2020 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #17
Posted on 25 April 2020 by John Hartz
Editor's Choice
I Am a Mad Scientist
Dr Kate Marvel
I’ve heard it a couple times already, from a journalist, a family friend, a neighbor: You must be happy about all of this. The implication is that because I’m a climate scientist, I must be excited about this time of reduced economic activity and greenhouse emissions. The Earth is healing, they say. Nature is returning. Why wouldn’t I be glad about it?
Friends, I’m definitely not happy. I’m not even sad. What I am, more than anything, is angry.
I’m angry at the very idea that there might be a silver lining in all this. There is not. Carbon dioxide is so long-lived in the atmosphere that a small decrease in emissions will not register against the overwhelming increase since the start of the Industrial Revolution. All this suffering will not make the planet any cooler. If the air quality is better now, if fewer people die from breathing in pollution, this is not a welcome development so much as an indictment of the way things were before.
I Am a Mad Scientist by Kate Marvel, Drilled News, Apr 22, 2020
Click here to access the entire article as originally published on the Drilled News website.
Articles Linked to on Facebook
Sun, Apr 19, 2020
- Long-living tropical trees do the heavy carbon lifting by Natalie Parletta, COSMOS, Apr 13, 2020
- Climate change: 'Bath sponge' breakthrough could boost cleaner cars by Matt McGrath, Science & Environment, BBC News, Apr 18, 2020
- Virus-hit Asian nations brace for double disasters as extreme weather looms by Thin Lei Win, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Apr 16, 2020
- Citizens’ assemblies on climate change seek to shape the post-Covid recovery by Chloé Farand, Climate Home News, Apr 17, 2020
- Earth Day 2020 Brings Together an Unprecedented Collection Of Voices, Press Release, Earth Day 2020, Apr 15, 2020
- In an Era of Pandemics and Fires, Global Action Is the Only Hope by Jacques Leslie, Letters from California, Yale Environment 360, Apr 2, 2020
- After the Coronavirus, Two Sharply Divergent Paths on Climate, Analysis by Fred Pearce, Yale Environment 360, Apr 7, 2020
- USAFacts Releases the State of the Earth Report and Announces a Collaboration With Earth Day To Help Americans Access the Facts, Press Release, Earth Day 2020, Apr 15, 2020
Mon, Apr 20, 2020
- Spillover Warning: How We Can Prevent the Next Pandemic by Roger Cohn, Yale Environment 360, Apr 7, 2020
- UK citizens' assembly calls coronavirus a 'test run' for greener lifestyles by Laurie Goering, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Apr 19, 2020
- When it comes to battling climate change and sea rise, what does it mean to be ‘resilient’?, Opinion by Courtney Humphries, Ideas, Boston Globe, Apr 19, 2020
- The Guardian joins forces with hundreds of newsrooms to promote climate solutions, Staff, Environment, Guardian, Apr 19, 2020
- Coronavirus conspiracy theories are dangerous – here’s how to stop them spreading by Stephan Lewandowsky & John Cook, The Conversation US, Apr 20, 2020
- Trump (Sort of) Accepted Covid-19 Modeling. Don’t Expect the Same on Climate Change. by James Bruggers, InsideClimate News, Apr 20, 2020
- $1.75 billion plan proposes flood wall encircling Charleston peninsula against sea rise by Chloe Johnson and Mikaela Porter, The Post & Courier (Charleston, SC), Apr 20, 2020
Tue, Apr 21, 2020
- What coronavirus tells us about climate change on Earth Day’s 50th anniversary by Lynda V Mapes, Environment, Seattle Times, Apr 19, 2020
- Warmest Oceans on Record Adds to Hurricanes, Wildfires Risks by Brian K Sullivan, Climate Adaptation, Bloomberg News, Apr 18, 2020
- Renewables agency charts path to zero-carbon energy system by 2050 by Kate Abnett, Reuters, Apr 20, 2020
- Will climate change end waterfront living? Not if you can afford it by Oliver Milman, Covering Climate Now, Environment, Guardian, Apr 20, 2020
- State of the climate: First quarter of 2020 is second warmest on record by Zeke Hausfather, State of the Climate, Carbon Brief, Apr 20, 2020
- Four more EU nations back a green post-coronavirus recovery by Alister Doyle, Climate Home news, Apr 20, 2020
- Earth Day at 50 Reveals What’s Missing in Climate Change Fight by Jason Bordoff, Foreign Policy Apr 21,2020
