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Skeptical Science New Research for Week #15, 2021
Posted on 14 April 2021 by Doug Bostrom
Flying beneath the radar of guilt
Fight or Flight: How Advertising for Air Travel Triggers Moral Disengagement (open access) by Stubenvoll & Neureiter not only takes an interesting approach to decomposing the effects of airline travel advertisements but also helps us to understand the general psychological landscape of our often conflicted desires. We're able to skillfully negotiate with ourselves so as to make poor choices while coming out with our self-esteem more or less intact. The abstract:
Advertising frequently promotes environmentally detrimental consumption choices such as air travel. To date, the effects of these ads on individuals’ moral evaluation of unsustainable behaviors are still little understood. This study with a quota-based sample in Germany (N = 199) explored whether individuals morally disengage from the harmfulness of flying due to ad exposure. Based on the theory of moral disengagement (Bandura, 2016, Moral disengagement: How people do harm and live with themselves. Worth Publishers), we investigated whether individuals neglect negative consequences, seek moral justification or displace responsibility for flying behaviors after seeing flight advertising. The results suggested that individuals low in climate change concern become more neglectful of the consequences of flying, while climate change concerned individuals exhibited the opposite reaction. Irrespective of individuals’ level of climate change concern, ad exposure increased recipients’ displacement of responsibility to other actors. Moreover, we found a correlation between mechanisms of moral disengagement and flying intentions as well as support for aviation policies.
Invasive species only means well?
Maybe, depending on how we look at it. Wesselman et al explore the effect on carbon burial of a recent arrival in the Mediterranean, Halophila stipulacea or "seagrass," finding that disposal of the Big C in climate change essentially doubled in areas where this invader has put down roots. From the abstract of this excellent open access paper:
This analysis revealed that H. stipulacea arrived at the areas of study in Limassol (Cyprus) and West Crete (Greece) in the 1930s and 1970s, respectively. Average sediment organic carbon after the arrival of H. stipulacea to the sites increased in the exotic meadows twofold, from 8.4 ± 2.5 g Corg m−2 year−1 to 14.7 ± 3.6 g Corg m−2 year−1, and, since then, burial rates in the exotic seagrass meadows were higher than in native ones of Cymodocea nodosa and Posidonia oceanica. Carbon isotopic data indicated a 50% increase of the seagrass contribution to the total sediment Corg pool since the arrival of H. stipulacea. Our results demonstrate that the invasion of H. stipulacea may play an important role in maintaining the blue carbon sink capacity in the future warmer Mediterranean Sea, by developing new carbon sinks in bare sediments and colonizing areas previously occupied by the colder thermal affinity P. oceanica.
Seagrass (Halophila stipulacea) invasion enhances carbon sequestration in the Mediterranean Sea is free to read.
81 articles
Physical science of climate change, effects
Solar radiation budget in the atmosphere under broken cloudy sky. An analytical model
Rosa & Silva 2021 Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics
DOI: 10.1016/j.jastp.2021.105643
Ocean surface energy balance allows a constraint on the sensitivity of precipitation to global warming
Wang et al 2021 Nature Communications
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-22406-7
Observations of climate change, effects
Conditional attribution of climate change and atmospheric circulation contributing to the record-breaking precipitation and temperature event of summer 2020 in southern China
Ye & Qian 2021 Environmental Research Letters
Open Access DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/abeeaf
Rising Planetary Boundary Layer Height over the Sahara Desert and Arabian Peninsula in a Warming Climate
Zhou et al 2021 Journal of Climate
DOI: 10.1175/jcli-d-20-0645.1
Declining greenness in Arctic-boreal lakes
Kuhn & Butman 2021 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2021219118
Arctic Cyclone Activity and the Beaufort High
Kenigson & Timmermans 2021 Journal of Climate
DOI: 10.1175/jcli-d-20-0771.1
Estimates of temporal-spatial variability of wildfire danger across the Pan-Arctic and extra-tropics
Justino et al 2021 Environmental Research Letters
Open Access DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/abf0d0
Extreme temperature of the mid-eighteenth century as compared to todays in Beijing
Ren et al 2021 Climatic Change
DOI: 10.1007/s10584-021-03063-7
Statistical investigation of long-term meteorological data to understand the variability in climate: a case study of Jharkhand, India
Mahato et al 2021 Environment, Development and Sustainability,
DOI: 10.1007/s10668-021-01374-4
Climate signals in river flood damages emerge under sound regional disaggregation
Sauer et al 2020
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-22153-9
Past and future snowmelt trends in the Swiss Alps: the role of temperature and snowpack
Vorkauf et al 2021 Climatic Change
