2018 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #15

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

Editor's Pick

Avoid Gulf stream disruption at all costs, scientists warn

How close the world is to a catastrophic collapse of giant ocean currents is unknown, making halting global warming more critical than ever, scientists say

 

Other research this week showed that Greenland’s massive ice cap is melting at the fastest rate for at least 450 years. Photograph: Nick Cobbing/Greenpeace 

Serious disruption to the Gulf Stream ocean currents that are crucial in controlling global climate must be avoided “at all costs”, senior scientists have warned. The alert follows the revelation this week that the system is at its weakest ever recorded.

Past collapses of the giant network have seen some of the most extreme impacts in climate history, with western Europe particularly vulnerable to a descent into freezing winters. A significantly weakened system is also likely to cause more severe storms in Europe, faster sea level rise on the east coast of the US and increasing drought in the Sahel in Africa.

The new research worries scientists because of the huge impact global warming has already had on the currents and the unpredictability of a future “tipping point”. 

Avoid Gulf stream disruption at all costs, scientists warn by Damian Carrrington, Environment, Guardian, Apr 13, 2018 

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Links posted on Facebook

Sun Apr 8, 2018

• New research, March 26 - April 1, 2018 by Ari Jokimäki, Skeptical Scince, Apr 6, 2018
• Colombia's top court orders government to protect Amazon forest in landmark case by Anastasia Moloney, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Apr 6, 2018
• Rules to govern sun-dimming technology "urgently" needed - expert by Laurie Goering, Thomson Reuters Foundtion, Apr 7, 2018
• Trump’s Climate Change Denial Is Already Reshaping Public Opinion. Opinion by John Cook, HuffPost, Apr 3, 2018
• In March, Portugal Made More Than Enough Renewable Energy To Power The Whole Country by Camila Domonoske, NPR News, Apr 5, 2018
• Mark Carney warns of climate change threat to financial system by Richard Partington, Business, Guardian, Apr 6, 2018
• Solar geoengineering ‘too uncertain to go ahead yet’ by Alex Kirby, Climate News Network, Apr 6, 2018
• Faced with global warming, aviation industry eyes electric-powered aircraft. AFP/The Straits Times, Apr 8, 2018

Mon Apr 9, 2018

• Abandoned collieries could hold key to heating UK homes by Robin Mckie, Environment, Observer/Guardian, Apr 7, 2018
• Nobody should believe Canadian politicians who promise to fight climate change by Paul Wells, Maclean's, Apr 6, 2018
• Saving the world: the 'new normal' for finance? by Lee Mannion, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Apr 6, 2018
• Why Green Groups Are Split on Subsidizing Carbon Capture Technology by Richard Conniff, Yale Environment 360, Apr 9, 2018
• To See Offshore Wind Energy’s Future, Look on Shore – in Massachusetts by Jan Ellen Spiegel, InsideClimate News, Apr 9, 2018
• Antarctic Glaciers Lost Stunning Amount of Ground in Recent Years by Chelsea Harvey, E&E News/Scientific American, Apr 4, 2018
• In His Haste to Roll Back Rules, Scott Pruitt, E.P.A. Chief, Risks His Agenda by Coral Davenport & Lisa Friedman, Climate, New York Times, Apr 7, 2018
• Four More Oil Giants Acknowledge Climate Consensus to Federal Judge by Amy Westervelt, Climate Liability News, Apr 6, 2018

Tue Apr 10, 2018

• UN, EU climate chiefs call for ambitious shipping strategy from IMO by Megan Darby, Climate Home News, Apr 9, 2018
• UN Shipping Agency Slammed for Stalling Climate Action by J Nastranis, InDepthNews (IDN), Apr 10, 2018
• California’s Snow Drought Is a Recipe for Danger by Jeremy Deaton, Nexus Media News, Apr 6, 2018
• Forests burn across India as temperatures rise by Juhi Chaudhary, india Climate Dialogue, Apr 4, 2018
• EPA’s war with California proves America needs a carbon tax by Dana Nuccitelli, Climate Consensus - the 97%. Environment, Guardian, Apr 10. 2018
• Concerning': Marine heatwaves increasing, especially near Australia by Peter Hannam, Environment, Sydney Morning Herald, Apr 11, 2018
• Analysis: How much ‘carbon budget’ is left to limit global warming to 1.5C? by Zeke Hausfather, Carbon Brief, Apr 9, 2018
• Climate Change Denialists Say Polar Bears Are Fine. Scientists Are Pushing Back. by Erica Goode, Climate, New York Times, Apr 10, 2018