Wed, Apr 22, 2020
- With climate and coronavirus, 'the broad shape of the story is the same' by Peter Sinclair, Video, Yale Climate Connections, Apr 10, 2020
- As Amazon fire season looms, smoke and coronavirus could be 'a disaster' by Mauricio Angelo, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Apr 20,2020
- How Is the Coronavirus Pandemic Affecting Climate Change? by Matt Simon, Science, Wired Magazine, Apr 21, 2020
- Our extraordinary 50th Earth Day, Opinion by Bud Ward, Commentary, Yale Climate Connections, Apr 22, 2020
- Earth Day: Meet the original eco warriors protecting the planet by Elaine Jung, Science & Environment, BBC, Apr 22, 2020
- The Man Who Started Earth Day by Jeff Goodell, Rolling Stone Magazine, Apr 22, 2020
- Q&A: 50 Years Ago, a Young Mother’s Book Helped Start an Environmental Revolution by Evelyn Nieves, InsideClimate News, Apr 22, 2020
- How the Environment Has Changed since the First Earth Day 50 Years Ago by Andrea Thompson, Scientific American, Apr 22, 2020
Thu, Apr 23, 2020
- Fifty Things We’ve Learned About the Earth Since the First Earth Day, Smithsonian Magazine, Apr 22, 2020
- Earth Day at 50: Five Ways to Honor the Legacy and Change the World by Andrew Steer, World Resources Institute (WRI), Apr 21, 2020
- Pandemic side-effects offer glimpse of alternative future on Earth Day 2020 by Oliver Milman, Covering Climate Now, Environment, Guardian, Apr 20, 2020
- Relentless record heat roasts south Florida while most of the Gulf Coast also is cooking by Matthew Cappucci & Jason Samenow, Capital Weather Gang, Washington Post, Apr 22, 2020
- ‘Mom, are We Going to Die?’ How to Talk to Kids About Hard Things Like Covid-19 and Climate Change by Sabrina Shankman, InsideClimate News, April 22, 2020
- Climate change: 2019 was Europe's warmest year on record by Matt McGrath, Science & Environment, BBC News, Apr 22, 20s20
- Earth Day Message to Leaders: After Coronavirus, Rebuild Wisely by Somini Sengupta, Climate New York Times, Aspr 22, 2020
- 'No Warming, No War': Report Details How US Militarism and Climate Crisis Are Deeply Interwoven by Jessica Corbett, Common Dreams, Apr 23, 2020
Fri, Apr 24, 2020
- Climate Justice Arising—Hidden Hope in Dark Times by Frances Moore Lappé, Common Dreams, Apr 23, 2020
- A no-brainer stimulus idea: Electrify USPS mail trucks by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Apr 22, 2020
- “Ghost Flights” Haunt the Skies, Enlarging Carbon Footprints by Maxine Joselow, E&E News on April 23, 2020
- Facing Climate Change on Two Fronts: Research and Conversation by Catherine Caruso, Slice of MIT, Apr 22, 2020
- Ice-free Arctic summers now very likely even with climate action by Damien Carrington, World, Guardian, Apr 21, 2020
- Forced Inside, Climate Activists Are Making Noise From Their Living Rooms by Akshat Rathi, Culture & Design, Bloomberg News, Apr 24, 2020
- Battered by Matthew and Florence, North Carolina Must Brace for More Intense Hurricanes by Jame Bruggers, InsideClimate News, Apr 24, 2020
- I Am a Mad Scientist by Kate Marvel, Drilled News, Apr 22, 2020
Sat, Apr 25, 2020
- Insect numbers down 25% since 1990, global study finds by Damian Carrington, Environment, Guardian, Apr 23, 2020
- Climate activists to emerge stronger from coronavirus crisis, says Greta Thunberg by Megan Rowling, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Apr 22, 2020
- Church fund urges other ExxonMobil investors to sack board over climate by Kalyeena Makortoff, Business, Guardian, Apr 22, 2020
- Why coal phaseout is a ‘no-regret’ plan for tackling climate change is a ‘no-regret’ plan for tackling climate change, Guest Post by Sebastian Rauner, Carbon Brief, Apr 21, 2020
- ‘We Need to Hear These Poor Trees Scream’: Unchecked Global Warming Means Big Trouble for Forests by Bob Berwyn, InsideClimate News, Apr 25, 2020
- Halve the farmland, save nature, feed the world by Tim Radford, Climate News Network, Apr 21, 2020
- The Lab That Discovered Global Warming Has Good News and Bad News by Richard Schiffman, New York Times, Apr 24, 2020
Hi folks,
You might have heard of Michael Moore's new film, "Planet of the Humans". Unfortunately, this movie is grossly flawed. Please find reviews here spotted by videographer Peter Sinclair:
Planet of the Stupid
Moore No Mas: New Film Drinks the Lysol
Stay safe!
