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2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #42
Posted on 21 October 2017 by John Hartz
Editor's Pick
New Fire Danger Threatens to Worsen Most Disastrous Wildfire Season in California History
A firefighter holds a water hose while fighting a wildfire Saturday, Oct. 14, 2017, in Santa Rosa, Calif. Image credit: AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez.
A record-breaking heat wave will build over Southern California over the weekend and peak on Tuesday, bringing triple-digit temperatures that could set marks for the hottest temperatures ever recorded so late in the year in the Los Angeles area. Accompanying the heat will be the notorious Santa Ana winds, which will bring a multi-day period of critical fire danger, Saturday through Tuesday.
According to NOAA, the hottest temperatures ever recorded after October 23 in Southern California (along with the Weather Underground forecast for Tuesday) were:
105°F Riverside, 10/28/1915 (WU forecast for Tuesday: 100°F)
101°F LAX Airport, 11/1/1966 (WU forecast for Tuesday: 96°F)
101°F Longbeach, 11/1/1966 (WU forecast for Tuesday: 100°F)
100°F Downtown Los Angeles, 11/1/1966 (WU forecast for Tuesday: 101°F)
100°F Burbank/Glendale/Pasadena, 10/26/2003 (WU forecast for Tuesday: 99°F)
100°F San Diego, 11/4/2010 (WU forecast for Tuesday: 91°F)
99°F Bakersfield, 10/27/1906 (WU forecast for Tuesday: 90°F)
The heat wave and Santa Ana winds will be caused by a large near-record-strength dome of high pressure expected to settle in over the Great Basin, a few hundred miles northeast of Los Angeles. The difference in pressure between this high-pressure system and lower pressure over Southern California will drive gusty northeast winds over Southern California. Since these winds will originate over desert areas, they will be hot and dry. As the air descends from the mountains to the coast, the air will get hotter and drier, due to adiabatic compression—the process whereby the pressure on a parcel of air increases as it descends, decreasing its volume, and thus increasing its temperature as work is done on it.
New Fire Danger Threatens to Worsen Most Disastrous Wildfire Season in California History by Jeff Masters, Weather Underground, Oct 20, 2017
Links posted on Facebook
Sun Oct 15, 2017
- Powerful Hurricane Ophelia heads toward Ireland by Steve Alasmy, CNN, Oct 14, 2017
- Sinking into the sea by Briar Stewart, CBC News, Oct 13, 2017
- Geoengineering is not a quick fix for climate change, experts warn Trump by Kate Connolly, Guardian, Oct 14, 2017
- How NASA tracks carbon emissions from space to better understand — and deal with — climate change by Amina Kahn, Los Angeles Times, Oct 12, 2017
- Firefight in Sonoma County reaches second week as flames force thousands to evacuate by Kevin McCallum & Randi Rossmann, The Press Democrat, Oct 15, 2017
- Coal Is Going Down, No Matter What Trump and Pruitt Fantasize by Elliott Negin, Alternet, Oct 13, 2017
- Hurricane Ophelia: Warnings as storm heads to UK, BBC News, Oct 15, 2017
- Human success at the expense of other species is “a pretty awful legacy” by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Oct 12, 2017
Mon Oct 16, 2017
- Why Tony Abbott’s climate snow job mistakes Australia for Europe, Opinion by Greg Jericho, Guardian, Oct 14, 2017
- This Isn’t ‘the New Normal’ for Climate Change — That Will Be Worse by David Wallace-Wells, Daily Intelligencer, New York Magazine, Oct 11, 2017
- Americans are willing to pay $177 a year to avoid climate change by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Oct 13, 2017
- In China, the war on coal just got serious by Kristy Needham, The Age, Oct 13, 2017
- Portugal and Spain wildfires: Dozens dead and injured, BBC News, Oct 16, 2017
- Clean Energy Target: There's nothing in the ACCC report that suggests it should be axed, Analysis by Stephen Long, ABC News, Oct 16, 2016
- The Senate’s top climate advocate explains why Congress is doing nothing about global warming by Jeff Stein, Vox, Oct 16, 2017
