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The warnings are echoing through the drenched mountains of Vermont, where two months of rain just fell in only two days. India and Japan were deluged by extreme flooding.
2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #28
Posted on 15 July 2023 by John Hartz
A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sunday, July 9, 2023 thru Saturday, July 15, 2023.
Note: Articles in green font include quotes from Skeptical Science founder John Cook.
Story of the Week
Floods, fires and deadly heat are the alarm bells of a planet on the brink
The world is hotter than it’s been in thousands of years, and it’s as if every alarm bell on Earth were ringing.
They’re blaring from the scorching streets of Texas, Florida, Spain and China, with a severe heat wave also building in Phoenix and the Southwest in coming days.
They’re burbling up from the oceans, where temperatures have surged to levels considered “beyond extreme.”
And they’re showing up in unprecedented, still-burning wildfires in Canada that have sent plumes of dangerous smoke into the United States.
Click here to access the entire article as originally posted on the Washington Post website.
Floods, fires and deadly heat are the alarm bells of a planet on the brink by Sarah Kaplan, Climate, Washington Post, July 13, 2023
Articles posted on Facebook
Sunday, July 9, 2023
- Carbon Capture Faces a Major Test in North Dakota An expert weighs in about Project Tundra and the viability of retrofitting coal plants to capture carbon. by Dan Gearino, Inside Energy News, Inside Climate News, July 6, 2023
- ‘You should have seen this note’: US meteorologists harassed for reporting on climate crisis Meteorologists face hostility and threats from viewers as they tie climate change to extreme temperatures and weather by AP, The Guardian, July 9, 2023
- The media covers only a narrow slice of climate research—one that inspires fear over action Climate change research is much more diverse than what the public hear from in the media, new study finds. by Sarah DeWeerdt, Daily Science, Anthropocene Magazine, July 4, 2023
Monday, July 10, 2023
- An Iowa meteorologist started talking about climate change on newscasts. Then came the harassment. by Hannah Fingerhut, Heather Hollingsworth & Summer Ballentine, Associated Press/St Louis Dispatch, July 8, 2023
- Climate change could swamp this island. Home sales are surging. Maryland’s iconic Smith Island faces one of the nation’s most dire forecasts for rising seas, but real estate is booming by Justin Jouvenal, D.C., Md. & Va., Washington Post July 5, 2023
- Sir David Attenborough: How polar ship will help scientists study climate change, Later this year, a state-of-the-art UK polar research ship – equipped with aquariums, a “moon pool” and 14 different laboratories – will sail to Antarctica to study little-known ecosystem processes that are vital to better understanding climate change, Daisy Dunne, Carbon Brief, July 7,2023
- Meet the DC thinktank giving big oil ‘the opportunity to say they’ve done something’ The fossil fuel industry has a long history of hiring PR firms to sow confusion about climate change – but the Climate Leadership Council isn’t just a front group by Adam Lowenstein, US News, The Guardian, July 9, 2023
Tuesday, July 11, 2023
- June Extremes Suggest Parts of the Climate System Are Reaching Tipping Points Research shows heat domes, wildfires and vanishing polar ice are the symptom7, 2023s; unabated greenhouse gas emissions are the cause. by Bob Berwyn, Science, Inside Climate July 4, 2023
- Climate denialism has burnt to a crisp, Analysis by Philip Bump, Politics, Washington Post, July 7, 2023
- Meet the DC thinktank giving big oil ‘the opportunity to say they’ve done something’ The fossil fuel industry has a long history of hiring PR firms to sow confusion about climate change – but the Climate Leadership Council isn’t just a front group by Adam Lowenstein, US News, The Guardian, July 9, 2023
- At a glance - The human fingerprint in global warming by John Mason & Baerbel Winkler, Skeptical Science, July 11, 2023
- Florida ocean temperatures at ‘downright shocking’ levels The extreme heat around Florida is further intensifying the state’s ongoing heat wave and could make hurricanes worse by Dan Stillman, Weather, Washington Post, July 10, 2023
Wednesday, July 12, 2023
- The big idea: why climate tribalism only helps the deniers From nuclear power to electric vehicles, battles between activists risk getting in the way of reducing emissions by Hannah Ritchie, Environment, The Guardian, July 10, 2023
- SkS Analogy 9 - The greenhouse effect is a stack of blankets
- Underground climate change is helping sink the land beneath us by Kasha Patel, Climate, Washington Post, July 11, 2023