Sir Charles,
I have noticed The Usual Suspects cherry-picking the incorect or misleading bits from "Planet of the Humans" and using them as the basis for even more misleading or incorrect claims to attack and discredit the entire Realm of Environmental Protection.
I have also noticed that many people are able to correct the misleading comments in many ways, with the response to the corrections being the usual denial that the corrections are legitimate.
Reasoning motivated by Personal Interest can be incredibly harmfully incorrect and very resistant to expanded awareness and improved understanding.
This is often observed in the games of economics and politics, competitions for Impressions of Winning any way that can be gotten away with. It even influences thinking related to Sports, especially when Big Perceptions of Reward are at stake.
People who have developed a Devotion to an Activity, Sport, Team or Ideology can get Locked-In to narrow-minded short-term thinking and seek made-up excuses for all types of understandably unacceptable behaviours.
The air is clean, the sky bright blue, and it is quiet because traffic is now minimal. Granted it is a small sample size, but I have noticed a good sign for the climate/environment from this pandemic. My neighbor is now welcoming the idea of changing quickly to electric vehicles charged by wind and solar. A friend is accepting the reality of human-induced climate change. Let’s hope others follow these complete changes in perspective.
Moore's movie discards renewable energy as a solution and instead the solution proposed is much lower energy use and slower population growth. Well that doesn't make much sense to me, because even the most optimistic projections of population growth falling arent fast enough to do that much to help the climate, and its unrealistic to expect people to slash their energy use by truly vast amounts. Obviously slower population gowth and lower energy use would help a bit, but are nowhere near sufficient answers. So we need renewable energy or at least clean energy ( maybe a tiny bit of nuclear power is ok as well).
Michael Moores motivations look political to me. He is a known sceptic of capitalism and elites, and has taken this to the point of absurdity of dismissing renewable energy because its associated with capitalism and elites. He is doing the mirror image of what denialists do in dismissing renewable energy because they hate the green movements left leaning politics.
This is sad because his movies are normally good value, and scepticism of elites is justified.
nigelj,
Efforts to limit the growth of the population are important. More than 12 billion humans would likely be Unsustainable for many reasons.
And the total amount of energy consumed by the total human population needs to be reduced, because there is material consumption and negative impacts associated with any energy generation, even the renewables. And the less fortunate portion of the population will be developing towards the better lives lived by the more fortunate people. It would be completely unacceptable for the more fortunate to live in ways that the less fortunate have to be kept from living.
So the understandable requirements become the combination of:
Moore's movie pretending that the solution could be 'fossil fuel energy used by a reduced population living with less energy' is indeed not practical. It is also not required.
What is required is achieving the entire set of Sustainable Development Goals. And that requires everything I have presented.
I continue to be amazed to see "Social Change Activists" appear to cherry-pick favorite issues while failing to present the importance of achieving and improving on the already established awareness and understanding of things like the entire suite of the Sustainable Development Goals.
The NYT "Climate" desk has completed presenting a series of articles on Climate Change matters as part of the recognition of the 50th Anniversary of the first Earth Day.
A crash course on climate change, 50 years after the first Earth Day