- The pull of energy markets – and legal challenges – will blunt plans to roll back EPA carbon rules by Hari Osofsky & Hannah Wiseman, The Conversation US, Oct 13, 2017
Tue Oct 17, 2017
- Tropical thunderstorms are set to grow stronger as the world warms by Martin Singh, The Conversation AU, Oct 17, 2017
- The Pope just criticized the US for abandoning the Paris climate agreement by Philip Pullella, Reuters/Business Insider, Oct 16, 2017
- Trump voters confront climate change in wake of hurricane by Claire Galofaro, AP News, Oct 16, 2017
- Wind, rain, and wildfire: the wrath Hurricane Ophelia brought to Europe by Umair Irfan, Energy & Environment, Vox, Oct 17, 2017
- Hurricane Ophelia: the shape of things to come? by John Sweeney, Irish Times, Oct 17, 2017
- The war on coal is over. Coal lost. by Dana Nuccitelli, Climate Consensus - the 97%, Guardian, Oct 16, 2017
- September 2017 was fourth warmest September on record, NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, Oct 17, 2017
- Hurricane Ophelia Sheds Light On Another Climate Change Concern by Lydia O'Connor, HuffPost, Oct 16, 2017
Wed Oct 18, 2017
- Geoengineering: Scientists in Berlin debate radical ways to reverse global warming by Daisy Dunne, Carbon Brief, Oct 11, 2017
- Proposed New Mexico science standards omit global warming by Morgan Lee, AP/ABC News, Oct 16, 2017
- Scott Pruitt’s quest to kill Obama's climate regulations is deeply shady — and legally vulnerable by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Oct 17, 2017
- Carbon-sucking technology needed by 2030s, scientists warn by Laurie Goering, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Oct 10, 2017
- As scientists ponder "hacking the climate," poor countries are wary by Anna Pujol-Mazzini, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Oct 18, 2017
- 2017 lining up to be among the three warmest years on record by Rebecca Lindsey, NOAA's Climate.gov, Oct 18, 2017
- A Small Firm in Germany Has Big Ambitions in Green Energy by Stanley Reed, New York Times, Oct 17, 2017
- Typhoon Lan poised to be Northern Hemisphere’s next megastorm in the western Pacific by Jason Samenow, Capital Weather Gang, Washington Post, Oct 18, 2017mf
Thu Oct 19, 2017
- Global Warming Could Make This Lurking Climate Threat Even Worse by Sam Lemonick, Forbes, Oct 17, 2017
- El Niño’s Warning: Satellite Shows How Forest CO2 Emissions Can Skyrocket by Bob Berwyn, InsideClimate News, Oct 17, 2017
- Our Federal Science Agencies Are in Mortal Danger, Opinon by Andrew A. Rosenberg & Kathleen Rest, Scientific American, Oct 17, 2017
- CliFi – A new way to talk about climate change by John Abraham, Climate Consensus - the 97%, Guardian, Oct 18, 2017
- September 2017: Earth's 4th Warmest September on Record by Jeff Masters, Weather Underground, Oct 18, 2017
- New study suggests insect populations have declined by 75% over 3 decades by Euan McKirdy, CNN, Oct 19, 2017
- Facing Public Outcry, New Mexico Restores Evolution and Global Warming to Science Standards by Andy Kroll, Mother Jones, Oct 18, 2017
- Some New Zealand climate change impacts may already be irreversible, Government report says by Charlie Mitchell & Ged Cann, Stuff.co.nz, Oct 17, 2017
Fri Oct 20, 2017
- A brief history of the Earth's CO2 by Joanna Haigh, BBC News, Oct 19, 2017
- New Talks on Paris Climate Pact Are Set, and That’s Awkward for U.S. by Lisa Friedman, New York Times, Oct 18, 2017
- California’s new law aims to tackle imported emissions by Zeke Hausfather, Carbon Brief, Oct 18, 2017
- Portuguese kids hit climate lawsuit crowdfunding milestone by Megan Darby, Climate Home News, Oct 19, 2017
- Renewables will give more people access to electricity than coal, says IEA by Simon Evans, Carbon Brief, Oct 19, 2017
- 4 Questions About Climate Change and the California Fires by Georgina Gustin, InsideClimate News, Oct 19, 2017
- E.P.A. Scrubs a Climate Website of ‘Climate Change’ by Lisa Friedman, New York Times, Oct 20, 2017