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.1007/s10584-021-03027-x
Temperature trend analysis and extreme high temperature prediction based on weighted Markov Model in Lanzhou
Pang et al 2021
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.1007/s11069-021-04711-y
Instrumentation & observational methods of climate change, effects
Sentinel-1 time series for mapping snow cover and timing of snowmelt in Arctic periglacial environments: Case study from the Zackenberg Valley, Greenland
Buchelt et al 2021
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.5194/tc-2021-78
Consistency and Homogeneity of Atmospheric Energy, Moisture, and Mass Budgets in ERA5
Mayer et al 2021 Journal of Climate
DOI: 10.1175/jcli-d-20-0676.1
Modeling, simulation & projection of climate change, effects
Future behavior of wind wave extremes due to climate change
Lobeto et al 2021 Scientific Reports
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-86524-4
Extreme temperature indices in Eurasia in a CMIP6 multi-model ensemble: Evaluation and projection
Zhao et al 2021 International Journal of Climatology
DOI: 10.1002/joc.7134
Radiative Impacts of Low-Level Clouds on the Summertime Subtropical High in the South Indian Ocean Simulated in a Coupled General Circulation Model
Miyamoto et al 2021 Journal of Climate
DOI: 10.1175/jcli-d-20-0709.1
Regional Asymmetries in Ocean Heat and Carbon Storage due to Dynamic Redistribution in Climate Model Projections
Williams et al 2021 Journal of Climate
DOI: 10.1175/jcli-d-20-0519.1
Potential impacts of 1.5 °C, 2 °C global warming levels on temperature and rainfall over Madagascar
Barimalala et al 2021 Environmental Research Letters
Open Access DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/abeb34
Advances in climate & climate effects modeling, simulation & projection
The first multi-model ensemble of regional climate simulations at kilometer-scale resolution, part I: evaluation of precipitation
Ban et al 2020
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.1007/s00382-021-05708-w
To bias correct or not to bias correct? An agricultural impact modelers’ perspective on regional climate model data
Flegal et al 2012 SSRN Electronic Journal
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.1038/oby.2007.41
Impact of updated radiative transfer scheme in snow and ice in RACMO2.3p3 on the surface mass and energy budget of the Greenland ice sheet
van Dalum et al 2021 The Cryosphere
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.5194/tc-15-1823-2021
Marginal ice zone fraction benchmarks sea ice and climate model skill
Horvat 2021 Nature Communications
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-22004-7
CWRF downscaling and understanding of China precipitation projections
Jiang et al 2021 Climate Dynamics
DOI: 10.1007/s00382-021-05759-z
Assessing Prior Emergent Constraints on Surface Albedo Feedback in CMIP6
Thackeray et al 2021 Journal of Climate
DOI: 10.1175/jcli-d-20-0703.1
Assessment of ice cloud modeling capabilities for the irregularly shaped Voronoi models in climate simulations with CAM5
Li et al 2021
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.5194/acp-2021-208
Cryosphere & climate change
The climate sensitivity of northern Greenland fjords is amplified through sea-ice damming
Stranne et al 2021 Communications Earth & Environment
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.1038/s43247-021-00140-8
Marginal ice zone fraction benchmarks sea ice and climate model skill
Horvat 2021 Nature Communications
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-22004-7
Sentinel-1 time series for mapping snow cover and timing of snowmelt in Arctic periglacial environments: Case study from the Zackenberg Valley, Greenland
Buchelt et al 2021
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.5194/tc-2021-78
Sea level & climate change
Predicting regional coastal sea level changes with machine learning
Nieves et al 2021 Scientific Reports
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-87460-z
Coastal migration due to 21 st century sea-level rise
Lincke & Hinkel 2021 Earth's Future
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.1029/2020ef001965
Paleoclimate
Six-fold increase of atmospheric pCO2 during the Permian–Triassic mass extinction
Wu et al 2021 Nature Communications
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-22298-7
Improving temperature reconstructions from ice-core water-isotope records
Markle & Steig 2021
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.5194/cp-2021-37
The Relationship between Temperature Changes and Peacemaking Events between Farming and Nomadic Groups in Northern China over the Past 2000 Years
SU et al 2021 Weather, Climate, and Society,
DOI: 10.1175/wcas-d-20-0153.1
The anatomy of past abrupt warmings recorded in Greenland ice
Capron et al 2021 Nature Communications
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-22241-w
Biology & climate change
Species on the move around the Australian coastline: a continental scale review of climate-driven species redistribution in marine systems
Gervais et al 2021 Global Change Biology
DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15634
Has North Africa turned too warm for a Mediterranean forest pest because of climate change?
