Arguments
2022 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #38
Posted on 24 September 2022 by John Hartz
Story of the Week
Tipping points: How could they shape the world’s response to climate change?
The Larsen Ice Shelf is situated along the northeastern coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, one of the fastest-warming places on the planet. In the past three decades, two large sections of the ice shelf (Larsen A and B) have collapsed. A third section (Larsen C) seems like it may be on a similar trajectory, with a new iceberg poised to break away soon.
The mosaic above, centered on the northern part of Larsen Ice Shelf, is comprised of four natural-color satellite images captured by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8 on Jan. 6 and 8, 2016. It shows the remnant of Larsen B, along with the Larsen A and smaller embayments to the north covered by a much thinner layer of sea ice. The remaining shelf appears white with some deep rifts within it.
Areas with sea ice anchored to the coastline or ice shelf—fast ice—are light blue where covered with melt water and white where covered by wind-blown snow. The ocean is dark, nearly black, where it is not covered by sea ice. The white areas near where glaciers meet the sea have multitudes of small icebergs called bergy bits that broke off from land ice.
Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory image by Jesse Allen, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey, Caption: Adam Voiland
Source of the above: Antarctica’s Changing Larsen Ice Shelf, NASA
Researchers, economistand civil society representatives gathered in Exeter this week to discuss the prospect of “tipping points” in a warming world.
Over three days at the University of Exeter, the conference aimed to both improve “warnings of the imminent risks of catastrophic climate tipping points” and accelerate “positive tipping points” to trigger “rapid and transformative solutions” to climate change.
The conference followed closely after a major new review study – published last week in Science and covered by Carbon Brief – which warns that there is a “significant likelihood” of multiple tipping points being crossed if global warming exceeds 1.5C.
Tipping points: How could they shape the world’s response to climate change? by Robert McSweeney & Ayesha Tandon, Carbon Brief, Sep 16, 2022
Links posted on Facebook
Sun, Sep 18, 2022
- Japan storm: Thousands evacuated as Typhoon Nanmadol approaches, BBC News, Sep 17 2022
- The Big C’s: Climate Change and Cancer by Andrea Baccarelli & Stacia M. Nicholson, Columbia News, Sep 16, 2022
- Fiona strengthens into a hurricane as storm heads toward Puerto Rico by Haley Brink & Dakin Andone, CNN, Dec 18, 2022
- Criticism intensifies after big oil admits ‘gaslighting’ public over green aims by Oliver Milman, Guardian, Sept 17th 2022
- Millions told to evacuate as Typhoon Nanmadol heads for Japan by Jessie Yeung, Junko Ogura, Sahar Akbarzai and Jennifer Hauser, CNN, Sep 18, 2022
- Republicans plan legal assault on climate disclosure rules for public companies by Adam Lowenstein, The Guardian, Sep 15, 2022
Mon, Sep 19, 2022
- The ‘Climate 10’ – the world’s most skilled actors in the theater of predatory climate delay by Staff, Climate & Capital, Sep 17, 2022
- Hurricane Fiona makes landfall on Puerto Rico's southwest coast after triggering an island-wide power blackout by Susan Miller & Jorge L. Ortiz, USA Today, Sep 18, 2022
- Catastrophic flooding in Puerto Rico as Hurricane Fiona dumps nearly 30 inches of rain by Allison Finch, AccuWeather, Sep 19, 2022
- Millions are displaced each year by climate change. José Andrés, Leon Panetta and others are teaming up to try to help by Ed O'Keefe, CBS News, Sep 19, 2022
Tue, Sep 20, 2022
- Why should we trust science? Because it doesn’t trust itself by John Wright, The Conversation AU, Sep 19, 2022
- More than 1 million were left without running water after Hurricane Fiona ripped through the Dominican Republic. It's only expected to get stronger by Elizabeth Wolfe & Melissa Alonso, CNN. Sep 20, 2022
- Climate Change Is Shaking the Global Economy. IMF and WTO Demand a United Front. by Lauren Foster, Barron's, Sep 19, 2022
- Tipping points: How could they shape the world’s response to climate change? by Robert McSweeney & Ayesha Tandon, Carbon Brief, Sep 16, 2022
Wed, Sep 21, 2022
- Climate change likely helped cause deadly Pakistan floods, scientists find by Rebecca Hersher, NPR News, Sep 19, 2022
- UN chief: 'Tax fossil fuel profits for climate damage' by Matt McGrath, BBC News, Sep 20, 2022
- The next named storm could be a monster hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico by Judson Jones & Jennifer Gray, CNN, Sep 21, 2022
