2019 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #16
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, Apr 14 through Sat, Apr 20, 2019
Editor's Pick
How We Roll: Study Shows We're More Lone Wolves Than Team Players
Results may explain why collective action on climate change and health policy is so difficult
What credo would you choose: “Share and share alike?” or “To each his own”? The choice doesn’t relate only to material goods or socialism versus capitalism. It can also reflect attitudes about how we solve our collective problems, such as affordable access to health care or threats from climate change. Despite the existence of shared resources in our lives—water, air, land, tax dollars—some people will lean into a go-it-alone approach, with each individual deciding for themselves what’s best. Others will look to group decision-making. What’s the tipping point for shifting from maverick to team player?
Researchers at Leiden University, the Netherlands, addressed that question using a computer game in which students had to decide whether to use a set of virtual resources to solve a problem individually or collectively. The investigators found that these study participants had a “remarkable tendency” to waste resources for the sake of an independent solution rather than efficiently using what in the social sciences is referred to as “the commons.” The study results were published April 17 in ScienceAdvances.
The choice to follow the loner track even if it means wasted resources probably sounds familiar. Such useless waste, a “tragedy of the commons,” as the authors call it, is one that societies face in all kinds of situations. Study author Jörg Gross, assistant professor at Leiden University’s Institute of Psychology, cites several examples of real-world problems from modern life that inspired the study, including use of public versus private transportation. After all, almost everyone needs to get from Location A to Location B. Rather than create universal public transit solutions, though, people more often turn to using private vehicles.
How We Roll: Study Shows We're More Lone Wolves Than Team Players by Emily Willingham, Behavior & Society, Scientific American, Apr 18, 2019
Links posted on Facebook
Sun Apr 14, 2019
- The Next Reckoning: Capitalism and Climate Change by Nathaniel Rich, The Climate Edition, New York Times Magazine, Apr 9, 2019
- New research, April 1-7, 2019 by Ari Jokimäki, Skeptical Science, Apr 12, 2019
- What Remains by Daniel Duane, California Sunday Magazine, Apr 4, 2019
- 80 million people at risk as storm marches east after tornadoes hit Texas by Judson Jones & Susannah Cullinane, CNN, April 14, 2019
- Climate Change Could Worsen Antimicrobial Resistance Threat, Scientists Predict by Kashmira Gander, Health, Newsweek. Apr 13, 2019
- 'Shut the country down': British climate group Extinction Rebellion heads to US by Oliver Milman, Environment, Guardian, Apr 13, 2019
- Oil Producers Are Burning Enough 'Waste' Gas to Power Every Home in Texas by Kevin Crowley & Ryan Collins, Climate Changed, Bloomberg News, Apr 10, 2019
- A meeting of minds: scientists, planners face challenge of rising seas by Pat Brennan, NASA's Sea Level Change Portal, Apr 11, 2019
Mon Apr 15, 2019
- Iran says recent floods caused up to $2.5 bln in damage by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin, Reuters, Apr 14, 2019
- The cover for NYT Magazine’s climate change issue is "hot" by Kate Yoder, Grist, April 13, 2019
- Analysis: Why children must emit eight times less CO2 than their grandparents by Zeke Hausfather, Carbon Brief, April 10, 2019
- As the seas rise, Republicans will deserve all the blame their grandchildren assign them, Editorial Board, Washington Post, Apr 12, 2019
- 2018's Hemispheric Heat Wave Wasn't Possible Without Climate Change, Scientists Say by Bob Berwyn, InsideClimate News, Apr 12, 2019
- The Green New Deal is more than a resolution — it’s a revolution, Opinion by Edward J Markey, Boston Globe, Apr 15, 2019
