4, 2017 
• California’s past and coming superstorm: Flooding that will make Harvey a dim memory by Paul Rosenberg, Salon, Sep 3, 2017 
• Three things we just learned about climate change and big storms: Can the lessons of Harvey save us? by Paul Rosenberg, Salon, Sep 4, 2017 
• Denying Hurricane Harvey’s climate links only worsens future suffering by Dana Nuccitelli, Climate Consensus - the 97%, Guardian, Sep 5, 2017 
• Irma, Harvey reveal ‘massive national security risks’, Commentary by Sherri Goodman, CNBC. Sep 5, 2017 
• Harvey and climate change: why it won't change minds by Amy Harder, Axios, Sep 5, 2017 
• Category 5 Irma the 5th Strongest Atlantic Hurricane on Record by Jeff Masters, Category 6, Weather Underground, Sep 4, 2017 
• Hurricane Harvey's aftermath could see pioneering climate lawsuits, Analysis by Sebastien Malo, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Sep 5, 2017

Wed Sep 6, 2017

• On Climate, Hurricanes, And Growth by Joseph Majkut, Niskanen Center, Aug 31, 2017 
• Hurricane Harvey is a billion-dollar disaster – America's 10th in 2017 by Joanna Walters, Guardian, Sep 1, 2017 
• EPA now requires political aide’s sign-off for agency awards, grant applications by Juliet Eilperin, Politics, Washington Post, Sep 4, 2017 
• A two-decade crusade by conservative charities fueled Trump’s exit from Paris climate accord by Robert O'Harrow Jr, Investigations. Washington Post, Sep 5, 2017 
• First Harvey, now Irma. Why are so many hurricanes hitting the U.S.? by Nisikan Akpan, PBS News Hour, Sep 6, 2017 
• Potent Mix of Record Heat and Dryness Fuels Wildfires Across the West by Georgina Gustin, InsideClimate News, Sep 5, 2017 
• How do hurricanes form? A step-by-step guide. by Brad Plumer & Ruairí Arrieta-Kenna, Science & Health, Vox, Sep 6, 2017 
• Tropical Storm Katia Has Formed Near Tampico, Mexico; Heavy Rain Threat for Eastern Mexico by Jonathan Belles, Weather Underground, Sep 6, 2017

Thu Sep 7, 2017

• Melting permafrost in the Arctic is unlocking diseases and warping the landscape by Brian Resnick, Energy & Environment, Vox, Sep 6, 2017 
• Twin megastorms have scientists fearing this may be the new normal by Jonathan Watts, Guardian, Sep 6, 2017 
• Hurricane Irma makes landfall in Caribbean with Florida at center of projected path by Carli Teproff And Jenny Staletovich, Miami Herald, Sep 7, 2017 
• Mars counters Trump's climate stance wcvith $1bn sustainability plan, Press Association/Guardian, Sep 6, 2017 
• Climate change could drive a third of parasites to extinction by 2070 by Daisy Dunne, Carbon Brief, Sep 6, 2017 
• The science behind the U.S.’s strange hurricane ‘drought’ — and its sudden end by Chris Mooney, Energy & Environment, Washington Post, Sep 7, 2017 
• Climate Change Denial Should Be A Crime by Brian Merchant, The Outline, Sep 1, 2017 
• Hurricane Irma is one of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes ever: what we know by Brian Resnick, Science & Health, Vox, Sep 7, 2017

Fri Sep 9, 2017

• Europe, New Border of Africa’s ‘Great Desert’ – The Sahara by Baher Kamal, Inter Press Service (IPS), Sep 5, 2017 
• Thousands hit by malaria, dengue as S.Asia's worst floods in a decade recede by Mohi Narayan, Reuters, Sep 6, 2017 
• 6 Questions About Hurricane Irma, Harvey and Climate Change by Sabrina Shankman, InsideClimate News, Sep 6, 2017 
• President Trump, hurricanes Harvey and Irma are sending you a message, Opinion by Andrés Oppenheimer, Miami Herald, Sep 7, 2017 
• The unprecedented drought that's crippling Montana and North Dakota by Kathleen McLaughlin, Guardian, Sep 7, 2017 
• Wildfires ravaging the Western U.S. as smoke sprawls across the nation by John Hopewell, Capital Weather Gang, Washington Post, Sep 6, 2017 
• Tropical triple threat: Hurricanes Jose and Katia could join Irma striking land this weekend by Jason Samenow & Brian McNoldy, Capital Weather Gang, Washington Post, Sep 8, 2017 
• What We Know about the Climate Change–Hurricane Connection by Michael E. Mann, Thomas C. Peterson & Susan Joy Hassol, Scientific American, Sep 8, 2017

Sat Sep 10, 2017

• India to move 15 flood-prone villages to higher ground to mitigate impact by Rina Chandran, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Sep 8, 2017 
• As Hurricanes Irma and Harvey Slam the U.S., Climate Deniers Remain Steadfast by Marianne Lavelle, InsideClimate News, Sep 8, 2017 
• Ask the Experts: How Did 2 Such Powerful Hurricanes Occur Back to Back? by Annie Sneed, Scientific American, Sep 7, 2017 
• It Doesn’t Matter if Climate Change Caused Irma and Harvey by Susan Matthews, Slate, Sep 8, 2017 
• Has the UN Climate Assessment Process Become Obsolete? by Peter Fairly, InsideClimate News, Sep 8, 2017 
• Deploying the science of extreme weather attribution in the courts, Guest Post by Sophie Marjanac & Lindene Patton, Carbon Brief, Sep 8, 2017

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