- Here’s what Rick Perry would have recommended if he’d listened to his own grid study by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Oct 20, 2017
Sat Oct 21, 2017
- The strongest storm on Earth right now is heading for Japan by Andrew Freedman, Mashable, Oct 20, 2017
- Global CO2 emissions stalled for the third year in a row, EU Science Hub, Oct 20, 2017
- A more climate-resilient Puerto Rico? by Bruce Lieberman, Yale Climate Connections, Oct 18, 2017
- New Fire Danger Threatens to Worsen Most Disastrous Wildfire Season in California History by Jeff Masters, Weather Underground, Oct 20, 2017
- Warm waters melting Antarctic ice shelves may have appeared for the first time in over 7,000 years by Sev Kender, The Conversation UK, Oct 19, 2917
- The most effective clean energy policy gets the least love by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Oct 21, 2017
- Climate Skeptics Want More CO2 by Chelsea Harvey & Scott Waldman, E&E News/Scientific American, Oct 17, 2017
- New research, October 9-15, 2017 by Ari Jokimäki, Skeptical Science, Oct 20, 2017
I'm puzzled by the Chinese air pollution from factories. The equipment to remove particulates and sulphur from the smoke stacks is off-the-shelf technology that America deployed decades ago to clean up her emissions. Why don't they just buy a few units, reverse engineer them and deploy them to all polluting factories. They even make money from the recovered sulphur. As for cars, they lead the world in electric cars and in installation of wind turbines and solar panels so vehicle pollution should sort itself out over time.
William @1, I agree. Maybe the reasons for slow uptake of basic pollution controls on sulphates etc are political. I dont think China has quite as rigorous set of environmental rules, and ability to sue in civil court like America from what I have read. People dont fit filter devices until there is some external pressure like this.
A lot of the big industrial companies are state owned enterprises very close to government, so a lot of crony capitalism and favours.
I dont have a specific source link, but this is impression from reading the Economist.com over the years. I recall reading something that theres a huge push now to clean up smog, because its at incredibly serious levels in their cities.
I don't understand it either. Perhaps one factor is the Chinese coal is high in sulfur and other contaminants.
High sulphur coal is definitely part of the problem. This is both Chinese coal, and particularly coal they import which has been low grade:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166516203000314
cen.acs.org/articles/95/i4/Peering-Chinas-thick-haze-air.html
www.wsj.com/articles/china-coal-ban-highly-polluting-types-banned-starting-in-2015-1410852013
Heres part of the problem relating to regulation and enforcement challenges.
cen.acs.org/articles/95/i4/Peering-Chinas-thick-haze-air.html
"Although the overall efforts to curb pollution are escalating, many facilities have tried to cut costs and evade strict emission limits by covertly shutting down their air pollution controls, often at night. There are no accurate estimates of how much these illicit emissions contributed to long-term pollution and the corresponding haze. However, websites of environmental regulation agencies at different levels of government indicate that virtually every pollution inspection by regulators in recent years detected dozens of such illegal emissions."
To change the topic somewhat. We know that CO2 has increased by 43% over pre-industrial measurements to 400ppm in 2013. The crucial question, it seems to me is, how much of that 43% increase is from anthropogenic causes and how much is natural? I would very much appreciate if someone coud answer that.
[TD] 100%. See Human CO2 is a Tiny %. Please put further comments there. There are several more relevant posts, but due to me having just my phone right now, plus Elysian Space Dust, I am poorly situated to provide those right now. Comment there to ask for those if you want.