Bourougaaoui et al 2021 Climatic Change
DOI: 10.1007/s10584-021-03077-1
Linking climate niches across seasons to assess population vulnerability in a migratory bird
Ruegg et al 2021 Global Change Biology
DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15639
Remodeling of Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) lipidome under a stimulated scenario of Arctic warming
Wang et al 2021 Global Change Biology
DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15638
Impacts of climate change on aquatic insects in temperate alpine regions: complementary modeling approaches applied to Swiss rivers
Timoner et al 2021 Global Change Biology
DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15637
The productivity of low-elevation juniper forests in Central Asia increased under moderate warming scenarios
Chen et al 2021 Journal of Geophysical Research
DOI: 10.1029/2021jg006269
GHG sources & sinks, flux
Attribution of production-stage methane emissions to assess spatial variability in the climate intensity of US natural gas consumption
Burns & Grubert 2021 Environmental Research Letters
Open Access DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/abef33
Mature Andean forests as globally important carbon sinks and future carbon refuges
Duque et al 2021 Nature Communications
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-22459-8
Mediterranean seagrasses as carbon sinks: Methodological and regional differences
Escolano-Moltó et al 2021
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.5194/bg-2021-60
Joint influence mechanism of phenology and climate on the dynamics of gross primary productivity: Insights from temperate deciduous broadleaf forests in North America
Xie et al 2021 Journal of Geophysical Research
DOI: 10.1029/2020jg006049
CO2 removal & mitigation science & engineering
Seagrass (Halophila stipulacea) invasion enhances carbon sequestration in the Mediterranean Sea
Wesselmann et al 2021 Global Change Biology
DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15589
Nitrogen addition stimulates soil aggregation and enhances carbon storage in terrestrial ecosystems of China: A meta-analysis
Lu et al 2021 Global Change Biology
DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15604
Potential benefits of liming to acid soils on climate change mitigation and food security
Wang et al 2021 Global Change Biology
DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15607
Net-zero emission targets for major emitting countries consistent with the Paris Agreement
van Soest et al 2021 Nature Communications
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-22294-x
Feasibility of the 4 per 1000 aspirational target for soil carbon: A case study for France
Martin et al 2021 Global Change Biology
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15547
Geoengineering climate
Potential ecological impacts of climate intervention by reflecting sunlight to cool Earth
Zarnetske et al 2021 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1921854118
Black carbon
Variability of Black Carbon mass concentration in surface snow at Svalbard
Bertò et al 2021
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.5194/acp-2021-39
Decarbonization
The decarbonisation of Europe powered by lifestyle changes
Costa et al 2021 Environmental Research Letters
Open Access DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/abe890
Deep decarbonization pathways in the building sector: China’s NDC and the Paris agreement
Xing et al 2021 Environmental Research Letters
Open Access DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/abe008
Climate change communications & cognition
Changing the World One Meme at a Time: The Effects of Climate Change Memes on Civic Engagement Intentions
Zhang & Pinto 2021 Environmental Communication
DOI: 10.1080/17524032.2021.1894197
Mapping the Field of Climate Change Communication 1993–2018: Geographically Biased, Theoretically Narrow, and Methodologically Limited
Agin & Karlsson 2021 Environmental Communication
DOI: 10.1080/17524032.2021.1902363
“What’s Up with the Weather?” Public Engagement with Extreme Event Attribution in the United Kingdom
Fight or Flight: How Advertising for Air Travel Triggers Moral Disengagement
Stubenvoll & Neureiter Environmental Communication
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.1007/bf00153239
External financing demands, media attention and the impression management of carbon information disclosure
Luo et al 2021 Carbon Management
DOI: 10.1080/17583004.2021.1899755
Does 360-degree Video Enhance Engagement with Global Warming?: The Mediating Role of Spatial Presence and Emotions