Wed Apr 11, 2018

• 10 teams advance in international carbon dioxide competition by Mead Gruver, Energy & Environment, AP/Washington Post, Apr 9, 2018
• XPRIZE Projects Aim to Convert CO2 Emissions, but Skepticism Remains by Benjamin Storrow, E&E News/Scientific American, Apr 10, 2018
• Undoing American Climate Diplomacy by Emily Atkin, The New Republic, Apr 11, 2018
• UK supermarket Iceland pledges no palm oil in its own-brand products by Serena Chaudhry, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Apr 10, 2018
• World’s Most Powerful Wind Turbine Installed At Vattenfall’s European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre by Joshua S Hill, Clean Technica, Apr 10, 2018
• Climate Change Is Weakening a Crucial Ocean Current by Eric Betz, Discover Magazine, Apr 11, 2018
• Africa’s vegetation has lost 2.6bn tonnes of CO2 in just seven years by Daisy Dunne, Carbon Brief, Apr 9, 2018
• Oil company allies say climate lawsuits were shopped around by Anne C. Mulkern , E&E News, Apr 10, 2018

Thu Apr 12, 2018

• The Most Important Climate Treaty You’ve Never Heard Of by Sabrina Shankman, InsideClimate News, Apr 11, 2018
• Marine heatwaves have become ‘34% more likely’ over past century by Robert McSweeney, Carbon Brief, Apr 10, 2018
• Sea Level Rise Poses Huge Threat to California, Heightening Urgency of Liability Cases by Dana Drugmand, Climate Liability News, Apr 11, 2018
• Investor’s Business Daily editorial misrepresents study to claim plants will prevent dangerous climate change by Scott Johnson, Climate Feedback, Apr 12, 2018
• Climate change litigation rising with the seas as victims revert to 'Plan B' by Malcolm Sutton, ABC Radio Adelaide, Apr 9, 2018
• How a small start-up firm wants to revitalize climate change research by Jason Samenow, Capital Weather Gang, Washington Post, Apr 9, 2018
• 'Day zero' water crises: Spain, Morocco, India and Iraq at risk as reservoirs shrink by Jonathan Watts, Environment, Guardian, Apr 11, 2018
• Global warming is causing an Alaskan glacier to melt at the fastest pace in 400 years by Doyle Rice, USA Today, Apr 11, 2018

Fri Apr 13, 2018

• Antarctic expedition hopes for Ernest Shackleton bonus by Jonathan Amos, Science & Environment, BBC News, Apr 10, 2018
• New Zealand bans all new offshore oil exploration as part of 'carbon-neutral future' by Eleanor Ainge Roy, Guardian, Apr 11, 2018
• Hurricane Winds at Landfall: A Measurement Challenge by Bob Henson, Category 6, Weather Underground, Apr 11, 2018
• Hurricane Winds at Landfall: Why Is It They Seem to Fall Short? by Bob Henson, Category 6, Weather Underground, Apr 12, 2018
• Climate Change Or Global Warming? Three Reasons Not To Be Distracted By The Name Game by Marshall Sheperd, Science, Forbes, Apr 13, 2018
• A North American Climate Boundary Has Shifted 140 Miles East Due to Global Warming, Yale Environment 360, Apr 11, 2018
• Atlantic ‘conveyor belt’ has slowed by 15% since mid-20th century by Robert McSweeney, Carbon Brief, Apr 11, 2018
• Avoid Gulf stream disruption at all costs, scientists warn by Damian Carrrington, Environment, Guardian, Apr 13, 2018

Sat Apr 14, 2018

• The shipping industry is finally going to cut its climate change emissions. That’s a big deal. by Chris Mooney, Energy & Environment, Washington Post, Apr 13, 2018
• New satellite to spot planet-warming industrial methane leaks by Damian Carrrington, Environment, Guardian, Apr 12, 2018
• Industry Group Asks SEC to Investigate Cities With Climate Lawsuits by Ucilia Wang, Climate Liability News, Apr 13, 2018
• Massachusetts Investigation of Exxon for Climate Fraud Can Proceed, Court Rules by Karen Savage, Climate Liability News, Apr 13, 2018
• EXECUTIVE PERSPECTIVE: Moody’s Eyes Rise of Sustainable Investor and Climate Risk by Tim Nixon, Sustainability, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Apr 9, 2018
• Explainer: These six metals are key to a low-carbon future by Jocelyn Timperley, Carbon Brief, Apr 12, 2018