- U.S. Fossil-Fuel Reserves Alone Could Put Global Climate Targets Out of Reach by Heather Richards, E&E News/Scientific American, Sep 20, 2022
Thu, Sep 22 2022
- Denmark becomes first U.N. member to pay for ‘loss and damage’ from climate change by Sarah Kaplan, Washington Post, Sep 20, 2022
- Connecticut Becomes One of the First States to Require Schools to Teach Climate Change by Kimberly White, The Planetary Press, Sep 21, 2022
- Sky and the Australian find ‘no evidence’ of a climate emergency – they weren’t looking hard enough by Graham Readfearn, The Guardian, Sep 21, 2022
- The president of the World Bank isn't sure climate change is real by Tim McDonnell, Quartz, Sep 21, 2022
Fri, Sep 23, 2022
- The Pathway to 90% Clean Electricity Is Mostly Clear. The Last 10%, Not Sonews, Much by Dan Gearino, Inside Climate News, Sep 22, 2022
- As Hurricane Fiona passes near Bermuda, Canadians on the Atlantic coast are on guard by Aya Elamroussi, CNN, Sep 23, 2022
- In California, a Race to Save the World’s Largest Trees From Megafires by Twilight Greenaway, Inside Climate News, Sep 23, 2022
- US under pressure to force out World Bank chief over climate doubt by Joe Lo, Climate Home News, Sep 22, 2022
Sat, Sep 24,2022
- Warming climate makes extreme hurricane rains more likely for Puerto Rico by Jeff Masters & Bob Henson, Yale Climate Connections, Sep 23, 2022
- Skeptical Science New Research for Week #38 2022 by Doug Bostrogm & Marc Kodack, Skeptical Science, Sep 22, 2022
- Cost of crypto: Report says U.S. bitcoin as dirty as 6 million cars by Avi Asher-Schapiro, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Sep 23, 2022
- Australia climate inaction violated Torres Strait Islanders' rights, U.N. says by Emma Farge & Sonali Paul, Rueters, Sep 23, 2022
The climate that the Earths is in is a long-term ice age named the Quaternary Glaciation or fifth ice age. The climate of the Earth alternates between normal temperatures and ice ages. The cause is the orbit of the Earth changes from a near circle like the present, and it is warmer, but not warm enough to melt all of the natural ice, to a slight ellipse. It then receives much less sunlight and the glaciers grow and advance and that ususally lasts about 90,000 years. The warm, near circular, time periods last about 10,000 years. This is all because of the pull of the other planets, mainly Jupiter.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quaternary_glaciation
[PS] I am not quite sure what point you are trying to make, but note detailed write-up in this here https://skepticalscience.com/Milankovitch.html. Note that the Milankovich orbital cycles were only able to induce ice age when the CO2 level in atmosphere dropped by ~400ppm.
The CO2 levels dropped because the Eath receives less sunlight when it is in the more elliptical phase of its orbit. It got 25% less sunlight that made it colder and colder water can absorb more CO2 so the CO2 levels dropped.
[BL] You have returned to continue your trip through the various climate myths. You are continuing to get things wrong.
Yo have previously been pointed to the SkS page on Milankovitch cycles. Your 25% number is way off, when looking at global annual values. For global annual values, variations in eccentricity only cause from +0.014% to -0.17% compared to today’s average. Your 25% figure is something you must have obtained from a source that only looked at 65N on the summer solstice. Climate lasts more than one day, and the globe covers more than one line of latitude.
Your assumption that cooling causes decreases in atmospheric CO2 is also wrong - and is also covered in other posts here at SkS. With our current warming oceans, ocean absorption of atmospheric CO2 is fighting against the rise caused by burning fossil fuels.
The Quaternary Glaciation has two main phases. There is the phase when the Earth's orbit is almost circular like today and it is warmer and there is the phase where the Earth's orbit is more elliptical and it gets less sunlight and is colder. When it is warmer the oceans release more CO2, like today, and when it is colder the oceans absorb more CO2. The colder phase lasts about 90,000 year and the warmer phase lasts about 90,000 years for a total of about 100,000 years for each complete cycle. The Earth's orbit varies like this because of the gravational pull of Jupiter, although the other planets have some effect. This is from Wikipedia, mainly.
[BL} See the moderator's note on your previous comment. You are very, very wrong on the links between CO2 uptake and ocean temperature, and vastly overestimate the effect of orbital ellipticity on the earth's receipt of solar radiation.