2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #52

Happy New Year!... Story of the Week... Analysis of the Week... Toon of the Week... Quote of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Poster of the Week...  SkS Week in Review... 97 Hours of Consensus...

Happy New Year!

 

Happy New Year from the all-volunteer, SkS author team!

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Story of the Week...

How We Know It Was Climate Change

 

Flooding south of Houston in September in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. Credit Barbara Davidson for The New York Times

This was a year of devastating weather, including historic hurricanes and wildfires here in the United States. Did climate change play a role? Increasingly, scientists are able to answer that question — and increasingly, the answer is yes.

My lab recently published a new framework for examining connections between global warming and extreme events. Other scientists are doing similar research. How would we go about testing whether global warming has influenced the events that occurred this year?

Consider Hurricane Harvey, which caused enormous destruction along the Gulf Coast; it will cost an estimated $180 billion to recover from the hurricane’s storm surge, high winds and record-setting precipitation and flooding. Did global warming contribute to this disaster?

The word “contribute” is key. This doesn’t mean that without global warming, there wouldn’t have been a hurricane. Rather, the question is whether changes in the climate raised the odds of producing extreme conditions. 

How We Know It Was Climate Change, Opinion by Noah S Diffenbach, Sunday Review, New York Times, Dec 29, 2017

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Analysis of the Week...

The President Doesn't Care to Understand Global Warming

President Trump departs for holiday travel to his Mar-a-Lago estate on Friday, December 22

In the first novel ever written about Sherlock Homes, we learn something peculiar about the London detective. Holmes, supposedly a modern man and a keen expert in the workings of the world, does not know how the solar system works. Specifically he is unfamiliar with the heliocentric Copernican model, which, upon its slow acceptance in the 17th century, revolutionized Western thought about the place of our species in the universe.

“What the deuce is it to me?” Holmes asks his sputtering soon-to-be sidekick, Dr. Watson. “You say that we go ’round the sun. If we went round the moon it would not make a pennyworth of difference to me or to my work.”

Brains are a kind of “little empty attic,” says the detective, and they should be filled only with furniture that’s useful to one’s line of work. Holmes doesn’t doubt the Copernican model; he simply has no use for it in solving murder cases. “Now that I do know it,” he adds, “I shall do my best to forget it.”

Thursday night, as record lows gripped most of the country’s northern half, President Trump clarified that he does not understand another revolution in our knowledge of the natural order of things: the theory of human-driven climate change.

The President Doesn't Care to Understand Global Warming by Robinson Meyer, The Atlantic, Dec 29, 2017 

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Toon of the Week...

 

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Quote of the Week...

I like to think of the Earth’s climate like a heavy train. A train cannot stop quickly; the brakes have to be applied far ahead of an obstacle. The ocean is our “climate train.”

US government climate report looks at how the oceans are buffering climate change by John Abraham, Climate Consensus - the 97%, Guardian, Dec 26, 2017 

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Coming Soon on SkS...

• On its hundredth birthday in 1959, Edward Teller warned the oil industry about global warming' (Ben Franta)
• 2017 was the hottest year on record without an El Niño, thanks to global warming (Dana)
• SkS Year in Review (Baerbel)
• Guest Post (John Abraham)
• New research this week (Ari)
• 2018 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #1 (John Hartz)
• 2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Waming Digest #1 (John Hartz)

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Poster of the Week...

 

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SkS Week in Review... 

• 2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #52 by John Hartz
• New research, December 18-24, 2017 by Ari Jokimäki
• From the eMail Bag: Carbon Isotopes, Part 2: The Delta Notation by David Kirtley
• Fake news is a threat to humanity, but scientists may have a solution by Dana Nuccitelli (Climate Consensus - the 97%, Guardian)
• US government climate report looks at how the oceans are buffering climate change by John Abraham (Climate Consensus - the 97%, Guardian)
• Some curious things about Svensmark et al. reference list by Ari Jokimäki
• 2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #51 by John Hartz

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97 Hours of Consensus...

 

 

John Mitchell's bio page and Quote source

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What you shouldn’t put in your vagina: 2017’s greatest hits | Dr. Jen Gunter

It seemed as if the medical Internets of 2017 was at the mercy of a random vagina-woo generator. No sooner had I written an impassioned plea about why substance X shouldn’t go into the vagina I was getting tweets and Facebook messages about object Y.

I blame Gwyneth Paltrow. I mean why not, but if we are going to strive for accuracy...

What you shouldn’t put in your vagina: 2017’s greatest hits | Dr. Jen Gunter

2017 – a year in alternative medicine

At this time of the year it is customary to look back and highlight some remarkable things that occurred during the last 12 months. Here I will try to identify for each month the most important event. My choice is entirely subjective, and I invite everybody to disagree with it and add other happenings.

JANUARY
[…] Read the rest here: 2017 – a year in alternative medicine

2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #52

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

Editor's Pick

Vive la résistance: 10 ways people stood up for the planet in 2017

 

Grist / Justin Sullivan / Staff / Getty Images

One year ago, we wondered what would happen after a man who called climate change a Chinese hoax was elected president of the United States.

Certainly, 2017 will be remembered for a series of cringe-worthy political appointments, disappointing regulatory repeals, and controversial executive actions — not to mention Trump’s decision to exit the Paris Agreement. But it was also a year that birthed a new band of scrappy resisters who fought the climate-change denying, regulation-repealing powers that be.

