Posted on 29 November 2015 by John Hartz

SkS Highlights

The Road to Two Degrees, Part Two: Are the experts being candid about our chances? by Andy Skuce attracted the highest number of comments of the articles posted on SkS during the past week. Two-faced Exxon: the misinformation campaign against its own scientists by Dana Nuccitelli drew the second highest number of comments. 

El Niño Watch 

GENEVA – The “El Nino” phenomenon, which sparks global climate extremes, is this year the worst in more than 15 years, the U.N. weather agency said in the middle of November, warning it was already causing severe droughts and flooding.

The World Meteorological Organization said El Nino, which occurs every two to seven years, had resurfaced a few months ago, become “mature and strong,” and was expected to become even more powerful by the end of the year.

“Severe droughts and devastating flooding being experienced throughout the tropics and subtropical zones bear the hallmarks of this El Nino, which is the strongest in more than 15 years,” WMO chief Michel Jarraud said in a statement.

World weather agency issues El Nino warning, AFP-JIJI/Japan Times, Nov 28, 2015

Toon of the Week

Hat tip to I Heart Climate Scientists

Quote of the week

At a joint news conference here Tuesday with President François Hollande of France, President Obama veered from his focus on the terrorist attacks in Paris to bring up the huge international gathering beginning in the French capital on Monday to hammer out a global response to climate change.

“What a powerful rebuke to the terrorists it will be when the world stands as one and shows that we will not be deterred from building a better future for our children,” Mr. Obama said of the climate conference.

Obama’s Legacy at Stake in Paris Talks on Climate Accord by Coral Davenport, New York Times, Nov 28, 2015

Coming Soon on SkS

• How much does animal agriculture and eating meat contribute to global warming? (Dana)
• Uncertainty is Exxon'sfriend, but it's not ours (Stephan Lewandowsky, Richard Panost, Timothy Ballard)
• The Deep Ocean: Climate change’s fingerprint on this forgotten realm (Roz Pidcock)
• Guest Post (John Abraham)
• The pope as philosopher: faith, climate change and public reason (Lawrence Torcello)
• 2015 SkS Weekly News Roundup #49 (John Hartz)
• 2015 SkS Weekly Digest #49 (John Hartz)

Poster of the Week

Hat tip to The Story of Stuff Project

SkS Week in Review

• 2015 SkS Weekly News Roundup #48 by John Hartz
• A Buoy-Only Sea Surface Temperature Record Supports NOAA’s Adjustments by Zeke Hausfather and Kevin Cowtan (Climate etc)
• The Road to Two Degrees, Part Two: Are the experts being candid about our chances? by Andy Skuce
• Two-faced Exxon: the misinformation campaign against its own scientists by Dana Nuccitelli (Climate Consensus - the 97%)
• Study drives a sixth nail into the global warming ‘pause’ myth by John Abraham  (Climate Consensus - the 97%)
• Tracking the 2C Limit - October 2015 by Rob Honeycutt
• 2015 SkS Weekly Digest #47 by John Hartz

97 Hours of Consensus: Ken Denman

Quote derived with author's permission from:

"The issue is not a lack of scientific evidence, the issue is the unwillingness of people and governments to act. It seems to defy logic. But a lot of addictions defy logic. Our society is completely addicted to cheap power."

Ken Denman's bio page