Posted on 23 August 2015 by John Hartz

SkS Highlights

Michael Sweet's post, New paper shows that renewables can supply 100% of all energy (not just electricity) garnered, by a wide margin, the most comments of the articles posted on SkS during the past week — demonstrating once again that our readers feel more comfortable expressing their opinions about energy matters than they do about the science of climate change. 

El Niño Watch

IT IS a long way from the western Pacific Ocean to the flooded streets of Buenos Aires where, this month, the city’s Good Samaritans have been distributing food and candles by kayak after some unseasonably heavy rain. But there is a link. Its name is El Niño.

Bringing up baby, The Economist, Aug 22, 2015 

Toon of the Week

Hat tip to I Heart Climate Scientists 

Quote of the Week

"We look to science to tell us the facts about how the world functions. We look to religion to find our meaningful response. As we accept the fact that the climate is changing and that we are the main cause, we look to our common religious ethics to inspire us to act on behalf of those who will be most aversely affected: The poor."

- Rev. Matt Schultz, pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Anchorage

Climate change has a moral dimension that can't be ignored, Op-ed by Rev Max Schultz, Alaska Dispatch News, Aug 16, 2015

He Said What?

No leaks, no spills, no impact on climate change.

The Keystone XL pipeline would have “no impact” on the environment if it were approved and built, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Tuesday. For that reason, the billionaire said he would approve the controversial project “immediately” if elected president.

Trump Says Keystone XL Pipeline Would Have ‘No Impact’ On The Environment by Emily Atkin, Climate Progess, Aug 20, 2015 

SkS in the News

In his onEarth blog post, Denial Across the Pond, Brian Palmer of the National Resouces Defense Council states:

This is not accurate. As John Cook’s excellent website Skeptical Science points out, the actual temperature increase over that period has been between 0.6 and 0.7 degrees Celsius. While that discrepancy seems small in absolute terms, it means Ridley has shaved at least 20 percent off of the scientific data. Moreover, his claim that global warming has slowed is based on a very selective sample. There was a slowing of the rate of warming in the 2000s, but these sorts of variations are to be expected in an overall warming trend. Crucially, the cause of that slowing is known—a proliferation of La Niña events. (You can—and should—read more of Cook’s data-driven critique of Ridley’s views here.)   

SkS Spotlights

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Coming Soon on SkS

• Adapting to air pollution with clean air stands in China (John Abraham)
• Tracking the 2C Limit - July 2015 (Rob Honeycutt)
• Here’s what happens when you try to replicate climate contrarian research (Dana)
• You can’t rush the oceans (why CO2 emission rates matter) (howardlee)
• How to make sense of ‘alarming’ sea level forecasts (Andrew Glikson)
• 2015 Weekly News Roundup #35 (John Hartz)
• 2015 Weekly Digest #35 (John Hartz) 

Poster of the Week

Hat tip to Oil Change International

SkS Week in Review 

• 2015 SkS Weekly News Roundup #34 by John Hartz
• World Bank rejects energy industry notion that coal can cure poverty by Suzanne Goldenberg (The Guardian)
• New paper shows that renewables can supply 100% of all energy (not just electricity) by Michael Sweet
• Corrected sunspot history suggests climate change not due to natural solar trends by Astronomy Now
• 2015 SkS Weekly Digest #33 by John Hartz
• Fox News' inner struggle with climate misinformation by Dana Nuccitelli (Climate Consensus-the 97%, The Guardian)

97 Hours of Consensus: Bill Ruddiman

Bill Ruddiman's bio page & Quote source