As a result, 2017 was actually a pretty impressive year for resistance — and here are some of the efforts that led that charge: 

Vive la résistance: 10 ways people stood up for the planet in 2017 by Justine Calma, Grist, Dec 27, 2017

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Links posted on Facebook

Sun Dec 24, 2017

• Selective logging reduces biodiversity, disrupts Amazon ecosystems: study by Claire Asher, Mongabay, Dec 22, 2017
• Global Warming May Increase Volcanic Activity, Study Says by Pam Wright, Weather Underground, Dec 22, 2017
• China is methodically building the world’s most ambitious carbon market by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Dec 22, 2017
• California Wildfires: What Happens When Trump’s EPA Ignores Climate Change Science? by Jonathan Samet, Newsweek, Dec 23, 2017
• Macron Tries To Keep the Paris Agreement Alive by Eric J Lyman, Pacific Standard, Dec 19, 2017
• Climate change in Lapland: The impact of global warming in the land of Santa Claus by Josh Gabbatiss, The Independent, Dec 23, 2017
• Virtual gold may glitter, but mining bitcoin contributes to global warming, AFP-JIJI/Japan Times, Dec 24, 2017
• 2017 in news: The science events that shaped the year, Nature, Dec 18, 2017

Mon Dec 25, 2017

• How blogs convey and distort scientific information about polar bears and Arctic sea ice by Bret Verheggen, My view on climate change, Dec 22, 2017
• 2017 in Photos: Capturing the Causes and Impacts of Climate Change by Julie Dermansky, DeSmog, Dec 24, 2017
• For Exxon, a Year of Living Dangerously by David Hasemyer, InsideClimate News, Dec 22, 2017
• Piloting aviation industry through a changing climate by Daisy Simmons, Yale Climate Connections, Dec 20, 2017
• Vietnam braces for typhoon as Philippine toll rises to 230 dead by Mi Nguyen & Manuel Mogato, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Dec 25, 2017
• 2017 Was the Year of the Billion-Dollar Disaster, Climate Central, Dec 20, 2017
• Government scientists blocked from the biggest meeting in their field by Sarah Kaplan, Speaking of Science, Washington Post, Dec 22, 2017
• From hotumn to meatmares: The words that defined our planet this year by Kate Yoder, Grist, Dec 22, 2017

Tue Dec 26, 2017

• Some curious things about Svensmark et al. reference list by Ari Jokimäki, Skeptical Science, Dec 25, 2017
• New Arctic Is Same As Old Arctic — Except Without The Ice by Steve Hanley, CleanTechnica, Dec 23, 2017
• Three 2016 extremes 'not ... possible' without human warming by Bruce Lieberman, Yale Climate Connections, Dec 18, 2017
• Spades, saplings and sheep: Iceland battles to restore long-lost forests by Marcello Rossi, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Dec 25, 2017
• US government climate report looks at how the oceans are buffering climate change by John Abraham, Climate Consensus - the 97%, Guardian, Dec 26, 2017
• If you want to propound the science, try a little empathy, Opinion by Craig Cormick, Cosmos, Dec 19, 2017
• Climate Change Is Happening Faster Than Expected, and It’s More Extreme by Bob Berwyn, InsideClimate News, Dec 26, 2017
• California is powering toward its climate goals. But it only gets harder from here. by Sammy Roth, The Desert Sun, Dec 26, 2017

Wed Dec 27, 2017

• Spring foliage appearing too early in the Alps?, SWI, Dec 25, 2017
• Government starts down pathway to net zero emissionsby 2050, New Zealand Herald, Dec 19, 2017
• This year has been an unequivocal disaster for the future of the planet, Opinion by Mark Kelly, CNN, Dec 26, 2017
• The biggest climate findings in 2017 by Chelsea Harvey, E&E News, Dec 21, 2017
• With science under siege in 2017, scientists regrouped and fought back: 5 essential reads by Maggie Villiger, The Conversation US, Dec 21, 2017
• Fake news is a threat to humanity, but scientists may have a solution by Dana Nuccitelli, Climate Consensus - the 97%, Guardian, Dec 26, 2017
• Fighting climate change with bioenergy may do ‘more harm than good’ by Morgan Erickson-Davis, Mongabay, Dec 26, 2017
• Global Warming Is a Slow-moving Civilization-ending Catastrophe by Evaggelos Vallianatos, HuffPost, Dec 26, 2017

Thu Dec 28, 2017

• Paper giant and its ‘suppliers’ are essentially one and the same, investigation finds by Michael Disabato, Mongabay, Dec 26, 2017
• The 10 Most Important U.S. Climate Stories in 2017 by Abbey Dufoe, Climate Central, Dec 27, 2017
• Polar Ice Is Disappearing, Setting Off Climate Alarms by Sabrina Shankman & Bob Berwyn, InsideClimate News, Dec 27, 2017
• Rapper's Lyrics about Climate Change Are Smart, Opinion by Mark Fischetti, Observations by Scientific American, Dec 27, 2017
• Does Record Snowfall Disprove Global Warming? 'Exactly the Opposite,' Scientist Says by Lorraine Chow, Ecowatch, Dec 27, 2017
• Megadisasters devastated America this year. They’re going to get worse. by Umair Irfan & Brian Resnick, Energy & Environment, Vox, Dec 28, 2017
• Sea Level Rise Is Creeping into Coastal Cities. Saving Them Won’t Be Cheap. by Nicholas Kusnetz, InsideClimate News, Dec 28, 2017
• Trump’s Five Biggest Energy Blunders in 2017 by James Temple, MIT Technology, Dec 27, 2017