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Daniel P Wirth, his dubious research, and the remarkable apathy of some medical journals

Daniel P Wirth used to be THE star amongst researchers and proponents of paranormal healing. About 15 years ago, there was nobody who had published more studies of it than Wirth. The extraordinary phenomenon was not just the number of studies, but also the fact that these trials all reported positive findings. At the time, […]

Read the rest here: Daniel P Wirth, his dubious research, and the remarkable apathy of some medical journals

Finally! An official statement about homeopathy from a French health minister

I have written about the use of homeopathy in France before (as I now live half of my time in France, this is a subject of considerable interest to me). After decades of deafening silence and uncritical acceptance by the French public, it seems that finally some change to the better might be on its […]

Read the rest here: Finally! An official statement about homeopathy from a French health minister

Homeopathy: from the bizarre to the outright belwildering

It’s still ‘HOMEOPATHIC AWARENESS WEEK’. What better time for introducing you to one of the most bewildering aspect of this bizarre therapy? Homeopathy is not just being promoted as a treatment for humans and animals, it is also advocated for plants. There are plenty of websites about this that give concrete advice such as this […]

Read the rest here: Homeopathy: from the bizarre to the outright belwildering

Chiropractic Awareness Week… or should this be ‘bewareness’?

This week, I find it hard to decide where to focus; with all the fuzz about ‘Homeopathy Awareness Week’ it is easy to forget that our friends, the chiros are celebrating  Chiropractic Awareness Week (9-15 April). On this occasion, the British Chiropractic Association (BCA), for instance, want people to keep moving to make a positive […]

Read the rest here: Chiropractic Awareness Week… or should this be ‘bewareness’?

It’s Hahnemann’s birthday today – so, let’s honour him by quoting his words

Samuel Hahnemann published a lot, but his main ideas about homeopathy are summarised in his ‘Organon‘ which has thus become ‘the bible’ for all homeopaths. They regularly refer to this book, yet I sometimes get the impression that many of them have even read it. I did! Most recently, I re-studied it when writing my […]

Read the rest here: It’s Hahnemann’s birthday today – so, let’s honour him by quoting his words

Sixteen case reports of homeopathic Arnica – never believe what you think!

Today, enthusiasts of homeopathy celebrate the start of the HOMEOPATHY AWARENESS WEEK. Let’s join them by re-addressing one of their favourite themes: their personal experience with homeopathy. Most homeopathy-fans argue that the negative scientific evidence must be wrong because they have had positive experiences. Whenever I give a lecture, for instance, there will be at […]

Read the rest here: Sixteen case reports of homeopathic Arnica – never believe what you think!

2018 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #14

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

Story of the Week...

Solar geoengineering ‘too uncertain to go ahead yet’

The world must urgently agree controls on solar geoengineering to weigh up its possible risks and benefits before deciding to go ahead, one expert says.

Brightening marine clouds is one suggested solar geoengineering approach. Image: By Ron Reeves, US Navy, via Wikimedia Commons

Progress to deploy solar engineering, experimental technology designed to protect the world against the impact of the changing climate, must pause, a former United Nations climate expert says, arguing that governments need to create “effective guardrails” against any unforeseen risks.

Janos Pasztor, who served as a UN assistant secretary-general on climate change, is using a speech to Arizona State University, broadast via Facebook Live by ASU LightWorks, 6:30-8pm Arizona time (9:30pm EDT – US Eastern Daylight Time) today, to warn the world that governments are largely ignoring the fundamental question of who should control geoengineering, and how.

There are widespread misgivings, both among scientists and more widely, about geoengineering, with many regarding it as at best a strategy of last resort to help to avoid calamitous climate change.

Mr Pasztor’s warning comes as researchers prepare for what is thought to be the world’s first outdoor experiment on stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI), one type of solar geoengineering. The test is due to take place later this year over Arizona.

Pasztor heads the Carnegie Climate Geoengineering Governance Initiative(C2G2),  an initiative of the New York-based Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs. The Initiative wants solar geoengineering deployment to be delayed until the risks and potential benefits are better known and governance frameworks are agreed.

