2018 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #36

Story of the Week... Editorial of the Week... oon of the Week... Quote of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... John Cook Sighting... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week...

Story of the Week...

Rise for Climate: thousands march across US to protest environment crisis

Protests spearheaded by march in San Francisco ahead of climate change summit in the city next week

Several thousand people took part in a climate march in New York City on Thursday. Ten activists were arrested after blocking the street in front of Andrew Cuomo’s Manhattan office. Photograph: Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/REX/Shutterstock 

Tens of thousands of people took part in marches and other events across the US on Saturday, calling for a swift transition to renewable energy in order to stave off the various perils of climate change.

The Rise for Climate protests was spearheaded by what organizers called the largest ever climate march on the US west coast. The march, which snaked through the heart of San Francisco, came ahead of a climate change summit in the city next week that will gather mayors and business leaders from around the world.

The San Francisco march, which called for California governor Jerry Brown to end fossil fuel extraction in the state, attracted around 30,000 people, organizers said.

An array of activities, including rallies, voter registration drives and vigils, were scheduled to take place across the US, in cities such as Boston, Miami and Portland, Oregon. Events were also planned in Puerto Rico. In New Orleans, protesters planned to agitate for the halt of the Bayou Bridge pipeline, an extension of the controversial Dakota Access project that last year spurred a lengthy standoff at the Standing Rock reservation.

Rise for Climate: thousands march across US to protest environment crisis by Oliver Milman, Environment, Guardian, Sep 8, 2018 

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Editorial of the Week...

Trump’s dirty environmental policies will echo for ages

 

The Big Rivers Electric Corporation power plant in Robards, Ky., May 27. The Trump administration on Aug. 21 made public the details of its new pollution rules governing coal-burning power plants, and the fine print includes an acknowledgment that the plan would increase carbon emissions and lead to up to 1,400 premature deaths annually.  Photo: LUKE SHARRETT /NYT

As the world watches the legal twists and turns of the Trump administration, something far more consequential is happening. Long after Trump, Michael Cohen, Paul Manafort and the rest are forgotten, the inhabitants of Earth will still be dealing with climate change. And policies the president recently announced are going to make the problem worse for us and put future generations on track for disaster.

A couple of weeks ago, Trump began relaxing automotive fuel efficiency standards that require automakers to improve fuel efficiency of cars over the next decade. Now, Trump is replacing former President Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan, a policy that reduces emissions from electric power plants.

By the EPA’s own analysis, these actions by Trump reverse policies that were addressing climate change.

To understand how climate is affecting you today, consider the miserable summer we’ve experienced. Climate change is one of the reasons it’s so hot. So, it follows that it’s driving up your air-conditioning bill, as well as the bill for businesses you rely on. Like higher oil prices, this increased expense ripples through the economy and takes money out of your pocket. 

Trump’s dirty environmental policies will echo for ages, Opinion by Andrew Dessler*, San Antonio Express-News, Sep 3, 2018

*Andrew Dessler is a professor of atmospheric sciences and the Reta A. Haynes Chair in Geosciences at Texas A&M University. 

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Toon of the Week...

 

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Quote of the Week...

 

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Graphic of the Week...

 

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SkS in the News...

 

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Photo of the Week...

 

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SkS Spotlights...

 

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Video of the Week...

 

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Reports of Note...

 

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Coming Soon on SkS...

• Kavanaugh’s views on EPA’s climate authority are dangerous and wrong (Dana)
• Getting involved with Climate Science via crowdfunding or -sourcing (Baerbel)
• How Arctic lakes accelerate permafrost carbon losses (Carbon Brief)
• Guest Post (John Abraham)
• New research this week (Ari)
• 2018 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #37 (John Hartz)
• 2018 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming weekly Digest #37 (John Hartz)

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John Cook Sighting...

John Cook was one of three panelists on the Aug 30 NPR/Climate Cast radio broadcast, How Houston's recovering from a hurricane boosted by climate change hosted by Paul Hunter.

