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2019 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #52
Posted on 28 December 2019 by John Hartz
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, Dec 22 through Sat, Dec 28, 2019
Editor's Pick
Record hit for most ice to melt in Antarctica in one day, data suggests: "We are in a Climate Emergency"
Newly released Antarctica topography map, BedMachine, and related findings published in the journal Nature Geoscience on Dec 12, 2019
The record in recent decades for the highest level of ice to melt in Antarctica in one day was reached on Christmas Eve, data suggests.
Around 15 percent of the continent's surface melted on Monday, according to the Global Forecast System (GFS) by the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP). The data comes from the Modèle Atmosphérique Régional (MAR), a model used for meteorological and climatic research.
Xavier Fettweis, a climatologist at the University of Liège in Belgium, who tweeted the data on Friday, said this is the highest melt extent in Antarctica in the modern era, since 1979. He added the production of melt water is a record 230 percent higher than average since November this year. That's despite the melting season not yet being over.
Record hit for most ice to melt in Antarctica in one day, data suggests: "We are in a Climate Emergency" by Kashmira Gander, Tech & Science, Newsweek, Dec 27, 2019
Articles Linked to on Facebook
Sun, Dec 22, 2019
- Automakers Accelerating Climate Change, Failing to Put the Brakes on Emissions by Dana Drugmand, DeSmog, Dec 21, 2019
- Rich Nations, After Driving Climate Disaster, Block All Progress At U.N. Talks by Kate Aronoff, The Intercept, Dec 18, 2019
- How much closer to their doors must the fire burn? It's immoral not to connect the dots, Opinion by Tim Flannery, Sydney Morning Herald, Dec 20, 2019
- 6 Ways the Climate Changed Over the Past Decade by Kelly Levin, World Resources Institute (WRI), Dec 20, 2019
- We’re Getting a Clearer Picture of the Climate Future — and It’s Not as Bad as It Once Looked by David Wallace-Wells, Intelligencer, New York Magazine, Dec 20, 2019
- Battery storage on verge of changing Texas power grid by L M Sixel, Business, Houston Chronicle, Dec 19, 2019
- A beginner’s guide to the debate over nuclear power and climate change by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Dec 19, 2019
- Coffee, Avocados, Chocolate and Other Things Climate Change Could Take Off The Menu by Pat Thomas, In These Times, Dec 20, 2019
Mon, Dec 23, 2019
- When will the Netherlands disappear? by Naomi O'Leary, Politico, Dec 16, 2019
- Greenland ice loss is at ‘worse-case scenario’ levels, study finds, UCI News, Dec 19, 2019
- Australian firefighters access badly burnt towns; PM defends climate policies by John Mair & Will Ziebell, Reuters, Dec 22, 2019
- Prime minister, you need a credible climate policy. It's too dangerous to keep pretending you have one by Lenore Taylor, Guardian Australia, Dec 21, 2019
- Six Ways Climate Change Is Waging War on Christmas by Sarah Zielinski, Smithsonian, Dec 16, 2019
- Greenland’s Nearing a Climate Tipping Point. How Long Warming Lasts Will Decide Its Fate, Study Says by Bob Berwyn, InsideClimate News, Dec 23, 2019
- What Happens to White Christmases as the World Warms? by Andrea Thompson, Scientific American Dec 23, 2019
Tue, Dec 24, 2019
- A Russian Ice Cap Is Collapsing--It Could Be a Warning by Chelsea Harvey, E&E News/Scientific American, Dec 23, 2019
- This Was The Decade We Woke Up To The Climate Crisis — But Failed To Act by Peter Aldous, Science, BuzzFeed News, Dec 19, 2019
- Church leaders use Christmas message to call for climate action by Dana McCauley, Caitlin Fitzsimmons & Melissa Cunningham, Politics, Sydney Morning Herald, Dec 24, 2019
- U.S. Military Precariously Unprepared for Climate Threats, War College & Retired Brass Warn by David Hasemyer, InsideClimate News, Dec 23, 2019
- Tears flow as politicians fail to dispel 'climate darkness' by Megan Rowling, Thomas Reuters Foundation, Dec 24, 2019
- Gift guide: 12 books on climate change and the environment, Review by Michael Svoboda, Arts & Culture, Yale Climate Connections, Dec 13, 2019
- States Vowed to Uphold America’s Climate Pledge. Are They Succeeding? by Marianne Lavelle, InsideClimate News, Dec 24, 2019
- Rise Of The Wind Turbines - The Force Is With Them And They Are Great For America by Marshall Shepherd, Science, Forbes, Dec 24, 2019
Wed, Dec 25, 2019
- U.S. Is Unprepared for Climate Damages, Experts Tell Congress by Karen Savage, Climate Liability News, Dec 20, 2019
- The ice we’ve lost to climate change this past decade, visualized by Umair Irfan, Energy & Environment, Vox, Dec 23, 2019