Solar geoengineering ‘too uncertain to go ahead yet’ by Alex Kirby, Climate News Network, Apr 6, 2018 

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Opinion of the Week...

A new Gallup survey shows that independent voters are less concerned about climate change than they were a year ago. In the last year, independents have become less likely to accept that global warming is happening and that humans are the cause, and less likely to perceive that there’s a scientific consensus about global warming.

In 2017, 71 percent of independent voters were aware that most scientists believe global warming is occurring; this year it’s 65 percent. There has long been a significant gap between public perception of global warming and the scientific consensus: Between 90 percent and 100 percent of climate scientists agree humans are causing global warming, with studies converging on 97-percent consensus. But surveys since 2010 offered hope that the “consensus gap” had been shrinking over the last eight years. Gallup’s new data indicates this trend has reversed. The consensus gap widened over the last year.

Independents aren’t the only ones on the move. The American public has become more polarized on climate change in the last year: Climate concern and acceptance has dropped among Republicans, and Democrats have become more accepting of climate change.

There are a few ways to account for these shifts in public opinion. One is the cues we’ve heard from our political leaders, which are a leading driver of people’s concerns and perceptions about climate change.

Trump’s Climate Change Denial Is Already Reshaping Public Opinion. Opinion by John Cook, HuffPost, Apr 3, 2018 

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SkS Highlights...

Carnegie Climate Geoengineering Governance Initiative

C2G2 seeks to catalyze the creation of effective governance for climate geoengineering technologies by shifting the conversation from the scientific and research community to the global policy-making arena, and by encouraging a broader, society-wide discussion about the risks, potential benefits, ethical and governance challenges raised by climate geoengineering.

The C2G2 initiative is not for or against the research, testing or potential use of climate geoengineering technologies. That is a choice for society to make.

 C2G2 is an initiative of the Carniege Council for Ethics in International Affairs

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Toon of the Week...

 

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Quote of the Week...

Critics say the National Park Service’s editing of the report reflects unprecedented political interference in government science at the Interior Department, which oversees the park service.

Jonathan Overpeck, a climate scientist and dean of the University of Michigan’s School for Environment and Sustainability, said the deletions are “shocking from a scientific point of view, but also from a policy point of view.”

“To remove a very critical part of the scientific understanding is nothing short of political censorship and has no place in science,” he said. “Censorship of this kind is something you’d see in Russia or some totalitarian regime. It has no place in America.”

Wipeout: Human role in climate change removed from science report by Elizabeth Shogren, Reveal, Apr 2, 2018 

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SkS Spotlights...

The Climate Atlas of Canada is an interactive tool for citizens, researchers, businesses, and community and political leaders to learn about climate change in Canada. It combines climate science, mapping and storytelling to bring the global issue of climate change closer to home, and is designed to inspire local, regional, and national action and solutions.

The Atlas explains what climate change is, how it affects Canada and what these changes mean in our communities.  Various aspects of climate change can be explored using maps, graphs and climate data for provinces, local regions and cities across the country. Plain-language description and analysis make climate science understandable and meaningful.  

Documentary videos, collaboratively developed with local and Indigenous knowledge holders as well as other experts, help make local sense of the global issue of climate change. These voices of lived experience provide personal perspectives that complement the climate data and help explain the reality and the meaning of climate change in Canada.

The Atlas is one of the only tools in the world that integrates interactive web design with climatology, cinema, and cartography to connect scientific data with personal experience in compelling and easy-to-use ways.

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Coming Soon on SkS...

• New resource: The Fact-Myth-Fallacy slide-deck (Baerbel, JG)
• EPA’s war with California over fuel efficiency proves America needs a carbon tax (Dana)
• Climate denial explained Part 1 (qwertle)
• Scientists are marching Saturday to make politicians listen to evidence (Dana)
• New research this week (Ari)
• 2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #15 (John Hartz)
• 2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Waming Digest #15 (John Hartz)

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Poster of the Week...

 

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Climate Feedback Reviews...

Rush Limbaugh falsely claims there is no evidence of human-caused global warming

Claim

"There isn’t yet any empirical evidence for their claim that greenhouse gases even cause temperatures to increase."