Fri Dec 29, 2017

• Renewables generated triple the power of coal in 2017, UK figures show, Press Association, Guardian, Dec 28, 2017
• How to Get Wyoming Wind to California, and Cut 80% of U.S. Carbon Emissions by James Temple, MIT Technology Review, Dec 28, 2017
• Vive la résistance: 10 ways people stood up for the planet in 2017 by Justine Calma, Grist, Dec 27, 2017
• A Response For People Using Record Cold U.S. Weather To Refute Climate Change by Marshall Sheperd, Forbes, Dec 28, 2017
• Wildfires to Hurricanes, 2017’s Year of Disasters Carried Climate Warnings by Georgina Gustin, InsideClimate News, Dec 29, 2017
• It’s Cold Outside. Cue the Trump Global Warming Tweet. by Kendra Pierre-Louis, Climate, New York Times, Dec 28, 2017
• Climate change cases predicted to make a legal splash in 2018, Analysis by Sophie Hares & Sebastien Malo, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Dec 28, 2017
• Trump tweets overshadowed these major climate stories in 2017 by Zoya Teirstein, Grist, Dec 29, 2017

Sat Dec 30, 2017

• From the eMail Bag: Carbon Isotopes, Part 2: The Delta Notation by David Kirtley, Skeptical Science, Dec 28, 2017
• New research, December 18-24, 2017 by Ari Jokimäki, Skepticl Scince, Dec 28, 2017
• How Climate Change Deniers Rise to the Top in Google Searches by Hiroko Tabuchi, Climate, New York Times, Dec 29, 2017
• The President Doesn't Care to Understand Global Warming by Robinson Meyer, the Atlantic, Dec 29, 2017
• How We Know It Was Climate Change, Opinion by Noah S Diffenbach, Sunday Review, New York Times, Dec 29, 2017
• FACTBOX-On the boil: five climate lawsuits to watch in 2018 by Sebastien Malo & Sophie Hares, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Dec 28, 2017

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Alternative medicine and disease prevention … repeating an untruth does not make it a truth

How often have we heard the claim from proponents of alternative medicine that one strength of their approach is disease prevention (see for instance my previous post or this, this and this) and that conventional medicine neglects prevention almost completely? Such claims annoy me because they are demonstrably false.

I know, to some readers, this […]

Read the rest here: Alternative medicine and disease prevention … repeating an untruth does not make it a truth

‘Homeopathy Works for the Flu’… and if Dana Ullman says so, it must be true!!!

On this blog, we are all fond of what homeopathy-guru DUllman tells us (see for instance here, here and here). It seems only fair, therefore, to show you an excerpt of his latest article, particularly as it is on the highly topical subject of the flu:

Scientific Evidence That Homeopathy Works for the Flu 

There […]

Read the rest here: ‘Homeopathy Works for the Flu’… and if Dana Ullman says so, it must be true!!!

2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #51

Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Graphic of the Week... SkS Spotlights... Coming Soon on SkS... Poster of the Week... Climate Feedback Reviews... SkS Week in Review... 97 Hours of Consensus...

Merry Christmas!

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Story of the Week...

Macron Tries To Keep the Paris Agreement Alive

There was a moment last week—as television cameras showed dozens of heads of state, business leaders, and A-list celebrities filing off a riverboat into the newly completed Seine Musicale venue in Paris' suburbs—when it seemed as though the international climate process might get the financial help it desperately needs.

In the end, the December 12th event convened by French President Emmanuel Macron to mark the two-year anniversary of the landmark Paris Agreementproduced a flurry of new announcements and initiatives that could eventually shift the world's economy onto a greener, more sustainable pathway. But the new commitments fall far short of the hundreds of billions—some say trillions—of dollars that must be mobilized in order to achieve the Paris Agreement's goals of limiting climate change and helping poor countries survive its worst effects.

The big announcements at the summit included the unveiling of the Climate Action 100+ pledge, from 225 institutional investors managing more than $26 trillion, to pressure the world's 100 largest companies to implement more environmentally sustainable policies. A total of 16 countries, including Brazil and Norway, said they would start adopting policies to make their economies carbon-neutral by mid-century. And 36 countries, including Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, jointly called for the international shipping sector to take on binding climate commitments for the first time.

Macron Tries To Keep the Paris Agreement Alive by Eric J Lyman, Pacific Standard, Dec 19, 2017

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Toon of the Week...

Hat tip to Stop Climate Science Denial

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Graphic of the Week...

Original cartoon by John Cook

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SkS Spotlights...

Climate Liability News is a not-for-profit news site dedicated to reporting on the issues at the intersection of climate change impacts and law. Those issues include government and corporate responsibility and accountability for global warming and its consequences across society and around the world. Through hard-nosed, uncompromising journalism, we seek to advance a greater understanding and wider public discussion of the role of the law in addressing the wide-ranging impacts of of climate change.

Climate Liability News is a project funded by donations to Climate Communications & Law, a new 501(c)3 nonprofit. Climate Communications & Law seeks to deepen the public’s understanding of the issue of climate change and how its impacts are being dealt with by the legal system in the United States and around the world.

The editorial content of CLN is not subject to approval or influence by CCL donors. 

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Coming Soon on SkS...

• Some curious things about Svensmark et al. reference list (Ari)
• The US government's climate report on the oceans (John Abraham)
• From the eMail Bag: Carbon Isotopes - Part 2 - The Delta Notation (David Kirtley)
• To beat 'alternative facts', scientists propose 'technocognition' (Dana)
• New research this week (Ari)
• 2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #52 (John Hartz)
• 2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Waming Digest #52 (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, Jerry Brown Blames Climate Change for California Fires: ‘The New Normal’ by Joe Pollak, Breitbart, Dec 9, 2017

Five scientists analyzed the article and estimate its overall scientific credibility to be 'very low'.

A majority of reviewers tagged the article as: Biased, Cherry-picking, Flawed reasoning, Misleading.

