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2018 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #30
Posted on 29 July 2018 by John Hartz
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Quote of the Week... Graphic of the Week... SkS in the News... SkS Spotlights... Video of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Reviews... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week...
Story of the Week...
Extreme global weather is 'the face of climate change' says leading scientist
Exclusive: Prof Michael Mann declares the impacts of global warming are now ‘playing out in real-time’
Emergency workers among damaged vehicles in a open parking area of northern Athens after a flash flood struck the Greek capital. Photograph: Angelos Tzortzinis/AFP/Getty Images
The extreme heatwaves and wildfires wreaking havoc around the globe are “the face of climate change,” one of the world’s leading climate scientists has declared, with the impacts of global warming now “playing out in real time.”
Climate change has long been predicted to increase extreme weather incidents, and scientists are now confident these predictions are coming true. Scientists say the global warming has contributed to the scorching temperatures that have baked the UK and northern Europe for weeks.
The hot spell was made more than twice as likely by climate change, a new analysis found, demonstrating an “unambiguous” link.
Extreme weather has struck across Europe, from the Arctic Circle to Greece, and across the world, from North America to Japan. “This is the face of climate change,” said Prof Michael Mann, at Penn State University, and one the world’s most eminent climate scientists. “We literally would not have seen these extremes in the absence of climate change.”
“The impacts of climate change are no longer subtle,” he told the Guardian. “We are seeing them play out in real time and what is happening this summer is a perfect example of that.”
“We are seeing our predictions come true,” he said. “As a scientist that is reassuring, but as a citizen of planet Earth, it is very distressing to see that as it means we have not taken the necessary action.”
Extreme global weather is 'the face of climate change' says leading scientist by Damian Carrington, Environment, Guardian, July 27, 2018
Toon of the Week...
Quote of the Week...
Rising temperatures linked to human-caused climate change could lead to increasing suicide rates in the U.S. and Mexico, a study suggested Monday.
By comparing historical temperature and suicide data going back decades, researchers found a strong correlation between warm weather and increased suicides, according to new research published in Nature Climate Change, a peer-reviewed British journal.
Researchers have known for centuries that conflict and violence tend to peak during warmer months.
"Now we see that in addition to hurting others, some individuals hurt themselves," said Solomon Hsiang, study co-author from the University of California-Berkeley. "It appears that heat profoundly affects the human mind and how we decide to inflict harm."
Global warming risk: Rising temperatures from climate change linked to rise in suicides by Doyle Rice, USA Today, July 23, 2018
Graphic of the Week...
Record-breaking summer marches on to the beat of climate change by Brandon Miller, CNN, July 24, 2018
SkS in the News...
In her Yale Climate Connections article, Climate change science comeback strategies Karin Kirk wrote:
Strategy #2 – Expose the myth, misinformation, or fallacy
Few may be surprised that most attempts to undermine climate science hinge on some type of misinformation. Cherry-picked data, fake experts, and conspiracy theories are well-worn hallmarks of contrarian rhetoric.
John Cook, founder of Skeptical Science and now a research assistant professor at the Center for Climate Change Communication at George Mason University, has extensive experience unraveling climate denial. Cook’s work has found that a sort of “inoculation” can help with climate misinformation. In other words, if people are exposed to the techniques commonly used in misinformation, they become more resistant to being misled when in the future they encounter bogus information.
So Cook’s response to the example comment is simple. He points directly to the logical fallacy at the heart of the myth, and uses an easy example to illustrate that the statement can’t be correct.
SkS Spotlights...
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Creativity. The ability to innovate, learn and collaborate to find solutions.
Video of the Week...
The 5 Big Clite Unkowns by Climat State, July 27, 2018
Coming Soon on SkS...
- America spends over $20bn per year on fossil fuel subsidies. Abolish them (Dana)
- Climate change made 2018 European heatwave up to ‘five times’ more likely (Robert McSweeney)
- Coming full circle: from study to comedy sketch to study (BaerbelW, David Kirtley)
- Guest Post (John Abraham)
- New research this week (Ari)
- 2018 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #31 (John Hartz)
- 2018 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #31 (John Hartz)
Climate Feedback Reviews...
NPR story accurately describes ecological consequences of altered spring timings in a warming climate
Climate Feedback asked a team of scientists to review the article, Spring Is Springing Sooner, Throwing Nature's Rhythms Out Of Whack by Nathan Rott, NPR, July 23, 2018
Two scientists analyzed the article and estimate its overall scientific credibility to be 'high' to 'very high'.
A majority of reviewers tagged the article as: Accurate.
Review Summary
This article at NPR discusses what happens when warm spring weather arrives earlier because of climate change. Animals must adjust to changes in the timing of plant flowering, for example, leading to noticeable desynchrony in the ecosystem, e.g. “Flowers are blooming before there are bees to pollinate them. Hard frosts are still occurring long after winter’s snow melts away, decimating fruit orchards and budding plants.”
Scientists who reviewed the story found that it accurately represented trends in data and research on the topic. They found only a few statements that could be improved, such as referencing snowpack in April rather than January to better relate to spring conditions.
NPR story accurately describes ecological consequences of altered spring timings in a warming climate, Edited by Scott Johnson, Climate Feedback, July 27, 2018
SkS Week in Review...
- 2018 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #30 by John Hartz
- Upcoming webinars on turning misinformation into an educational opportunity by John Cook
- CSLDF is fighting attacks on science. Here’s how you can help. Guest Post by Lauren Kurtz of the Climate Science Legal Defense Fund
- Facebook video spreads climate denial misinformation to 5 million users by Dana Nuccitelli (Climate Consensus - the 97%, Environment, Guardian)
- Wind Energy: What About Those Subsidies? by greenman3610 (Climate Denial Crock of the Week with Peter Sinclair)
- Scientists detect a human fingerprint in the atmosphere's seasonal cycles by John Abraham (Climate Consensus - the 97%, Environment, Guardian)
- 2018 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #29 by John Hartz
Poster of the Week...
Related material : "A rapid assessment by scientists of the ongoing heatwave across northern Europe this summer has found that human-caused climate change made it as much as five times more likely to have occurred."
I thought the word "Skeptical" meant something. Guess not. This site seems to have been taken over by people who broght you global cooling in the '70s and 80s and now bring you global warming today. Please tell me, where are the real scientists that aren't in it for the money and government substities? You cannot explain the past variations in climate by current theories of MMGW, but youo can make tons of money. Like Diagonies, I am still looking for the honest website.
[JH] Blatant argumentative sloganeering snipped per SkS Comments Policy.
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