Arguments
2020 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #2
Posted on 11 January 2020 by John Hartz
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, Jan 5, 2020 through Sat, Jan 11, 2020
Editor's Pick
Debunked Australian Bushfire Conspiracy Theories Were Pushed by Alex Jones, Murdoch Media
As unusually intense and widespread bushfires have ravaged a drought-ridden Australia, bots and trolls have begun pushing climate science denial across the internet in the form of conspiracy theories about the fires. Thanks to climate change, exceptionally hot, dry drought conditions have worsened and lengthened Australia's typical fire season.
Two of the main conspiracies about the fires are based on the false ideas that they are caused by a spate of arson and they have been worsened by the Green Party's supposed efforts to stop controlled burns as a fire management and reduction measure.
Dr. Timothy Graham from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) did an analysis of the online activity and concluded there was a high level of bots involved in spreading these conspiracies. As ZDnet reported, Graham is “at least confident” that that this was some type of disinformation campaign.
Debunked Australian Bushfire Conspiracy Theories Were Pushed by Alex Jones, Murdoch Media by Justin Mikulka, DeSmog, Jan 8, 2020
Click here to access the complete article as posted on the DeSmog website.
Articles Linked to on Facebook
Sun, Jan 5, 2020
- We are seeing the very worst of our scientific predictions come to pass in these bushfires, Opinion by Joëlle Gergis, Comment is Free, Guardian, Jan 2, 2020
- Bushfires rage out of control across southeast Australia by John Mair & Will Ziebell, Reuters, Jan 4, 2020
- After Indonesia's deadly floods, few hear climate 'wake up call' by Tabita Diela & Stanley Widianto, Reuters, Jan 4, 2020
- Climate strike but no cake for Greta Thunberg as she turns 17 by Colm Fulton, Reuters, Jan 3, 2020
- Authorities warn Australian bushfires developing their own weather systems by Melanie Burton, Reuters, Jan 4, 2020
- Explainer: how effective is bushfire hazard reduction on Australia's fires? by Graham Readfearn, Guardian, Jan 4, 2020
- Climate change is playing havoc with Mexico’s monarch butterfly migration by Kevin Sieff, Americas, Washington Post, Jan 5, 2020
- White House update of key environmental law would exclude climate change by Juliet Eilperin, Josh Dawsey & Brady Dennis, Climate & Environment, Washington Post, Jan 3, 2020
Mon, Jan 6, 2020
- What Will Another Decade of Climate Crisis Bring?, Comment by Elizabeth Kolbert, New Yorker Magazine, Jan 13, 2020 Issue
- Australia Will Lose to Climate Change by Robinson Meyer, Science, The Atlantic Magazine, Jan 4, 2020
- Rain brings brief respite in Australian bushfire crisis by Sonali Paul, Reuters, Jan 6, 2020
- Utilities Have Big Plans to Cut Emissions, But They’re Struggling to Shed Fossil Fuels by Dan Gerino, InsideClimate News, Jan 6, 2020
- 10 energy and climate issues to watch in 2020 by Amy Harder, Harder Line, Axios, Jan 6, 2020
- Shutdown of US coal power facilities saved over 26,000 lives, study finds by Oliver Milman, Environment, Guardian, Jan 6, 2020
- How a climate change study from 12 years ago warned of this horror bushfire season by Nick Baker, Australia, SBS News, Jan 6, 2020
- Fossil fuel knocks the wind out of renewable energy movement in Ohio by Sharon Zhang, Salon, Jan 5, 2020
Tue, Jan 7, 2020
- U.S. states must target building emissions to meet climate goals - report by Valerie Volcovici, Reuters, Jan 6, 2020
- How a New Wave of Orbiting Sentinels Is Changing Climate Science by John Gertner, Sciences, Undark/Scientific American, Jan 6, 2020
- Most ice on Earth is very close to melting conditions' by Steve Gillman, Horizon Magazine (EU), Jan 6, 2020
- Using US map to examine scale of massive Australia wildfires by Matt Zarrell, ABC News (US), Jan 6, 2020
- Australia Bushfires: Number Of Animals Feared Dead Soars To Over 1 Billion by Josie Harvey, HuffPost AU, Jan 7, 2020
- 2019 in climate science: A continued warming trend and 'bleak' research by Dana Nuccitelli, Article, Yale Climate Connections, Jan 7, 2020
- Greta Thunberg responds to Meat Loaf's climate denial comments in the classiest way possible by Rachel Thompson, Mashable, Jan 6, 2020
- U.S. greenhouse gas emissions dip, Trump policies put future cuts in doubt -study by Timothy Gardner, Reuters, Jan 7, 2020
Wed, Jan 8, 2020
- How the bystander effect can explain inaction towards global warming by Gerdien de Vries, LSE Business Review, Jan 7, 2020
- Antarctic Waters: Warmer with More Acidity and Less Oxygen by Mari N. Jensen, UA News, Jan 6, 2020
- It's official: India just experienced its hottest decade on record by Annie Banerji, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Jan 7, 2020
- Bots and trolls spread false arson claims in Australian fires ‘disinformation campaign’ by Christopher Knaus, Guardian Australia, Jan 7, 2020
- Australia's Wildfires and Climate Change Are Making One Another Worse in a Vicious, Devastating Circle by Tara Law, Science, Time, Jan 7, 2020
- CO2 from jet fuel is soaring 4 times faster: what can save the day?, Analysis by Barry Saxifrage, National Observer (CA), Jan 7, 2020
- Boomers: You can still be heroes in the story of climate change by Laura McGann, Policy & Politics, Vox, Jan 8, 2020
- Atlantic Coast Pipeline loses permit battle with historically black community by Rebecca Bietsch, Policy, The Hill, Jan 7, 2020
Thu, Jan 9, 2020
- One year to save the planet: a simple, surprising guide to fighting the climate crisis in 2020 by Sandra Laville, Environment, Guardian, Jan 7, 2020