Verdict

Source

Rush Limbaugh, The Rush Limbaugh Show, April 2, 2018

Details 

Factually Inaccurate: It is an unequivocal fact that Earth’s climate has warmed over the past century. Also, the conclusion that the human-caused increase of greenhouse gases is causing warming is supported by a wide range of empirical data.

Key Take Away 

Human-caused global warming is not a theoretical, future prediction—it has already occurred. Warming of the atmosphere and oceans is extensively documented, and the role of increased greenhouse gases in this warming has been determined from multiple lines of evidence.

Rush Limbaugh falsely claims there is no evidence of human-caused global warming by Scott Johnson, Climate Feedback, Apr 4, 2018

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SkS Week in Review... 

• 2018 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #14 by John Hartz
• New research, March 26 - April 1, 2018 by Ari Jokimäki
• American conservatives are still clueless about the 97% expert climate consensus by Dana Nuccitelli (Climate Consensus - the 97%, Guardian)
• Skeptical Science at EGU 2018 by BaerbelW
• Scientists examine threats to food security if we meet the Paris climate targets by John Abraham (Climate Consensus - the 97%, Guardian)
• On climate change, zero-sum thinking doesn't work by Joseph Robertson (Climate Consensus - the 97%, Guardian) 
• 2018 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #13 by John Hartz

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97 Hours of Consensus...

 

 

Michael Oppenheimer's bio page

Quote provided by email 

High resolution JPEG (1024 pixels wide)

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2018 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #14

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

Editor's Pick

March is 3rd warmest on record, many contrasts

 

March 2018 was the third warmest on record, according to the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting Copernicus Climate Change service.

Although not as exceptional as the values for March 2016 and March 2017, it was in line with the upward trend of 0.18°C per decade seen in global temperature data from 1979 onwards, according to the monthly report.

March 2018 was colder than the 1981-2010 average over almost all of Europe. Only in the far north and over the far southeast of the continent was it warmer than average. Below average temperatures occurred over almost all of northern Russia and over the northern USA and southern Canada.

Within Europe, Spain had 163 mm of rainfall – more than three times the long-term average of 47 mm (1981-2000), making it one of the wettest months of March on record, according to the national meteorological service AEMET.

In France, Mediterranean regions saw two to four times more rain than average. For instance Province-Alpes, the Cote d’Azure and Corsica had the second wettest March after 2013, according to Météo-France. 

March is 3rd warmest on record, many contrasts, Media Release, World Meterologial Association (WMO), Apr 6, 2018

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Links posted on Facebook

Sun Apr 1, 2018

• New research, March 19-25, 2018 by Ari Jokimäki, Skeptical Science, Mar 30, 2018
• The Climate Change Hypocrisy Of Jet-Setting Academics, Opinion by Nives Dolšak and Aseem Prakash, HuffPost, Mar 31, 2018
• Science and religion coexist to make the world work by Said Ahmed-Zaid, Idaho Statesman, Mar 31, 2018
• Biggest Threat to Humanity? Climate Change, U.N. Chief Says by Somini Sengupta, Climate, New York Times, Mar 29, 2018
• How energy storage is starting to rewire the electricity industry by Eric Hittinger & Eric Williams, The Conversation US, Mar 22, 2018
• Why Saudi Arabia is trying to launch an utterly massive new solar project by Chris Mooney & Steve Mufson, Energy & Environment, Washington Post, Mar 28, 2018
• French Nuclear Giant Gambles Big On Energy Storage by William Pentland, #PowerUp, Forbes, Mar 27, 2018
• Activists aren’t the only ones preaching about climate change. Some Pittsburgh congregations do, too. by Saima Sitwat, PublicSource, Mar 26, 2018

Mon Apr 2, 2018

• Drone footage shows impact of climate change off east coast of Newfoundland by Aalia Adam, Global News, Apr 1, 2018
• Why Don’t Governments Limit Oil Production to Meet Climate Targets? by James Wilt, DeSmog Canada, Mar 31, 2018
• ‘It's a Very Male-Dominated Space’: Welcome to the Sexist World of Brexit and Climate Science Denial by Christine Ottery, DeSmog UK, Mar 28, 2018
• EPA poised to scrap fuel economy targets that are key to curbing global warming — setting up clash with California by Evan Halper, Politics, Los Angeles Times, Mar 29, 2018
• Two degrees no longer seen as global warming guardrail, AFP/Channel News Asia, Apr 2, 2018
• 'Extreme' Changes Underway in Some of Antarctica’s Biggest Glaciers by Bob Berwyn, InsideClimate News, Apr 2, 2018
• EPA to roll back car emissions standards, handing automakers a big win by Juliet Eilperin & Brady Dennis, Health & Science, Washington Post, Apr 2, 2018
• On climate change, zero-sum thinking doesn't work by Joseph Robertson, Climate Consensus - the 97%, Guardian, Apr 2, 2018

