Posted on 4 February 2024 by BaerbelW

Story of the week

When we started our rebuttals update project at Skeptical Science last year, we didn't really know, how it would pan out and for how long we could keep the refurbishing line in our little virtual factory going. Now, almost a year after we published the first batch of 10 updated rebuttals we hit highlighted rebuttal #50 this week, so our effort thus far has proven to be sustainable. In addition, we are happy to report that we have about 25 more rebuttals in various draft stages awaiting their turn to be highlighted. Our factory will therefore not be running out of material any time soon! 

Stories we thought important

Published before January 28

• Cartoons: The psychological polar vortex  For when you need a laugh about climate change.  by Tom Toro, Yale Climate Connections, Jan 11, 2024
• Technology alone won't save us from the climate crisis, researcher says  If European countries rely solely on technological advances, they won't be able to limit global heating to 1.5°. Households will also need to change their lifestyles. by Samuel Hanegreefs, Phys.org, Jan 26, 2024
• Q&A: How YouTube Climate Denialism Is Morphing  The message may be evolving, but the company and YouTubers are still making millions off of it. by Steve Curwood, Inside Climate News, Jan 27, 2024
• Increase in West Antarctic Ice Sheet Melting Inevitable in 21st Century   by Lily Roberts, State of the Planet, Columbia Climate School, Jan 26, 2024
• How Best to Educate People About Climate Change?   by Kevin Krajick, State of the planet, Columbia Climate School, Jan 22, 2024
• Eco-Emotions: How we deal with climate fears  ClimateAdam video about eco-emotions featuring Dr.Gilbz by Adam Levy, ClimateAdam on Youtube, Jan 26, 2024

Published January 28

• 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #04  A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, Jan 21, 2024 thru Sat, Jan 27, 2024. by Bärbel Winkler, Skeptical Science, Jan 28, 2024
• Climate scientist Mark Maslin: `We have all the technology we need to move to a cleaner, renewable world`  The professor of Earth system science on the hottest year on record, using humour – with a little help from Jo Brand – to get his message across, and why there are reasons to be positive by Shaoni Bhattacharya, The Guardian, Jan 28, 2024
• With the World Stumbling Past 1.5 Degrees of Warming, Scientists Warn Climate Shocks Could Trigger Unrest and Authoritarian Backlash  Most of the public seems unaware that global temperatures will soon push past the target to which the U.N. hoped to limit warming, but researchers see social and psychological crises brewing. by Bob Berwyn, Science, inside Climate News, Jan 28, 2024
• This Far-Right Leader Seems Poised To Abandon Climate Denial - In Order To Push His Extreme Agenda  Anti-Islam populist Geert Wilders is scrambling to moderate his stances, and climate denial could be at the top of the list. by Alexander C. Kaufman, Huffington Post, Jan 28, 2024
• With the World Stumbling Past 1.5 Degrees of Warming, Scientists Warn Climate Shocks Could Trigger Unrest and Authoritarian Backlash  Most of the public seems unaware that global temperatures will soon push past the target to which the U.N. hoped to limit warming, but researchers see social and psychological crises brewing. by Bob Berwyn, Inside Climate News, Jan 28, 2024

Published January 29

• Why 2023 was an exceptional year for Antarctic sea ice   by Dr Ella Gilbert, Guest Posts, Carbon Brief, Jan 29, 2024
• Spencer`s Shenanigans  A recent sensible-sounding piece by Roy Spencer for the Heritage foundation is full of misrepresentations. Let’s play spot the fallacy. by Gavin Schmidt, RealClimate, Jan 29, 2024
• The Arctic sea ice shell game  Summer sea ice is where all the action is, and skeptics highlighting year-to-year variations in winter sea ice are just playing a shell game. by Zeke Hausfather, The Climate Brink, Jan 29, 2024
• Global science and media organizations to sign pledge prioritizing science-based climate change communications  U.S. and international scientific associations will join with high-profile media outlets to sign a pledge of cooperation aimed at ensuring climate change-related communications are scientifically accurate, accessible, and actionable. by American Meteorological Society, Phys.org, Jan 29, 2024
• Electric vehicles use half the energy of gas-powered vehicles  EVs require much less energy to operate than gasoline-burning vehicles. In fact, with the nation’s current electricity blend, an EV requires only about half the energy needed for a gasoline-powered internal combustion engine. by Karin Kirk, Yale Climate Connections, Jan 29, 2024
• Education and information can increase the acceptance of climate policies  An important question for policymakers worldwide is how to make climate and environmental policies acceptable among the populations. A new study published in Climate Policy sheds light on the preferences in five East African countries. The study shows, among other things, that education and information about how revenues from carbon taxes are used are important factors. by University of Gothenburg, ScienceDaily, Jan 29, 2024