Review Summary 

This article in Breitbart criticizes a statement by California Governor Jerry Brown, who said that the recent dangerous fires are “the new normal” for the area. The article correctly lists a number of factors that contribute to wildfires, including weather patterns and the construction of homes in areas at risk of fire. The article represents the contribution of climate change to wildfire trends as unknown, and a matter of debate for climate scientists.

Scientists who reviewed the story found this to be misleading. The article fails to explain the ways in which climate change can clearly influence the factors that control wildfires. A number of published studies have found that climate change is an important contributing factor to wildfire behavior in the western United States.

See all the scientists’ annotations in context

Breitbart article on California fires misleads by omitting explanation of climate’s influence, Climate Feedback, Dec 19, 2017

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SkS Week in Review... 

• 2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #51 by John Hartz
• How blogs convey and distort scientific information about polar bears and Arctic sea ice by Bart Verheggen (My view on climate change)
• New research, December 11-17, 2017 by Ari Jokimäki
• Analysis: How developing nations are driving record growth in solar power by Zeke Hausfather (Carbon Brief)
• From the eMail Bag: Carbon Isotopes, Part 1: The Basics by David Kirtley
• One Planet Summit: Finance Commitments Fire-Up Higher Momentum for Paris Climate Change Agreement by UN Climate Change News
• Scientists have beaten down the best climate denial argument by Dana Nucitelli (Climate Consensus - the 97%)
• 2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #50 by John Hartz

 

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97 Hours of Consensus...

 

 

Philip Mote's bio page

Quote derived with author's permission from:

"Global warming refers to an increase in the planet's average temperature, and there's no question that that's happened over the last 100 years. Over the last 50 years, it's increasingly clear that that warming, the more recent warming, is because of human activities.And there are other associated changes with climate change, not just changes in temperature but also changes in rainfall patterns and so on that might happen." 

High resolution JPEG (1024 pixels wide)

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2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #51

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

Editor's Pick

Iceland's most trusted politician is a feminist environmentalist who is the 'antiTrump'

 

Iceland Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir meets people at a stand of her party set up at the Kringlan shopping mall in Reykjavik on Oct. 25, 2017.

Credit: Halldor Kolbeins/AFP/Getty Images 

Iceland's new prime minister is a feminist and environmentalist who is among the youngest leaders in the world. She has a degree in literature with a special interest in Icelandic crime novels. She appeared in a music video 20 years ago with an Icelandic band, Bang Gang. And she's considered Iceland's most trusted politician by numerous polls. 

Her name is Katrín Jakobsdóttir, 41, and she's a mother of three boys and comes from a family of poets and professors. Her new coalition government took power at the end of November, and it spans the political spectrum in Iceland from her Left-Green Movement to the Independence Party to the Progressive Party.

Jakobsdóttir talks with The World's host Marco Werman about everything from what it's like to lead a coalition that straddles the left-right political divide to commuting by bicycle. 

Iceland's most trusted politician is a feminist environmentalist who is the 'antiTrump' by Traci Tong, PRI, Dec 19, 2017 

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Links posted on Facebook

Sun Dec 17, 2017

• Arctic Report Card: Lowest Sea Ice on Record, 2nd Warmest Year by Sabrina Shankman, InsideClimate News, Dec 12, 2017
• An American Beach Story: When Property Rights Clash with the Rising Sea by Nicholas Kusnetz, InsideClimate News, Dec 11, 2017
• California fire: Resident says neighborhood looks like 'war zone' by Nicole Chavez, CNN, Dec 17, 2017
• Half of U.S. Spending Power Behind Paris Climate Agreement by Stepen Leahy, National Geographic, Dec 15, 2017
• In Kids’ Climate Lawsuit, Judges Question Government Effort to Get Case Dismissed by Nicholas Kusnetz, InsideClimate News, Dec 11, 2017
• Some forests aren't growing back after wildfires, research finds by Emily Chung, CBC News, Dec 12, 2017
• Cashing Out From the Climate Casino, Opinion by Bill McKibben, New York Times, Dec 15, 2017
• Uproar Over Purported Ban at C.D.C. of Words Like ‘Fetus’ by Sheila Kaplan & Donald C McNeil, New York Times, Dec 16, 2017

Mon Dec 18, 2017

• Greenland's ice sheet is driving global sea level rise. One section is melting 80% faster. by Umair Ifran, Energy & Environment, Vox, Jan 14, 2017
• World Bank invests $4.5 bln to arm cities against climate change by Sophie Hare, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Dec 14, 2017
• U.S. Military Not Doing Enough to Prepare Bases for Climate Change, GAO Warns by Nicholas Kusnetz, InsideClimate News, Dec 14, 2017
• Scientists have beaten down the best climate denial argument, by Dana Nuccitelli, Climate Consensus - the 97%, Guardian, Dec 18,207
• Electric Trucks Begin Reporting for Duty, Quietly and Without All the Fumes by Erica Gies, InsideClimate News. Dec 18, 2017
• Major Report: Some Extreme Weather Can Only Be Blamed on Humans by Annie Sneed, Sientific American, Dec 15, 2017
• The White House says climate change isn't a national security threat. The military says it is. by Umar Irfan, Energy & Environment, Vox, Dec 18, 2017