Tue Apr 3, 2018

• Thanks to Climate Disruption, Earth Is Already Losing Critical Biosphere Components by Dahr Jamail, Truthout, Apr 2, 2018
• Shipping faces demands to cut CO2 by Roger Harrabin, BBC News, Mar 31, 2018
• Wipeout: Human role in climate change removed from science report by Elizabeth Shogren, Reveal, Apr 2, 2018
• The EPA’s fuel standard rollback will hurt clean carmakers like Tesla by Umair Irfan, Energy & Environment, Vox, Apr 2, 2018
• We're on course for a permanently ice-free Arctic Ocean in the summer by Andrew Freedman, Science, Mashable, Apr 2, 2018
• Scientists examine threats to food security if we meet the Paris climate targets by John Abraham, Climate Consensus - the 97%, Environment, Guardian, Apr 3, 2018
• Climate fund Trump cut off ‘really had to succeed’, says its chief by Megan Darby, Climate Home News, Mar 29, 2018
• Trump administration moves on two fronts to challenge California environmental protections by Evan Halper & Joseph Tanfani, Los Angeles Times, Apr 2, 2018

Wed Apr 4, 2018

• Hot, dry start to 2018 set to continue for Sydney, much of NSW by Peter Hannam, Sydney Morning Herald, Apr 3, 2018
• Limiting warming to 1.5C could ‘substantially’ cut risk of ice-free Arctic summers by Daisy Dunne, Carbon Brief, Apr 2, 2018
• Limiting global warming to 1.5C would have ‘significant economic benefits’ by Jocelyn Timperley, Carbon Brief, Apr 3, 2018
• Half of Earth’s satellites restrict use of climate data by Mariel Borowitz, The Conversation US, Apr 3, 2018
• Fossil Fuels on Trial: Where the Major Climate Change Lawsuits Stand Today by David Hasemyer, InsideClimate News, Apr 4, 2018
• Nearly a third of Canadians don't believe humans, industry 'mostly' cause climate change: poll by Peter Zimonjic, CBC News, Apr 4, 2018
• EPA to Roll Back Car-Efficiency Rules, Despite Science That Supports Them by Camille von Kaenel, E&E News/Scientific American, Apr 3, 2018
• Arctic lake's ecosystem changes after 1 degree of warming, study shows by Sara Frizzell, CBC News. Apr 4, 2018

Thu Apr 5, 2018

• Netherlands Group to Shell: Stop Wrecking the Climate, Or We Will Sue by Karen Savage, Climate Liability News, Apr 4, 2018
• Pakistan’s 114 degrees is just one of many all-time March records toppled in Asia by Angela Fritz, Capital Weather Gang, Washington Post, Apr 3, 2018
• Scientists say the Mississippi is flooding more than it has in 500 years — and we caused it by Chris Mooney, Energy & Environment, Washington Post, Apr 4, 2018
• Senegal city races to move families as sea swallows homes by Nellie Peyton, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Apr 3, 2018
• Shell Knew Fossil Fuels Created Climate Change Risks Back in 1980s, Internal Documents Show by John H Cushman Jr, InsideClimate News, Apr 5, 2018
• Scientists suggest a giant sunshade in the sky could solve global warming by Peter Beaumont, Global Development, Environment, Guardian, Apr 5, 2018
• American conservatives are still clueless about the 97% expert climate consensus by Dana Nuccitelli, Climate Consensus - the 97%, Environment, Guardian, Apr 5, 2018
• You don't have to be a climate science denier to join the Monash coal forum, but it helps, by Graham Readfearn, Planet Oz, Environment, Guardian, Apr 4, 2018