Published January 30

• Ocean heating breaks record, again, with disastrous outcomes for the planet   by Elizabeth Claire Alberts , Oceans, Monga Bay, Jan 30, 2024
• 1963 Conference Put Carbon Dioxide and Climate Change in the Spotlight  New documents show Big Oil funded the first known meeting on CO2 and climate change, bringing risks of burning fossil fuels to national attention. by Rebecca John, DeSmog, Jan 30, 2024
• Revealed: A U.S. President Was First Informed of CO2`s Impact 59 Years Ago This Month  A 1965 memo to Lyndon Baines Johnson discloses the link between CO2 emissions and climate change — showing federal climate action could have started decades sooner.  by Rebecca John, DeSmog, Jan 30, 2024
• New Evidence Reveals Fossil Fuel Industry Sponsored Climate Science in 1954  Documents shed light on the earliest-known instance of climate science funded by the fossil fuel industry, adding to growing understanding of Big Oil’s knowledge of climate change.  by Rebecca John, DeSmog, Jan 30, 2024
• At Mann`s Defamation Trial, Defendants Are Doubling Down on Climate Denial  Debunked conspiracy theories are becoming part of the official court record.  by Adam M. Lowenstein, DeSmog, Jan 30, 2024
• At a glance - The runaway greenhouse effect on Venus  This week's rebuttal is the 50th output from our Rebuttal Updates Factory! by John Mason, Skeptical Science, Jan 30, 2024
• 'Smoking gun proof': fossil fuel industry knew of climate danger as early as 1954, documents show  Documents show industry-backed Air Pollution Foundation uncovered the severe harm climate change would wreak by Oliver Milman, The Guardian, Jan 30, 2024
• Disinformation Is the Real Threat to Democracy and Public Health  Disinformation abounds, and it can kill. Fortunately, it can often be unambiguously identified by Stephan Lewandowsky, Sander van der Linden & Andy Norman, Scientific American, Jan 30, 2024

Published January 31

• ‘Literally off the charts’: global coral reef heat stress monitor forced to add new alerts as temperatures rise  Three new levels added by US Coral Reef Watch after ‘extreme’ unprecedented heat, with highest alert warning of ‘near complete mortality’ by Graham Readfearn, Environment, The Guardian, Jan 31, 2024
• Revisiting the hot model problem  Arguments over ECS are distractions. Whether it’s 3C or 5C is a bit like whether a firing squad has 6 rifleman or 10. It’s bad either way.  by Zeke Hausfather, The Climate Brink, Jan 31, 2024
• A controversial theory linking climate change to Arctic cold snaps, explained  Despite being hotly debated, however, the theory of climate change intensifying cold snaps offers a look at how a warming planet and continued cold snaps may not be as contradictory as they may first appear. by Jordan Omstead, The Canadian Press, Brandon Sun, Jan 31, 2024
• 50 Updated Rebuttals and Counting  The climate myth rebuttal published this week was the 50th in a long list of updated rebuttals.  by John Mason, Skeptical Science, Jan 31, 2024

Published February 01

• Skeptical Science New Research for Week   New Research collection #5 for 2024 contains 134 articles in 59 journals by 833 contributing authors. by Doug Bostrom & Marc Kodack, Skeptical Science, Feb 1, 2024
• Rapid climate change may be causing Greenland's bedrock to rise, forming small islands  Press-release from the Technical University of Denmark about the paper "Vertical Land Motion Due To Present?Day Ice Loss From Greenland's and Canada's Peripheral Glaciers" by Technical University of Denmark, Phys.org, Feb 01, 2024
• The Carbon Brief Interview: Prof Zou Ji  At COP28 in Dubai, Carbon Brief’s Anika Patel spoke with Prof Zou Ji, CEO and president of the Energy Foundation China, to discuss China’s approach to its energy transition. by Anika Patel, Carbon Brief, Feb 01, 2024
• When the Storm Online Is Worse Than the One Outside  Meteorologists and climate scientists are increasingly having to combat misinformation cycles on social media. by Shawn Hubler, New York Times, Feb 1, 2024

Published February 02

• El Niño and climate change are supercharging incoming storm, SoCal's biggest this winter  The powerful atmospheric river — worrisome enough on its own — is being supercharged by climate change and El Niño, which together are warming ocean waters, upping the odds of significant downpours and offering a preview of the state’s future in a warming world, experts say. by Hayley Smith, Grace Toohey, Climate , Feb 02, 2024
• Oh, there’s a hole in my bucket  John Kennedy explains why buckets play an important role in sea-surface-temperature measurements. by John Kennedy, Diagram Monkey, Feb 2, 2024

If you happen upon high quality climate-science and/or climate-myth busting articles from reliable sources while surfing the web, please feel free to submit them via this Google form for possible inclusion on our social media channels. Thanks!