Cook's topic:

Australia on the front lines of climate change. And the politics of climate change in Australia is even more intense than here in the U.S. Aussie native John Cook, a research assistant professor at the Center for Climate Change Communication at George Mason University, explains. 

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SkS Week in Review...

• 2018 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #36 by John Hartz
• New research, August 27 - September 2, 2018 by Ari Jokimäki
• An alternative to propping up coal power plants: Retrain workers for solar by Joshua Pearce (The Conversation US)
• Rising CO2 levels could push ‘hundreds of millions’ into malnutrition by 2050 by Daisy Dunne (Carbon Brief)
• California's response to record wildfires: shift to 100% clean energy by Dana Nuccitelli (Climate Consensus - 97%, Environment, Guardian)
• 2018 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #35 by John Hartz

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Poster of the Week...

 

from Skeptical Science
via IFTTT

Is 2018 the year when research into homeopathy died a natural death?

Medline is the biggest electronic databank for articles published in medicine and related fields. It is therefore the most important source of information in this area. I use it regularly to monitor what new papers have been published in the various fields of alternative medicine. As the number of Medline-listed papers dated 2018 on homeopathy […]

Read the rest here: Is 2018 the year when research into homeopathy died a natural death?

Oil pulling, a promising alternative therapy – no, I am not pulling your leg!

Yesterday, I was interviewed and filmed by a Canadian TV-journalist. Even though the subject was osteopathy (apparently, in Canada, osteopathy is strong and full of woo), we found ourselves talking about ‘oil pulling’. I knew next to nothing about this alternative therapy, but learnt that it was big in North America. When the TV-crew had […]

Read the rest here: Oil pulling, a promising alternative therapy – no, I am not pulling your leg!

American Loon #2068: Rosie O'Donnell

Ok, we’ll bite and give her a brief note. Rosie O’Donnell is most famous for being a, shall we say, outspoken actress, comedian and television personality, and one that President Donald Trump has had a weird obsession with. And, as with so many others in similar situations, with great...

Read the full lunacy: #2068: Rosie O'Donnell Encyclopedia of American Loons

Homeopathy is not helpful for depression – on the contrary, it depresses me!

This systematic review included 18 studies assessing homeopathy in depression. Two double-blind placebo-controlled trials of homeopathic medicinal products (HMPs) for depression were assessed. The first trial (N = 91) with high risk of bias found HMPs were non-inferior to fluoxetine at 4 (p = 0.654) and 8 weeks (p = 0.965); whereas the second trial (N = 133), with low risk of bias, […]

Read the rest here: Homeopathy is not helpful for depression – on the contrary, it depresses me!

Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop pays $145,000 in vaginal egg lawsuit - BBC News

The lifestyle website founded by actress Gwyneth Paltrow has agreed to pay $145,000 (£112,000) for making unscientific claims about vaginal eggs... Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop pays $145,000 in vaginal egg lawsuit - BBC News

American Loon #2067: Tetyana Obukhanych

Tetyana Obukhanych is one of the only people in the anti-vaccine movement with genuine, relevant credentials, and they sure let you know. Obukhanych has a PhD in Immunology, and has apparently had a stint as postdoctoral fellow at Harvard and Stanford, although she does not seem to have a...

Read the full lunacy: #2067: Tetyana Obukhanych Encyclopedia of American Loons

“Pharmacists should not sell or dispense homeopathic products”

On 4 September 2018, during the FIP (78th FIP World Congress of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences), a meeting took place intended to give an opportunity to practising pharmacists to voice their opinions on the question whether pharmacies should stop selling homeopathic products. Attendees were be provided with voting materials to allow them to express their […]

Read the rest here: “Pharmacists should not sell or dispense homeopathic products”

Homeopathy made easy: THE BRISTOL STOOL CHART AND CORRESPONDING HOMEOPATHIC REMEDIES