- Australia's fires could change global climate patterns for the worse by Alexandra Pattillo, Inverse, Jan 7, 2020
- Barclays pressured by shareholders to cut fossil fuel financing by Lawrence White & Simon Jessop, Reuters, Jan 8, 2020
- The US Oil and Gas Industry's 5-Year Plan Is a Climate and Health Nightmare by Dharma Noor, Earther, Gizmodo, Jan 8, 2020
- How the oil industry has spent billions to control the climate change conversation by Emily Holden, Business, Guardian, Jan 8, 2020
- Greta Thunberg questions newspapers that accept fossil fuel advertising by Justine Coleman, The Hill, Jan 8, 2020
- Friday’s Bay Area king tides offer a hint of what rising sea levels look like by John King, Bay Area, San Francisco Chronicle, Jan 9, 2020
- How Scientists Are Sounding the Alarm on Climate Change by Brandon Pytel, Earth Day, Jan 8. 2020
Fri, Jan 10, 2020
- London and NYC Mayors Call on Every Major City in the World to Divest From Climate-Destroying Fossil Fuels by Jessica Corbett, Common Dreams, Jan 7, 2020
- 7 things everyone should know about Australia’s wildfire disaster by Brian Resnick, Umair Irfan & Sigal Samuel, Science & Health, Vox, Jan 9, 2020
- Media reaction: Australia’s bushfires and climate change by Daisy Dunne, Josh Gabbatiss & Robert McSweeney, Carbon Brief, Jan 7, 2020
- Carbon emissions from Australian blazes near Amazon fire levels by Michael Taylor, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Jan 9, 2020
- How to Stop Freaking Out and Tackle Climate Change, Opinion by Emma Marris, New York Time, Jan 10, 2020
- Mountain snowpack grows less reliable as the world warms by Erin Chessin, Yale Climate Connections, Jan 9, 2020
- Shareholders Demand More Climate Disclosures As SEC Moves to Restrict Them by Karen Savage, Climate Liability News, Jan 10, 2020
- Australia urges quarter of a million to flee as winds fan huge bushfires by Martin Petty & Swati Pandey, Reuters, Jan 10, 2020
Sat, Jan 11, 2020
- Soaring SUV sales keep carmakers on collision course with climate policy by Edward Taylor, Reuters, Jan 10, 2020
- The Tromsø-winter now 17 days shorter than 30 years ago by Thomas Nilsen, The Barents Observer, Jan 8, 2020
- Salty water in Bangkok is new 'reality' as sea pushes farther inland by Rina Chandran, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Jan 10, 2020
- Study Confirms Climate Models are Getting Future Warming Projections Right by Alan Buis, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA's Global Climate Change, Jan 9, 2020
- Millions of Americans brace for flooding, strong winds and crippling ice as severe storms continue by Jennifer Gray & Jason Hanna, CNN, Jan 11. 2020
- Debunked Australian Bushfire Conspiracy Theories Were Pushed by Alex Jones, Murdoch Media by Justin Mikulka, DeSmog, Jan 8, 2020
- Eine kleine Eismusik: take it in on Italy's disappearing glacier by Yara Nardi & Angelo Amante, Reuters, Jan 10, 2020
- In Australia's Burning Forests, Signs We've Passed a Global Warming Tipping Point by Bob Berwyn, InsideClimate News, Jan 8, 2020
Sadly this attempt to close the lid on this arson lunacy is more in itself a denial than an argument. I have no material to confront my skeptics friends with numbers and proofs of bushfires policies and actions.
A link with australian official number about firebreaks and bushfires preventive activities would be sufficient to prove skeptics wrong. The case is simple, if there is no reduction or an increase in preventive activities the debate is won.
If there is a decrease there is a case for more discussion on the causes. The article i read and its links simply push aside any skeptic's claim instead of attempting to debunk. Like always it will increase even more theirs feeling of confidence that we live in a bubble.
One can explain to skeptics that, even if every single one of the fires was caused by arson, the years of drought and current record-high air temperatures have created conditions where the arsonists' fires generate far more damage than would have been the case with normal rainfall and normal temperatures.
Nick Stokes posted data and sources about Australian arson.
See also Hotwhopper about Australian arson.
Also see:
Australia's indigenous people have a solution for the country's bushfires. And it's been around for 50,000 years by Leah Asmelash, CNN, Jan 12, 2020
Some time ago I read an article on Australian weather history as determined by examining the yearly rings of Calcium carbonate in stalictites and stalicmites. They suggested that Australia experiences a 200 year cycle between 'wet' and dry periods and said that Aus is now going into a dry period. Perhaps this exacerbating the overall effects of climate change. If the last two hundred years was a wet period, what must a dry period be like. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/07/190708122343.htm
Just want to make a general comment related to Mathiew #1. The way the climate denialists work is they try to goad warmists into making exaggerated claims and mistakes, then they can say "look you got that wrong", and by implication you are wrong about everything. Dont fall for it. For example some people have claimed none of these fires are caused by arson, when commonsense should tell them a few probably are.
Better to concede a few are caused by arson, but it remains unconfirmed, and mention accidents, and lightening strikes as well in more isolated areas, and that global warming leads to a longer fire season and larger areas being burned.
Ask the denilaists a simple question. How would a hotter climate not make bushfires worse?