- Extreme heat' to bake nation's south-east as hot air mass shifts east by Peter Hannam, Environment, Sydney Morning Herald, Dec 25, 2019
- How to explain the climate crisis to your boomer this Christmas by Laurie Clark, Environment, Wired, Dec 24, 2019
- In Asia Pacific the climate crisis is happening now, not in the future by Helen Regan, CNN, Dec 24, 2019
- The Global Price Tag for 100 Percent Renewable Energy: $73 Trillion, E360 Digest, Yale Environment 360, Dec 20, 2019
- My moment’: the activists fighting climate crisis and winning elections by Nina Lakhani, Environment, Guardian, Dec 25, 2019
- The Northeast warms ahead of rest of USA: 'Our winters now are not like our winters before' by Kyle Bagenstose, Nation, USA Today, Dec 25, 2019
Thu, Dec 26, 2019
- What's behind Trump's nonsense on windmills and light bulbs, Opinion by Jeffrey Sachs, CNN, Dec 25, 2019
- Canadians 'doubtful' their country will hit emissions targets, feds told, Canadian Press/National Observer, Dec 24, 2019
- Half a million NSW residents face high to extreme bushfire risk by Megan Gorrey & Matt Wade, Sydney Morning Herald, Dec 26, 2019
- Skeptical Science New Research for Week #51, 2019 by Doug Bostrom, Skeptical Science, Dec 25, 2019
- Yes, Australia has always had bushfires: but 2019 is like nothing we've seen before by Adam Morton, Guardian Australia, Dec 24, 2019
- Climate change is putting us off having babies, but Christmas is a reminder of hope in birth, Opinion by Justin Toh, ABC News (AU), Dec 24, 2019
- Despite extreme weather and surging activism, 2019 saw political paralysis on climate, PBS Newshour, Dec 25, 2019
- Ghosts of the future by Sarah Kaplan, Outlook, Washington Post, Dec 6, 2019
- Shouting into the apocalypse: The decade in climate change, Opinion by John D Sutter, CNN, Dec 26, 2019
Fri, Dec 27, 2019
- Rowan Williams: Climate change 'largest challenge ever', BBC News, Dec 26, 2019
- The Biggest Lesson About Climate Change From 2019 by Bryan Walsh, OneZero, Medium, Dec 16, 2019
- German lifestyles must change to help protect climate -Schaueble by Thomas Escritt, Reuters, Dec 24, 2019
- The Growing Climate Risks Scientists Uncovered in the 2010s by Bob Berwyn, InsideClimate News, Dec 27, 2019
- More US voters than ever care about climate – but will they go to the polls? by Emily Holden, Environment, Guardian, Dec 26, 2019
- The never-ending RCP8.5 debate by And Then There's Physics, Dec 24, 2019
- What's happening to Greenland's most enigmatic glacier? by Potholer54, YouTube Video, Dec 26, 2019
- Climate crisis linked to at least 15 $1bn-plus disasters in 2019 by Fiona Harvey, Environment, Guardian, Dec 27, 2019
Sat, Dec 28, 2019
- Statistic of the decade: The massive deforestation of the Amazon by Liberty Vittert The Conversation US, Dec 23, 2019
- On land, Australia’s rising heat is ‘apocalyptic.’ In the ocean, it’s worse. by Darryl Fears, 2oC: Beyond the Limit, Washington Post, Dec 27, 2019
- One Planet: Why Has California Lost 90 Percent Of Its Kelp Forests? by Malihe Razazan, KALW San Francisco, Dec 22, 2019
- There's a Texas-size area of hot sea water off the coast of New Zealand by Ryan Prior, CNN, Dec 28, 2019
- 10 Climate Change Impacts That Will Affect Us All by Renee Cho, Climate, State of the Planet, Earth Institute, Columbia University, Dec 27, 2019
- Record hit for most ice to melt in Antarctica in one day, data suggests: "We are in a Climate Emergency" by Kashmira Gander, Tech & Science, Newsweek, Dec 27, 2019
- Satellites Show Glaciers Rapidly Shrinking from Climate Change by Elizabeth Howell, Science & Astronomy, Space.com., Dec 28, 2019
- After a Rough Year, Farmers and Congress Are Talking About Climate Solutions by Georgina Gustin, InsideClimate News, Dec 26, 2019
From the above list:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QCBDnJU2sQ&feature=youtu.be&
Just in case you are considering giving in to the temptation to discard the term "climate denier" (as demanded by...climate deniers!), here is Potholer's excellent take down of Tony Heller's faery tale about the Petermann glacier in far north Greenland, demonstating, once again, that the term "climate denier" is not yet ready for retirement. Not by a long shot.
Regarding the 'Editor's Pick': The post says that "level of ice to melt in Antarctica in one day [...] on Christmas Eve" was "the highest melt extent in Antarctica in the modern era, since 1979." But beware of the phrase "since 1979". It doesn't mean that the melt was higher in 1979. It means that the data set covers the time since 1979. If you say "highest since 1979" you run a considerable risk that some denialist ( - I didn't say "denier" - ) will pop up and say "Aha! So you admit that it was higher in 1979!" No, I don't admit that.