Tue Dec 19, 2017

• How To Survive Climate Change? Clues Are Buried In The Arctic by Michaeleen Doucleff, All Things Considered, NPR, Dec 17, 2017
• University of Arizona researchers make soil from scratch to fight global warming by Mikayla Mace, Arizona Daily Star, Dec 9, 2017
• China Unveils an Ambitious Plan to Curb Climate Change Emissions by Keith Bradsher & Lisa Friedman, Climate, New York Times, Dec 19, 2017
• Training for Winter Olympics 'going to become harder and harder' with global warming by Eddie Pells & John Leicester, AP/Chcago Tribune, Dec 18, 2017
• Checkmate: how do climate science deniers' predictions stack up? by Graham Readfearn, Planet OZ, Guardian, Dec 18, 2017
• BHP to exit coal alliance over climate change policy, Deutsche Welle, Dec 19, 2017
• Talking about climate change in Orwellian doublespeak doesn't make it go away, Editorial Board Opinion, Los Angeles Times, Dec 19, 2017
• Alaskan snow more than doubles due to global warming: Study, The Straits Times, Dec 19, 2017

Wed Dec 20, 2017

• November 2017 was the third warmest November on record, NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, Dec 19, 2017
• Tax Bill to Preserve Critical Credits for Wind, Solar and Electric Vehicles by Georgina Gustin, InsideClimate News, Dec 18, 2017
• Rick Perry’s fake grid crisis just got undermined by more grid experts by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Dec 18, 2017
• From the eMail Bag: Carbon Isotopes, Part 1: The Basics by David Kirtley, Skeptical Science, Dec 20, 2017
• What It’s Like Inside the Trump Administration’s Regulatory Rollback at the EPA by Talia Buford, ProPublica, Dec 18, 2017
• California sues Trump administration over global-warming gas rules by Kurtis Alexander & David R. Baker, SF Gate, Dec 19, 2017
• Scientists just presented a sweeping new estimate of how much humans have transformed the planet by Chris Mooney, Energy & Environment, Washington Post, Dec 20, 2017
• IEA says world coal demand will rise, despite slashing forecast growth in India by Simon Evans, Carbon Brief, Dec 18, 2017

Thu Dec 21, 2017

• Trump EPA pick for Chicago office cut enforcement, scrapped climate change information in Wisconsin by Michael Hawthorne, Chcago Tribune, Dec 20, 2017
• Climate change will displace millions in coming decades. Nations should prepare now to help them by Gulrez Shah Azhar, The Conversation US, Dec 18, 2017
  
• The Growing Movement to Take Polluters to Court Over Climate Change by Emily Atkin, New Republic, Dec 20, 2017
• Baked Alaska: 49th state is having an insanely warm December by Jason Samenow, Capital Weather Gang, Washington Post, Dec 19, 2017
• Jakarta Is Sinking So Fast, It Could End Up Underwater by Michael Kimmelman, New York Times, Dec 21, 2017
• Palm oil’s ecological footprint extends to distant forests, study finds by Hans Nicholas Jong, Mongabay, Dec 21, 2017
• A provocative new study says climate change will make Europe’s migrant crisis even worse by Chris Monney & Brady Dennis, Energy & Environment, Washington Post, Dec 21, 2017
• Latest California Climate Liability Lawsuit Filed by Santa Cruz by Lynn Zisner, Climate Liability News, Dec 20, 2017

Fri Dec 22, 2017

• Loss of big animals reduces forests’ carbon-storing capacity by Loren Bell, Mongabay, Dec 19, 2017
• Losing the wilderness: a 10th has gone since 1992 – and gone for good by Susan Chenery, Environment, Guardian, Dec 20, 2017
• The New Climate Watchdogs: Democratic Attorneys General Take on Trump by David Hasemyer, InsideClimate News, Dec 20, 2017
• Bioenergy ‘flaw’ under EU renewable target could raise emissions, Guest Post by John Beddinton, Carbon Brief, Dec 19, 2017
• Turnbull has politicked himself into irrelevance on energy and climate in 2018 by Alan Pears, The Conversation AU, Dec 21, 2017
• Science Teachers Respond to Climate Materials Sent by Heartland Institute by Neela Banajee & Jessica Lee, InsideClimate News, Dec 22, 2017
• Iceland's most trusted politician is a feminist environmentalist who is the 'antiTrump' by Traci Tong, PRI, Dec 19, 2017
• 2017: Carbon Brief’s end-of-year review, Carbon Brief, Dec 20, 2017

Sat Dec 23, 2017

• Were Scientists Caught Tampering with Raw Data to Exaggerate Sea Level Rise? by Alex Kasprak, Snopes, Dec 22, 2017
• The Republican Tax Bill Will Devastate Science, Opinion by Ed Perlmutter, Observations, Scientific American, Dec 22, 2017
• How Big Oil Lost Control of Its Climate Misinformation Machine by Neela Banerjee, InsideClimate News, Dec 22, 2017
• Meet the Lawyer Trying to Make Big Oil Pay for Climate Change by Geoff Dembicki, Vice, Dec 22, 2017
• Brain Drain At the EPA by Lisa Friedman, New York Times, and Marina Affo & Derek Kravitz, ProPublica, Dec. 22, 2017
• In 'defense of science,' researchers sue EPA over move to overhaul advisory boards by Sarah Kaplan & Brady Dennis, Speaking of Science, Washington Post, Dec 21, 2017

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YOUR HOMEOPATHIC ‘CHRISTMAS SURVIVAL KIT’ (plus my DIY Christmas challenge)

What better to give to you for the holidays than your very own CHRISTMAS SURVIVAL KIT? This article by Eileen Scullion, Registered Homeopath LicISH ISHom with the Irish Society of Homeopaths explains. Sadly, its recommendations lack sections detailing the evidence for the claims made. Therefore, I have taken the liberty of adding my short scientific assessments (IN BOLD […]

Read the rest here: YOUR HOMEOPATHIC ‘CHRISTMAS SURVIVAL KIT’ (plus my DIY Christmas challenge)