Just when I thought I had seen all homeopathy has to offer, here comes this: THE BRISTOL STOOL CHART AND CORRESPONDING HOMEOPATHIC REMEDIES! “With mere examination of stool appearance, Homoeopathic remedy can easily be selected….” The chart was, according to Wikipedia, developed and proposed for the first time by Dr. Stephen Lewis and Dr. Ken […]

Read the rest here: Homeopathy made easy: THE BRISTOL STOOL CHART AND CORRESPONDING HOMEOPATHIC REMEDIES

American Loon #2066: Clint Ober

The ecology of woo is a rich one, and whatever niche of silly you can think of is probably filled, unimpeded by science, evidence or fact. The idea of earthing, for instance, is a relatively obvious one once you let your creativity be unconstrained by reality, plausibility or reason. According to...

Read the full lunacy: #2066: Clint Ober Encyclopedia of American Loons

TCM by injection? The idea frightens me

If you thought that Chinese herbal medicine is just for oral use, you were wrong. This article explains it all in some detail: Injections of traditional Chinese herbal medicines are also referred to as TCM injections. This approach has evolved during the last 70 years as a treatment modality that, according to the authors, parallels injections of […]

Read the rest here: TCM by injection? The idea frightens me

The age of misinformation: a rant about Brexit and homeopathy

It’s been often said that we live in the age of information.  Everyone can get tons of it at the click of a button. This is undoubtedly true. Sadly, it also means that we are exposed to tons of misinformation, and sometimes it seems to me that we now live in THE AGE OF MISINFORMATION. […]

Read the rest here: The age of misinformation: a rant about Brexit and homeopathy

2018 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #35

Calls to Action... Story of the Week... Editorial of the Week... El Niño/La Niña Update... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Reviews... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week...

Calls to Action*...

Looking ahead...

Sat Sep 8 is an extremely important day for climate activists because they will be gathering in cities throughout the world to Rise Up for Climate. If you re not already plugged into an event in your area, you can easily do so by going to the official Rise Up for Climate website. From the global campaign's website:

On September 8, we’re planning thousands of rallies in cities and towns around the world to demand our local leaders commit to building a fossil free world that puts people and justice before profits.

No more stalling, no more delays: it’s time for a fast and fair transition to 100% renewable energy for all.

Real climate leadership rises from below. It means power in the hands of people not corporations. It means economic opportunity for workers and justice and dignity for frontline communities that are the hardest hit by the impacts of the fossil fuel industry and a warming world. 

Looking inside... 

Be sure to check out the next two sections of this digest — Story of the Week and Opinion of the Week. They address two inter-related issue re the hum race's ability to come to grips with the reality of man-made climate change and the need to effectively mitigate it srtarting now.

Looking behind...

Something that flew under my radar screen when it was released earlier this year...

Narrated by Danny Glover, A documentary special reveals how climate change science has been under systematic attack; the multi-million dollar campaign allowed a climate change denier to be elected president (a new version with updated content and music)

TRNN Documentary: Trump, The Koch Brothers and Their War on Climate Science, May 23, 2018

TRNN = The Real News Network, Baltimore, MD

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*The views expressed in this section are those of John Hartz and do not necessarily reflect  consensus views of the SkS author team — it's nearly impossible to achieve consensus within a herd of cats.  

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Story of the Week...

The Swedish 15-year-old who's cutting class to fight the climate crisis

Following Sweden’s hottest summer ever, Greta Thunberg decided to go on school strike at the parliament to get politicians to act

 

Greta Thunberg leads a school strike and sits outside of the Swedish Parliament, in an effort to force politicians to act on climate change. Photograph: Michael Campanella for the Guardian 

Why bother to learn anything in school if politicians won’t pay attention to the facts?

This simple realisation prompted Greta Thunberg, 15, to protest in the most effective way she knew. She is on strike, refusing to go to school until Sweden’s general election on 9 September to draw attention to the climate crisis.

