Arguments
2015 SkS Weekly Digest #10
Posted on 8 March 2015 by John Hartz
SkS Highlights
Attracting the highest number of comments of the articles posted during the past week were:
- The oceans may be lulling us into a false sense of climate security by John Abraham
- New Series: Science Communicators – Why We Love Communicating Science by CollinMaessen
- Does providing information on geoengineering reduce climate polarization? by Andy Skuce
El Niño Watch
The long-awaited El Niño has arrived. After keeping a close eye on evolving conditions in the Pacific, scientists yesterday announced the official onset of El Niño, a phenomenon affecting weather worldwide. But the nascent event is likely to have little global impact, scientists say.
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Prediction Centre upgraded its assessment from 'El Niño Watch' to 'El Niño Advisory', meaning an event is now occurring.
Scientists have classified the current event as a "borderline, weak El Niño" with a 50 to 60 per cent chance of persisting through Spring. Its weak strength and late timing mean "widespread or significant global impacts" are unlikely, yesterday's report says.
Atmosphere 'has finally woken up' as El Niño gets underway in the Pacific by Roz Pidcock, The Carbon Brief, Mar 6, 2015
Toon of the Week
Hat tip to I Heart Climate Scientists
Quote of the Week
Vice President Joe Biden took a strong stance against climate change deniers in an interview with VICE founder Shane Smith.
The interview is part of VICE's documentary series, which airs on HBO and is premiering its third season on Friday. The first episode, titled "Our Rising Oceans," will focus on sea level rise.
"It gets to the point where you can't look anyone in the eye seriously and say, well, it's nothing having to do with manmade," he said.
Reacting to members of Congress who deny climate change is real, Biden said, "It's almost like denying gravity now... the willing suspension of disbelief can only be sustained for so long."
Biden: Denying Climate Change 'Like Denying Gravity' by Alan Horowitz, The Huffington Post, Mar 6, 2015
SkS in the News
Lindzen Illusion #2: Lindzen vs. Hansen - the Sleek Veneer of the 1980s is cited and linked to in the Climate Nexus article, Lindzen Cites Debunked Science to Defend Denier-for-Hire Soon in 'Wall Street Journal' posted on The Huffington Post.
In his Energy & Environment blog post (Washington Post), The GOP’s climate change skepticism, in one groan-worthy video, Puneet Kollipara references and links the SkS Global Warming & Climate Change Myths webpage.
Tracy D’Augustino, Michigan State University Extension quotes from, and links to, the The Debunking Handbook in her article, Combating science misconceptions: Help take the fiction out of science.
Coming Soon on SkS
- Key climate change impacts (ATTP)
- Consensus vs geoengineering - how to convince people about global warming (Dana)
- 2015 SkS Weekly News Roundup #11A (John Hartz)
- The cause of the greatest mass-extinction of all? Pollution (John Mason)
- Guest Post (John Abraham)
- Scientists discuss how strongly a warming Arctic is implicated in extreme weather (Robert McSweeney)
- 2015 SkS Weekly News Roundup #11B (John Hartz)
- 2015 SkS Weekly Digest #11 (John Hartz)
Poster of the Week
SkS Week in Review
- 2015 SkS Weekly News Roundup #10B by John Hartz
- Understanding Time of Observation Bias by Zeke Hausfather
- 2015 SkS Weekly News Roundup #10A by John Hartz
- The oceans may be lulling us into a false sense of climate security by John Abraham
- Does providing information on geoengineering reduce climate polarization? by Andy Skuce
- New Series: Science Communicators – Why We Love Communicating Science by CollinMaessen
- 2015 SkS News Bulletin #2: Willie Soon & The Fossil Fuel Industry by John Hartz
- Fossil fuel industry caught taking a page out of the tobacco playbook by Dana
- 2015 SkS Weekly Digest #9 by John Hartz
97 Hours of Consensus: Stefan Rahmstorf
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Thanks for the El Nino updates.
Romm just posted something on likely increases in rates of warming: thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/03/10/3631632/climate-change-rate/
Anyone:
Where is the best information on the Gulf Stream? I'd like it for a class this Friday in Virginia. Current flow rate (in Sverdrups), historical flow rates and trends, ancillary effects, theories, peer reviewed publications, effects of El Nino or La Nina events, other thermohaline circulation factors, of note, affecting the Gulf Stream, etc
Thank You
wili,
Related to Romm's post and the El Ninoish condition that has developed and may continue through the spring, the current Arctic sea ice extents here appear to be starting to decline early. However, as with any near term climate matter 'wait and see'. A few other years have had similar early dips followed by regrowth of sea ice extent.
swampfoxh, no idea if it is the "best" source, but Google found this.
@ OPOF
The current "interesting" state of sea ice extent is eliciting more than a few comments on the Arctic Sea Ice Blog.
Your "wait & see" advice is well made, as, by way of a cautionary example, between Day 68 and Day 80 last year, sea ice area (as measured by UIUC on Cryosphere Today) went up by 600k sq kms.
The corresponding numbers for Day 68 of 2015 were posted a few hours ago on CT.
cheers btf
Folks living near Santa Cruz, California: There is a Climate & Policy Conference this Friday night and Saturday day. Richard Alley will be keynote speaker Friday night.