FDA on homeopathy: a ‘risk-based’ enforcement is on the horizon

On their  website, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recently published a statement on homeopathy which, I think, is important enough to get cited extensively:

… Food and Drug Administration proposed a new, risk-based enforcement approach to drug products labeled as homeopathic. To protect consumers who choose to use homeopathic products, this proposed […]

Read the rest here: FDA on homeopathy: a ‘risk-based’ enforcement is on the horizon

Electrohomeopathy … endangering lives since almost 200 years

Electrohomeopathy is a version of homeopathy few people know about. Allow me to explain:

Cesare Mattei (1809–1896), an Italian count, was interested in homeopathy. Mattei believed that fermented plants gave off ‘electrical’ energy that could be used to cure illness. He also believed that every illness had a cure provided in the vegetable kingdom by […]

Read the rest here: Electrohomeopathy … endangering lives since almost 200 years

Possibly the weirdest alternative therapy of them all: placentophagy

Placentophagy is the act of eating the placenta after childbirth. It seems to be advocated widely. But why would anyone even think of doing such a weird thing?

According to Wikipedia, the placenta contains high levels of prostaglandin. Prostaglandin stimulates involution (an inward curvature or penetration, or, a shrinking or return to a former size) […]

Read the rest here: Possibly the weirdest alternative therapy of them all: placentophagy

2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #50

Story of the Week... Editorial of the Week... Toon of the Week... Graphic of the Week... Photo of the Week... SkS Spotlights... Reports of Note... Coming Soon on SkS... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... 97 Hours of Consensus...

Story of the Week...

Here’s what’s at stake for the 21 kids suing the Trump administration over climate change

Arguments before the Ninth Circuit will decide whether the case goes to trial.

 

(Credit: Our Cchildren's Trust)

On Monday (Dec 11), a group of 21 youth plaintiffs currently suing the federal government over climate change will go before a federal court to argue that their case — which legal experts have classified as a groundbreaking piece of climate litigation — should be allowed to proceed to trial.

On the other side of the court will be lawyers for the Trump administration, who will argue that the mere process of preparing for trial — sifting through decades of government documents and communication with fossil fuel companies, among other things — would constitute an overwhelming burden. 

Ultimately, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will decide whether the case can move forward to trial — a decision that could shape the future of climate litigation for years to come. 

Here’s what’s at stake for the 21 kids suing the Trump administration over climate change by Natasha Geiling, Think Progress, Dec 11, 2017

Also see:

In Kids’ Climate Lawsuit, Judges Question Government Effort to Get Case Dismissed by Nicholas Kusnetz, InsideClimate News, Dec 11, 2017

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Editorial of the Week...

 

Photo: Christophe Morin, Bloomberg

Lars Lokke Rasmussen, Denmark's prime minister, left, and Jerry Brown, governor of California, arrive at the One Planet Summit in Paris, France, on Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017. French President Emmanuel Macron hosts at least four world leaders, three mayors and the governor of California at an event in Paris on Tuesday aimed at breathing life into the global fight against climate change.

Though the Trump White House ignores climate change, the rest of the world isn’t neglecting the doomsday issue. A top-level gathering of global leaders in Paris is pushing ahead with plans to cool temperatures and shift economies at a hurry-up pace.

The meeting amounted to a two-fold jab at the White House. Everyone else is on board with an ambitious bid to cut weather-disrupting temperatures and switching to clean fuels. And, by the way, Trump is standing far outside the global mainstream on a turning point issue. To rub it in, France’s president and host adopted a not-so-subtle slogan: “Make Our Planet Great Again.”

For the record, the White House wasn’t invited. That rebuke was earned by the president’s decision to drop out of an international agreement reached in Paris two years ago to set goals and find the money to reduce the undeniable harm of rising atmospheric temperatures.

A global push on climate change thrives without Trump, Editorial Board Opinion, San Francisco Chronicle, Dec 15, 2017

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Toon of the Week...

 

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Graphic of the Week...

 

As the world warms, the overall area of North America covered by snow is decreasing. One reason is because an increasing percentage of winter precipitation is falling as rain instead of snow in many locations. A Climate Central report found that between sea level and 5,000 feet in elevation across the Western U.S., a smaller percentage of winter precipitation is falling as snow.

However, the relationship is more complex at each local level. Rising temperatures can cause some individual storms to produce more snow, where temperatures are still well enough below freezing. That’s because for every 1°F rise in temperature, the atmosphere can hold 4 percent more water vapor. In turn, more water is available to fall as snow or rain.

North American Snow Cover on the Decline, Climate Central, Dec 13, 2017 

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Photo of the Week...

Emmanuel Macron attends the Tech for Planet event in Paris, France Monday. Photograph: Philippe Wojazer/Reuters

Macron awards US scientists grants to move to France in defiance of Trump, AP/Guardian, Dec 11, 2017

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SkS Spotlights...

InterAcadamy Council

In May 2000 all of the world's science academies created the IAC to mobilize the best scientists and engineers worldwide to provide high quality advice to international bodies - such as the United Nations and the World Bank - as well as to other institutions.

In a world where science and technology are fundamental to many critical issues - ranging from climate change and genetically modified organisms to the crucial challenge of achieving sustainability - making wise policy decisions has become increasingly dependent on good scientific advice.

The IAC is client-driven and works on a project-by-project basis. It has developed mechanisms and procedures to guarantee the scientific quality of its reports, the policy-relevance of its recommendations and the absence of regional or national bias. The IAC collaborates closely with the IAP - the global network of science academies, the InterAcademy Medical Panel, the International Council of Academies of Engineering and Technological Sciences, and the International Council for Science.  The IAC Secretariat is hosted by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. 

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Reports of Note...

