Posted on 17 January 2016 by John Hartz

SkS Highlights

The Quest for CCS by Andy Skuce (Corporate Knights) generated the highest number of comments of the articles posted on SkS during the past week. NASA study fixes error in low contrarian climate sensitivity estimates by Dana Nuccitelli (Climate Consensus -the 97%, The Guardian) attracted the second highst number.

El Niño Impacts

The world may have been jolted out of its inertia to get its act together and tackle climate change, but global temperatures are not holding still. So the heavy woollens languishing in the closet may not be the worst thing that can happen. The unbearable summer could get hotter, with little respite. While 2015 has been recorded as the hottest year, meteorologists say 2016 will be warmer.

Climate change, El Niño & Pacific Decadal Oscillation could result to unbearable summer this year by Urmi Goswami, Economic Times, Jan 16, 2016

Toon of the Week

Hat tip to I Heart Climate Scientists

Quote of the Week

Instead, and depending on how much more carbon dioxide we emit, the research says, the planet may not see large ice sheets build for 100,000 years. (It takes a very long time for atmospheric carbon dioxide to be naturally removed again from the atmosphere.)

Indeed, with all the atmospheric CO2, we’re currently headed in the opposite direction: We’re now seeing major changes in Greenland and Antarctica, though it’s not clear yet just how much of these remaining ice sheets we could lose.

“The next two glacial inceptions will be suppressed by the current cumulative emissions, plus the emissions we will unavoidably have over the next 40 to 50 years, even if we keep global warming below 1.5 to 2 degrees,” Schellnhuber* said.

“The ice ages are called off, if you like, by human interference,” he said.

*Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research

Scientists say human greenhouse gas emissions have canceled the next ice age by Chris Mooney, Energy & Environment. Washington Post, Jan 13, 2016 

They Said What?

Surprise! That was a trick. The Republican presidential candidates didn’t say anything about climate change at Thursday night’s debate. 

Here’s everything said about climate change at the GOP debate by Katie Herzog, Grist, Jan 14, 2016

SkS Spotlights

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) is an intergovernmental organisation that supports countries in their transition to a sustainable energy future, and serves as the principal platform for international co-operation, a centre of excellence, and a repository of policy, technology, resource and financial knowledge on renewable energy. IRENA promotes the widespread adoption and sustainable use of all forms of renewable energy, including bioenergy, geothermal, hydropower, ocean, solar and wind energy, in the pursuit of sustainable development, energy access, energy security and low-carbon economic growth and prosperity.

IRENA seeks to make an impact in the world of renewable energy by maintaining a clear and independent position, providing a range of reliable and well-understood services that complement those already offered by the renewable energy community and gather existing, but scattered, activities around a central hub.

Coming Soon on SkS

• Fact check: is Ted Cruz right that satellite temperature data are 'the best'?
• A Rough Guide to Rainfall and Run-Off (John Mason)
• Ted Cruz climate myths are approaching escape velocity (John Abraham)
• The Little Ape that Could (Glenn)
• The Top Ten Reasons to be Hopeful on Climate Change (Jeff Masters)
• 2016 SkS Weekly News Roundup #4 (John Hartz)
• 2016 SkS Weekly Digest #4 (John Hartz)

Poster of the Week

SkS Week in Review

• 2016 SkS Weekly News Roundup #3 by John Hartz
• If Done Correctly, Refuting Climate Myths can be an Effective Educational Strategy by Prof Mandia
• Kids ask US presidential candidates to debate science by Shawn Otto
• The Quest for CCS by Andy Skuce 
• NASA study fixes error in low contrarian climate sensitivity estimates by Dana Nuccitelli (Climate Consensus -the 97%, The Guardian)
• Surface Temperature or Satellite Brightness? by Kevin C
• 2016 SkS Weekly Digest #2 by John Hartz

97 Hours of Consensus: David Archer

David Archer's bio page

Quote derived from:

"Global warming could be one of humankind’s longest lasting legacies. The climatic impacts of releasing fossil fuel CO2 to the atmosphere will last longer than Stonehenge. Longer than time capsules, longer than nuclear waste, far longer than the age of human civilization so far. Each ton of coal that we burn leaves CO2 gas in the atmosphere. The CO2 coming from a quarter of that ton will still be affecting the climate one thousand years from now, at the start of the next millennium. And that is only the beginning."