- Why is climate denial still thriving online? An extreme global heat wave has been blamed on climate change, yet online misinformation has evolved to counter the facts — despite platforms like TikTok banning climate denial. by Stuart Braun, Deutsche Welle (DW), July 11, 2023
Thursday, July 13, 2023
- Here are all the positive environmental stories from 2023 so far We're going to be regularly updating this page with good news about our planet in an effort to combat climate anxiety.V by Staff, EuroNews Green, July 11, 2023
- European heatwave Cerberus claims first life as worker dies in 40C heat Heatwave named after mythological underworld monster claims first life in Italy by Matt Drake, Stuti Mishra & Laura Sharman, The independent (UK), July 12, 2023
- Land temperatures in Spain surpass 60C as deadly heatwave sweeps Europe Ground so hot that fiery red areas on map turn black by John Dalton, The Guardian (UK), July 12
- World’s oceans changing colour due to climate breakdown, study suggests The sea is becoming greener due to changes in plankton populations, analysis of Nasa images finds by Sofia Quaglia, Environment, The Guardian, July 12, 2023
Friday July 14, 2023
- June 2023 was the world’s warmest June on record June featured unprecedented Canadian heat and wildfires, record-low Antarctic sea ice, and a strengthening El Niño. by Jeff Masters, Eye on the Storm, Yale Climate Connections, July 13, 2023
- Researchers: We've Underestimated The Risk of Simultaneous Crop Failures Worldwide by Kelly MacNamara, Environment, AFP/Science Alert, July 4, 2023
- The FLICC-Poster - Downloads and Translations by Baerbel Winkler, Skeptical Science, July 13, 2023
- The Heat Wave Scorching the US Is a Self-Perpetuating Monster The current record highs in theoshua Partlow US are thanks to a heat dome—and it’s expected to get worse through the weekend. by Matt Simon, Science, Wired Magazine, July 14, 2023
Saturday July 15, 2023
- Burning pavement, scalding water hoses: Perils of a Phoenix heat wave Amid record-breaking temperatures, risks to public health from burns and other exposure soars by Joshua Partlow, Environment, Washington Post, July 13, 2023
- Floods, fires and deadly heat are the alarm bells of a planet on the brink by Sarah Kaplan, Climate, Washington Post, July 13, 2023
- ‘Malaria resurgence’ feared in Ethiopia amid El Niño and climate change Scientists are concerned that this year’s El Niño event, combined with warming from climate change, could cause a rise in malaria cases in Ethiopia. by Ayesha Tandon, Health & Security, Carbon Brief, July 14, 2023
- When El Niño exacerbates global warming: Record heat, record flooding, record wildfires by Catherine Clifford, Weather & Natural Disasters, CBC, July 15, 2023
In related news, the usual leadership culprits from Alberta and Saskatchewan angrily oppose the federal government's stated objectives including getting COP28 to require the phasing out of unabated fossil fuel projects (without a strict timeline for the stages of the phase-out of unabated projects ... in other words ... just words with no required compliance measurement basis ... in other words ... almost meaningless).
CBC News: Western premiers push back as Guilbeault calls for 'phase-out of unabated fossil fuels'
The following quote from the article summarizes what happened among global leaders that the regional leadership in Alberta and Saskatchewan, and perhaps Canada's federal government, object to ... with the only justification appearing to be that it restricts their ability to benefit from continuing to benefit from being more harmful than others (per capita).
Canada, UAE face pressure to be more ambitious
When the meeting of international ministers concluded, several countries issued their joint statement that seemingly departed from remarks made by Canada and the U.A.E.
Countries that support a climate diplomacy bloc, the High Ambition Coalition, called for "an urgent phase out from fossil fuels."
Ministers from France, Germany, Spain, Ireland and others said this needs to start with a "rapid decline of fossil fuel production and use within this decade."
It goes on to say that technologies such as carbon capture cannot be used to help prolong the life of the oil and gas industry.
"Abatement technologies must not be used to green-light continued fossil fuel expansion but must be considered in the context of steps to phase out fossil fuel use and should be recognized as having a minimal role to play in (the) decarbonization of the energy sector," the online statement read.
The head of a network of climate advocacy organizations said the use of "unabated fossil fuels" waters down the action required to reduce carbon emissions, but admitted the language is still more ambitious than previously proposed by the U.A.E's COP president-designate.
"Obviously, the word unabated is still a weasel word, but we are progressing in a good direction at the very least," said Caroline Brouillette, the executive director of Climate Action Network Canada.