Oh et al 2021 Environmental Communication
DOI: 10.1080/17524032.2021.1891945
Perceptions and vulnerability to climate change among the urban poor in Kampala City, Uganda
Twinomuhangi et al 2021 Regional Environmental Change
DOI: 10.1007/s10113-021-01771-5
Agronomy, animal husbundry, food production & climate change
Potential benefits of liming to acid soils on climate change mitigation and food security
Wang et al 2021 Global Change Biology
DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15607
Drought responses and adaptation strategies to climate change by pastoralists in the semi-arid area, Laikipia County, Kenya
Ndiritu 2021 Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change
DOI: 10.1007/s11027-021-09949-2
Food security among dryland pastoralists and agropastoralists: The climate, land-use change, and population dynamics nexus
Stavi et al 2021 The Anthropocene Review
DOI: 10.1177/20530196211007512
Uncovering the past and future climate drivers of wheat yield shocks in Europe with machine learning
Zhu et al 2021 Earth's Future
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.1029/2020ef001815
Carbon intensity of corn ethanol in the United States: state of the science
Scully et al 2021 Environmental Research Letters
Open Access DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/abde08
Hydrology & climate change
Climate signals in river flood damages emerge under sound regional disaggregation
Sauer et al 2020
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-22153-9
Economics & finance of climate change & mitigation
Current carbon prices do not stack up to much land use change, despite bundled ecosystem service co-benefits
Summers et al 2021 Global Change Biology
DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15613
Whose voices, whose choices? Pursuing climate resilient trajectories for the poor
Leal Filho et al 2021 Environmental Science & Policy
DOI: 10.1016/j.envsci.2021.02.018
Climate change mitigation public policy research
The Design of Renewable Fuel Mandates and Cost Containment Mechanisms
Lade & Lin Lawell 2021 Environmental and Resource Economics
DOI: 10.1007/s10640-021-00558-w
Supporting actors: The role of state policy and private programs in advancing local and renewable heating technology
Edling & Danks 2021 Energy Policy
DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2021.112266
Net-zero emission targets for major emitting countries consistent with the Paris Agreement
van Soest et al 2021 Nature Communications
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-22294-x
Climate change impacts on human health
Integrate health into decision-making to foster climate action
Vandyck et al 2021 Environmental Research Letters
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/abef8d
Paris Agreement's ambiguity about aerosols drives uncertain health and climate outcomes
Polonik et al 2021 Earth's Future
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.1029/2020ef001787
Climate change adaptation & adaptation public policy research
Balancing scales: Enhancing local applications of adaptation pathways
Cradock-Henry & Frame 2021 Environmental Science & Policy
DOI: 10.1016/j.envsci.2021.04.001
Climate change impacts on human culture
The Relationship between Temperature Changes and Peacemaking Events between Farming and Nomadic Groups in Northern China over the Past 2000 Years
SU et al 2021 Weather, Climate, and Society,
DOI: 10.1175/wcas-d-20-0153.1
Coastal migration due to 21 st century sea-level rise
Lincke & Hinkel 2021 Earth's Future
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.1029/2020ef001965
Other
Spatial and Temporal Variability of Oceanic Oxygen Changes and Underlying Trends
Stramma & Schmidtko 2021 Atmosphere-Ocean
DOI: 10.1080/07055900.2021.1905601
The treatment of climate change impacts and adaptation in the environmental impact assessment of the standard Gauge railway project in Tanzania
Rweyendela & Mwegoha 2021 Climate and Development
DOI: 10.1080/17565529.2021.1911774
Whether crude oil dependence and CO2 emissions influence military expenditure in net oil importing countries?
Wang et al 2021 Energy Policy
DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2021.112281
Informed opinion, nudges & major initiatives
Commentary: Osland et al. (2021): Tropicalization of temperate ecosystems in North America: The northward range expansion of tropical organisms in response to warming winter temperatures
Walters & McClenachan 2021 Global Change Biology
Open Access pdf DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15631
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