Arctic Report Card: Lowest Sea Ice on Record, 2nd Warmest Year

Climate scientists say the magnitude and rate of sea ice loss this century is unprecedented in 1,500 years and issue a warning on the impacts of a changing climate.

Older Arctic sea ice is being replaced by thinner, younger ice. NOAA reports that multiyear ice accounts for just 21 percent of the ice cover in 2017. Credit: Thomas Newman/CICS-MD/NOAA

The Arctic experienced its second-warmest year on record in 2017, behind only 2016, and not even a cooler summer and fall could help the sea ice rebound, according to the latest Arctic Report Card.

"This year's observations confirm that the Arctic shows no signs of returning to the reliably frozen state that it was in just a decade ago," said Jeremy Mathis, director of the Arctic program at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which publishes the annual scientific assessment.

"These changes will impact all of our lives," Mathis said. "They will mean living with more extreme weather events, paying higher food prices and dealing with the impacts of climate refugees.

Arctic Report Card: Lowest Sea Ice on Record, 2nd Warmest Year by Sabrina Shankman, InsideClimate News, Dec 12, 2017 

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Coming Soon on SkS... 

• One Planet Summit: Finance Commitments Fire-Up Higher Momentum for Paris Climate Change Agreement (UN Climate Change News)
• Climate research has beaten down the best climate denial argument (Dana)
• From the eMail Bag: Carbon Isotopes - Part 1 - The Basics (David Kirtley)
• Guest Post (John Abraham)
• New research this week (Ari)
• 2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #51 (John Hartz)
• 2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Waming Digest (John Hartz)

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Poster of the Week...

 

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SkS Week in Review... 

 

• 2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #50 by John Hartz
• New research, December 4-10, 2017 by Ari Jokimäki
• Research shows that certain facts can still change conservatives’ minds by Dana Nuccitelli (Climate Consensus - the 97%, Guardian)
• The US is penny wise and pound foolish on the climate by John Abraham (Climate Consensus - the 97%, Guardian)
• Video: How not to panic about Global Warming by Climate Adam
• California's hellish fires: a visit from the Ghost of Christmas Future by Dana Nuccitelli (Climate Consensus - the 97%, Guardian)
• 2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #49 by John Hartz

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97 Hours of Consensus...

 

Josh Willis' bio page 

Quote provided by email 

High resolution JPEG (1024 pixels wide)

 

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Alternative treatments for the common cold: good business, bad evidence

The common cold is a perfect condition for providers of alternative medicine:

• it is prevalent (good money to be earned), 
• it is not normally dangerous, 
• it nevertheless reduces quality of life and thus patients look for a treatment, 
• there probably is not a single alternative therapy that does not claim to be effective for it, […]

Read the rest here: Alternative treatments for the common cold: good business, bad evidence

2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #50

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

Editor's Pick

Mass starvation is humanity’s fate if we keep flogging the land to death

The Earth cannot accommodate our need and greed for food. We must change our diet before it’s too late 

 

 Illustration: Thomas Pullin

Brexit; the crushing of democracy by billionaires; the next financial crash; a rogue US president: none of them keeps me awake at night. This is not because I don’t care – I care very much. It’s only because I have a bigger question on my mind. Where is all the food going to come from?

By the middle of this century there will be two or three billion more people on Earth. Any one of the issues I am about to list could help precipitate mass starvation. And this is before you consider how they might interact.

The trouble begins where everything begins: with soil. The UN’s famous projection that, at current rates of soil loss, the world has 60 years of harvests left, appears to be supported by a new set of figures. Partly as a result of soil degradation, yields are already declining on 20% of the world’s croplands. 

Mass starvation is humanity’s fate if we keep flogging the land to death, Opinion by George Monbiot, Guardian, Dec 11, 2017

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Links posted on Facebook

Sun Dec 10, 2017

• How to Help My Daughter Face Climate Change With an Open Heart, Book Review by Chris Moore-Backman, Yes! Magazine, Dec 4, 2017
• Most Dire Climate Change Predictions, Warns New Study, Are Also the Most Accurate by Julia Conley, Common Dreams, Dec 7, 2017
• California Governor Says Trump Is Courting The ‘Wrath Of God’ By Ignoring Climate ost, hange by Mary Papenfuss, HuffPost, Dec 8, 2017
• A Spectacle At The Coliseum — US To Hold Public Climate Change Debate As Soon As January, EPA Head Says by James Ayre, Clean Technica, Dec 8, 2017
• Climate change: Global warming victims seek justice, on the street and in courts, AFP/Hindustan Times, Dec 10, 2017
• UK could cut food emissions by 17% by sticking to a healthy diet by Daisy Dunne, Carbon Brief, Dec 4, 2017
• Alaska just reported one of the most extreme snowfall rates on record: 10 inches per hour by Jon Hopewell, Capital Weather Gang, Washington Post, Dec 7, 2017
• California wildfires: Governor brands fires 'new normal', BBC News, Dec 10, 2017

Mon Dec 11, 2017

• Summer's first big heatwave to send mercury, fire risks soaring by Peter Hannam, Sydney Morning Herald, Dec 11, 2017
• Australia's greenhouse gas emissions highest on record by Michael Slezak, Guardian, Dec 10, 2017
• Is gas a bridge to nowhere for UK climate policy?, Guest Post by Steve Pye, Carbon Brief, Dec 5, 2017
• California wildfires now larger than New York City and Boston combined by Joe Sutton & Susannah Cullinane, CNN, Dec 11, 2017
• Scott Pruitt, E.P.A. Chief, Says Agency Scientists Are Free to Discuss Their Work by Lisa Friedman, New York Times, Dec 6, 2017
• Climate change is making wind energy worse at fighting climate change by Chris Mooney, Energy & Environment, Washington Post, Dec 11, 2017
• Will Changing Cloud Cover Accelerate Global Warming? by Kate Marvel, Scientific American, Dec Print Issue
• California's hellish fires: a visit from the Ghost of Christmas Future by Dana Nuccitelli, Climate Consensus - the 97%, Guardian, Dec 11, 2017

