Arguments
2015 SkS Weekly Digest #1
Posted on 4 January 2015 by John Hartz
SkS Highlights
Things I thought were obvious!, a repost article by the blogger known as And Then There's Physics or ATTP, drew the highest numbert of comments of the articles posted on SkS during the past week. ATTP's original post on his own blog has also attracted a high number of commenters including some members of the all-volunteer SkS author team.
Note: Be sure to check out our new feature, Media Matters Posts about Environment & Science
El Niño Watch
The El Niño weather phenomenon is developing in Colombia, where it is causing a drought, Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies Institute, or IDEAM, weather forecasting and alerts director Cristian Euscategui said.
El Niño weather phenomenon affecting Colombia, officials say, EFE/Fox News Latino, Jan 2, 2015
Toon of the Week
h/t to I Heart Climate Scientists
Quote of the Week
However Sir David (Attenborough) is concerned that, despite the increasingly obvious scale of the threat climate change poses, leaders are not taking the matter as seriously as they should.
“Never in the history of humanity in the last 10 million years have all human beings got together to face one danger that threatens us – never.
“It’s a big ask, but the penalty of not taking any notice is huge,” he said.
Sir David’s comments come two days after a separate warning – on the dangers posed by the booming human population.
“It’s desperately difficult, the dangers are apparent to anybody,” he told The Independent.
David Attenborough: Leaders are in denial about climate change by Tom Bawden, The Independent, Jan 1, 2015
97 Hours of Consensus: Scientist of the Week
Coming Soon on SkS
- Not pHraud but pHoolishness (Richard Telford guest post)
- Economics supports immediate action on global warming (Dana)
- 2015 SkS Weekly News Roundup #2A (John Hartz)
- Five bits of research that shaped climate science in 2014 (Roz Pidcock)
- Corrosive Seawater, Not Low pH, Implicated As Cause of Oyster Deaths (Rob Painting)
- 2015 SkS Weekly News Roundup #2B (John Hartz)
- 2015 SkS Weekly Digest #2 (john Hartz)
Poster of the Week
h/t to I Heart Climate Scientists
SkS Week in Review
- 2015 SkS Weekly News Roundup #1B by John Hartz
- Things I thought were obvious! by ATTP
- 2015 SkS Weekly News Roundup #1A by John Hartz
- Another year and glaciers are another metre thinner by MarkR
- Time is running out on climate denial by Dana
- Andy Skuce's AGU Fall Meeting 2014 poster presentation by Andy Skuce
- 2014 SkS Weekly Digest #52 by John Hartz
Media Matters Posts about Environment & Science
- How Fox News Covered Pope Francis' Action On Climate Change by Denise Robbins
- The Media In 2014 By The Numbers by Hannah Groch-Begley
- The 11 Dumbest Things Conservative Media Said About Climate Change in 2014 by Kevin Kalhoeper
- 6 Ways New Media Are Getting It Right On Climate Change — And 1 That's Very Wrong by Denise Robbins
The 3.4 area of the equatorial Pacific has been at or above the + 0.5 C anomaly threshold for 12 weeks now, so we should be seeing an official declaration of El Nino state any time now from NOAA. The Japanese has arleady called it, and as you point out here, there are already El Nino-like effects being felt in various locations.
Thanks for your ongoing coverage of this event. Any predictions on where things will go from here wrt El Nino??
Ingvar.
Deleted for accusations of fraud, repeating your previously debunked claims, sloganeering and off topic. You seem to either unable or unwilling to understand responses to you in the past.
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wili,
Like you I am more curious about, and learning more about ENSO.
The latest update on the Australian Bureau of Meteorology website indicates the current strength of the SOI and Nino 3.4 are not maintaining El Nino levels, but they are close. From the tabs on the webpage you can view a variety of information including the latest Nino region sea surface averages.
Though the SOI and the Nino 3.4 are a little below the El Nino threshhold, both the SOI and Nino 3.4 are higher than they were during the months near the end of 2013. So there may be some new monthly record global averages in the early part of 2015.
Also, the ENSO evaluation indicates that the various models they review indicate that there is potential for El Nino conditions to develop, but it is not likely that a strong El Nino event will develop.
Oil slump stalls sector projects
Not a word about Keystone (or other unconventional oil projects) but I think Obama will face easier decision to ban it in such environment. Eventually, there will be no economic incentive to dig Canadian tar sands (American fracking has essencialy beaten it) which is (unfortunately for human intelligence) stronger than any env incentives discussed on this and not only site.