Fri Apr 6, 2018

• The simple argument for keeping nuclear power plants open by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Apr 5, 2018
• Will a Huge New Flood Barrier Save Venice? by Marcello Rossi, City Lab, Apr 3, 2018
• Global solar capacity grew faster than fossil fuels in 2017, says report by Simon Evans, Carbon Brief, Apr 5, 2018
• Solar soars: Renewable energy, by the numbers by Douglas Fischer, The Daily Climate, Apr 6, 2018
• With climate change, fake news is old news, Opinion by Tom Lydon, The Hill, Apr 5, 2018
• Research suggests lonely plants on mountaintops are getting company, thanks to climate change by Martin Funucane, Science, Boston Globe, Apr 6, 2018
• Apple says repeal of U.S. EPA carbon plan would threaten investments by Timothy Gardner, Reuters, Apr 6, 2018
• Shipping’s Thick Fuel Oil Puts the Arctic at Risk. Could It Be Banned? by Sabrina Shankman, InsideClimate News, Apr 6, 2018

Sat Apr 7, 2018

• Majority of Australians support phasing out coal power by 2030, survey finds by Katharine Murphy, Mar 28, 2018
• What Mayors Want by Tanvi Misra, City Lab, Apr 5, 2018
• How I Talk to My Daughter About Climate Change by Michelle Nijhus, The Atlantic, Apr 5, 2018
• March is 3rd warmest on record, many contrasts, Media Release, World Meterologial Association (WMO), Apr 6, 2018
• Shell Grappled with Climate Change 20 Years Ago, Documents Show by Scott Waldman, E&E News/Scientific American, Apr 5, 2018
• IEA accused of undermining global shift from fossil fuels by Jonathan Watts, Environment, Guardian, Apr 5, 2018

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Asanté Academy of Chinese Medicine ‘One of the leading Chinese Medicine clinics and teaching institutes in the UK and Europe’

Prof Ke’s Asante Academy (Ke claims that asante is French and means good health – wrong, of course, but that’s the least of his errors) offers many amazing things, and I do encourage you to have a look at his website. Prof Ke is clearly not plagued by false modesty; he informs us that “I am proud […]

Read the rest here: Asanté Academy of Chinese Medicine ‘One of the leading Chinese Medicine clinics and teaching institutes in the UK and Europe’

‘Pilot studies’ of alternative medicine: incompetent, unethical, misleading and harmful

Since many months, I have noticed a proliferation of so-called pilot studies of alternative therapies. A pilot study (also called feasibility study) is defined as a small scale preliminary study conducted in order to evaluate feasibility, time, cost, adverse events, and improve upon the study design prior to performance of a full-scale research project. Here […]

Read the rest here: ‘Pilot studies’ of alternative medicine: incompetent, unethical, misleading and harmful

Is the Queen’s homeopath, Dr Peter Fisher, erring or lying?

In the current issue of the Faculty of Homeopathy‘s Simile publication, Dr Peter Fisher, the Queen’s homeopath, re-visits the old story of the ‘Smallwood Report’. To my big surprise, I found the following two paragraphs in his editorial:

A prepublication draft [of the Smallwood report] was circulated for comment with prominent warnings that it was confidential […]

Read the rest here: Is the Queen’s homeopath, Dr Peter Fisher, erring or lying?

Homeopathy is so much safer than conventional medicine … Oh really?

Some commentators on this blog and elsewhere keep on claiming that conventional medicine is dangerous, certainly more dangerous than homeopathy (or other alternative therapies). To test the validity of this assumption, I invite you to a little thought experiment:

Imagine 100 patients suffering from each of the conditions listed below.

• cancer 
• AIDS 
• Ebola 
• sepsis 
• TB […]

Read the rest here: Homeopathy is so much safer than conventional medicine … Oh really?

A celebrated study of GPs practicing ‘integrative medicine’ proves … nothing

In recent days, journalists across the world had a field day (mis)reporting that doctors practising integrative medicine were doing something positive after all. I think that the paper shows nothing of the kind – but please judge for yourself.

The authors of this article wanted to determine differences in antibiotic prescription rates between conventional General […]

Read the rest here: A celebrated study of GPs practicing ‘integrative medicine’ proves … nothing

My chiropractic Easter-message

Did you know that chiropractic is a religion?

Well, not quite but almost.

DD Palmer seriously toyed with the idea of turning chiropractic into a religion.

And rightly so!

In the absence of evidence, belief is everything.

And this is why, to this day, so many chiropractors bank (a most appropriate term in this context!) […]

Read the rest here: My chiropractic Easter-message