Tue Dec 12, 2017

• We're building the equivalent of Paris every week. That's a problem. by Brian Bienkowski, The Daily Climate, Dec 11, 2017
• Power Failure: How utilities across the U.S. changed the rules to make big bets with your money by Tony Bartelme, The Post & Courier, Dec 10, 2017
• U.S. government calls for teens' climate change lawsuit to be halted by Tina Bellon, Reuters, Dec 11, 2017
• A moment of truth arrives for Rick Perry’s widely hated coal bailout by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Dec 11, 2017
• Macron awards US scientists grants to move to France in defiance of Trump, AP/Guardian, Dec 11, 2017
• Theresa May puts tackling climate change back on Tory agenda by Rowena Mason, Guardian, Dec 11, 2017
• A Landmark California Climate Program Is in Jeopardy, Opinion by Justin Gillis & Chris Busch, New York Times, Dec 12, 2017
• Showing Conservatives The Scientific Consensus On Climate Change Can Shift Their Views On The Issue by Tom Jacobs, Pacific Standard, Dec 11, 2017

Wed Dec 13, 2017

• The future of faith and science by Ed Langlois, Catholic Sentinel, Dec 11, 2017
• World Bank to end financial support for oil and gas exploration by Larry Elliott, Guardian, Dec 12, 2017
• How big oil is tightening its grip on Donald Trump's White House by Jie Jenny Zou, Center for Public Integrity/ Guardian, Dec 12, 2017
• Exxon Agrees to Disclose Climate Risks Under Pressure from Investors by John H Cushman Jr & David Hasmyer, InsideClimate News, Dec 12, 2017
• Global warming made Hurricane Harvey deadly rains three times more likely, research reveals by Damian Carrington, Guardian, Dec 13, 2017
• World leaders and investors ramp up efforts to fight global warming at climate summit by Angela Charlton & Sylvie Corbet, Christian Science Monitor, Dec 12, 2017
• Presenting facts as ‘consensus’ bridges conservative-liberal divide over climate change by Fred Lewsey, University of Cambridge, Dec 11, 2017
• Antarctic Modeling Pushes Up Sea-Level Rise Projections, Research Report by Climate Central, Dec 13, 2017

Thu Dec 14, 2017

• Three Surprises on Climate Change from Economist Michael Grubb by Lynne Paramorre, Institute for New Economic Thinking, Dec 12, 2017
• Introducing DeSmog UK’s Climate Disinformation Database by Mat Hope & Kyla Mandel, DeSmog UK, Dec 11, 2017
• Germans most worried about climate change, analysis shows by Jocelyn Timperley, Carbon Brief, Dec 12, 2017
• One Planet Summit: Finance Commitments Fire-Up Higher Momentum for Paris Climate Change Agreement, UN Climate Change News, Dec 12, 2017
• Wildfires and climate are related – are Americans connecting the dots? by Jennifer Marlon & Abigail Cheskis, Yale Program on Climate Change Communications, Dec 11, 2017
• 2016’s Record Heat Not Possible Without Global Warming, Study Says by Nicholas Kusnetz, InsideClimate News, Dec 13, 2017
• Research shows that certain facts can still change conservatives’ minds by Dana Nuccitelli, Climate Consensus - the 97%, Guardian, Dec 11, 2017

Fri Dec 15, 2017

• Bastard child': Review of controversial emissions fund finds 'significant risk' by Peter Hannam, Sydney Morning Herald, Dec 11, 2017
• World is losing the battle against climate change, says Macron by Richard Lough & Michel Rose, Reuters, Dec 12, 2017
• Why Snow in the South Doesn’t Mean Climate Change is a Hoax by Sydney Pereira, Newsweek, Dec 12, 2017
• Why scientists think 100% of global warming is due to humans, Analysis by Zeke Hausfather, Carbon Brief, Dec 13, 2017
• Smoke from wildfires may be surprisingly deadly, scientists report by Chris Mooney, Energy & Environment, Washington Post, Dec 15, 2017
• The US is penny wise and pound foolish on the climate by John Abraham, Climate Consensus - the 97%, Guardian, Dec 13, 2017
• Mass starvation is humanity’s fate if we keep flogging the land to death, Opinion by George Monbiot, Guardian, Dec 11, 2017
• How Bill McKibben’s radical idea of fossil-fuel divestment transformed the climate debate by Todd Schifeling & Andrew J. Hoffman, The Conversation US, Dec 11, 2017

Sat Dec 16, 2017

• Trump seeks pro-coal alliance as global push against fuel grows by Karl Mathiesen, Climate Home, Dec 12, 2017
• The EPA Hired a Major Republican Opposition Research Firm to Track Press Activity by Rebecca Leber, Andy Kroll & Russ Choma, Mother Jones, Dec 15, 2017
• Through global warming, we're now creating new types of extreme weather events, with dire results by Andrew Freedman, Mashable, Dec 14, 2017
• Climate science debate 'on hold' after White House meeting by Robin Bravender, Climatewire, Dec 15, 2017
• How to Talk to a Science Denier without Arguing, Opinion by Gleb Tsipursky, Scientific American, Dec 11, 2017
• Meet the microgrid, the technology poised to transform electricity by David Roberts and Alvin Chang, Energy & Environment, Vox, Dec 15, 2017

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