Her protest has captured the imagination of a country that has been struck by heatwaves and wildfires in its hottest summer since records began 262 years ago.

Every day for two weeks, Thunberg has been sitting quietly on the cobblestones outside parliament in central Stockholm, handing out leaflets that declare: “I am doing this because you adults are shitting on my future.”

Thunberg herself is a diminutive girl with pigtails and a fleeting smile – not the stereotypical leader of a climate revolution.

“I am doing this because nobody else is doing anything. It is my moral responsibility to do what I can,” she says. “I want the politicians to prioritise the climate question, focus on the climate and treat it like a crisis.”

When people tell her she should be at school, she points to the textbooks in her satchel.

“I have my books here,” she says in flawless English. “But also I am thinking: what am I missing? What am I going to learn in school? Facts don’t matter any more, politicians aren’t listening to the scientists, so why should I learn?”

The Swedish 15-year-old who's cutting class to fight the climate crisis by David Crouch, Science, Guardian, Sep 1, 2018 

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Opinion of the Week...

Would you put your child or grandchild on a plane that has a one chance in 20 of a disastrous crash?

It’s hard imagining anyone doing that, but it is essentially what we are doing to our kids and grandkids by not raising our voices about climate change and the 1-in-20 chance that disaster lies ahead for them. It is bad enough that we are likely on the path to exceed the 3.6 degree Fahrenheit goal stated in the Paris Agreement, which will result in dire consequences such as increasing droughts and wildfires and inundation of low lying coastal areas because of sea level rise.

If we continue on that path without taking the necessary actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, there is a 5 percent chance of catastrophic consequences — even an existential threat to humanity by mid-century, according to experts at the Scripps Institute. 

Uncontrolled climate change could result in disaster for our kids. Will we do something?, Opinion by Mike Hoffman, USA Today, Aug 1, 2018 

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El Niño/La Niña Update...

With all signs highlighting a switch, from the La Nina to the forecast El Nino (formally called El Nino Southern Oscillation or ENSO) climate pattern for this fall 2018, and winter too, meteorologists and climatologists expect to have a better idea of how strong this El Nino event will become by late October into November.

"Looking at the latest 30-day and 90-day maps generated (for this Autumn 2018 which the Climate Prediction Center issued Aug. 16, 2018) it appears we're witnessing the incorporation of an El Nino event into the outlooks," said Allen Dutcher, associate state climatologist, Nebraska State Climate Office-Lincoln. "During the past four weeks, there's been a subtle shift toward a wetter pattern across the southern Plains, while the northern Plains has slipped towards the dry side."

Most weather signs are pointing to an El Nino weather pattern this fall and winter by Amy G. Hadachek, The Fence Post, Aug 31, 2018 

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Toon of the Week...

 

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Coming Soon on SkS...

 [To be added.] 

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Climate Feedback Reviews...

[To be added.] 

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SkS Week in Review... 

 [To be added.] 

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Poster of the Week...

 

 

 

from Skeptical Science
via IFTTT

American Loon #2065: David John Oates

Since professional paranoid persecution complex promoter Alan Nunnelee passed away, we’ll give this entry to one of the legendary stalwarts of all things fringe crazy, the Australian-born but US-residing David John Oates. Oates is the main promoter of the reverse speech hypothesis,...

Read the full lunacy: #2065: David John Oates Encyclopedia of American Loons

Three Trends In “Alternative Dentistry” Part 3: Amalgam Removal and Avoidance

By guest blogger Hans-Werner Bertelsen Any material used in dentistry may provoke an individual local or systemic reaction, including an allergic response to its use. Due to the high toxicity of mercury, in so-called alternative dentistry, the removal of amalgam fillings is often recommended. ‘Amalgam sanitations’ often are a major component of the treatment portfolios […]

Read the rest here: Three Trends In “Alternative Dentistry” Part 3: Amalgam Removal and Avoidance