- Republicans push anti-wind bills in several states as renewables grow increasingly popular by E A Grunden, Think Progress, Apr 15, 2019
- Former climate 'denier' regrets 'how wrongheaded but certain I was' by Karen Kirk, Yale Climate Connections, Apr 15, 2019
Tue Apr 16, 2019
- Only rebellion will prevent an ecological apocalypse, Opinion by George Monbiot, Comment is Free, Guardian, Apr 15, 2019
- Thousands block roads in Extinction Rebellion protests across London by Matthew Taylor & Damien Gayle, Environment, Guardian, Apr 15, 2019
- “Hair Dryer” Winds Could Strain Vulnerable Antarctic Ice Shelf by Chelsea Harvey, E&E News/Scientific American, Apr 12, 2019
- US Midwest floods prompting workers to migrate to safer ground: LinkedIn data by Sebastien Malo, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Apr 10, 2019
- Why the Great Plains has such epic weather by Russ Schumacher, The Conversation US, Apr 12, 2019
- UK's biggest money manager warns on climate catastrophe by Simon Jack, BBC News, Apr 16, 2019
- Climate Change to Blame for Hurricane Maria’s Extreme Rainfall, Press Release, EOS/AGU, Apr 16, 2019
- As oceans rapidly warm because of climate change, an urgent need to improve hurricane forecasts by Paul Douglas, Capital Weather Gang, Washington Post, Apr 16, 2019
Wed Apr 17, 2019
- Climate Costs Will Take a Large Economic Toll and Impact Investors, Report Says by Kaitlin Sullivan, Climate Liability News, Apr 16, 2019
- David Attenborough, the voice of Our Planet: “Things are going to get worse” by Brian Resnick, Energy & Environment, Vox, Apr 12, 2019
- Fixing climate change will require a culture change, Opinion by Charles C Camosy, Religion News Service, Apr 15, 2019
- How Inland Waters ‘Breathe’ Carbon - And What it Means for Global Systems by Kevin Dennehy, Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, Apr 16, 2019
- The Cataclysmic Break That (Maybe) Occurred in 1950 by Robinson Meyer, Science, The Atlantic, Apr 16, 2019
- Extreme heat is growing threat to harvests by Tim Radford, Climate News Network, Apr 17, 2019
- Nebraskans talk extreme weather. Just don’t call it climate change. by Laurent Belsie, Christian Science Monitor, Apr 16, 2019
- Preaching to the converted: Swedish teen climate activist gets pope's blessing by Philip Pullella, Reuters, Apr 17, 2019
Thu Apr 18, 2019
- Divestment in Fossil Fuels: A Preventive Public Health Strategy by Robin Cooper, Psychiatric Times, Apr 12, 2019
- Trump Order Takes Aim at Shareholders Pushing Companies to Address Climate Risks by Marco Poggio, Climate Liability News, Apr 17, 2019
- 5 of the Best TED Talks About Renewable Energy, The Climate Reality Project/EcoWatch, Apr 15, 2019
- Column: Climate change targets are slipping out of reach, Opinion by John Kemp, Reuters, Apr 17, 2019&
- We Can Be Whatever We Have the Courage to See': New Video From AOC Envisions a #GreenNewDeal Future by Heoin Higgins, Common Dreams, Apr 17, 2019
- Satellite confirms key NASA temperature data: The planet is warming — and fast by Chris Money, Climate & Environment, Washington Post, Apr 17, 2019
- How To Talk About Climate Change So People Will Listen by Katharine Hayhoe, Chatelaine, Apr 18, 2019
- United Church's Mardi Tindal on faith leaders and climate: "This is our work" by Beatrice Ekoko, Canada's National Observer, Apr 18, 2019
Fri Apr 19, 2019
- Climate change is hitting hard across New Zealand, official report finds by Robert McLachlan, The Conversation NZ, Apr 18, 2019
- Puerto Rico is targeting 100% renewable energy. The Trump administration has other ideas. by Umair Irfan, Energy & Environment, Vox, Apr 17, 2019
- WHO says climate change could have ‘considerable’ food safety impact by Joe Whitworth, Food Safety News, Apr 18. 2019
- Report: Going 100% renewable power means a lot of dirty mining by Naveena Sadasivam, Grist, Apr 17, 2019
- A closer look at Washington’s superb new 100% clean electricity bill by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Apr 16, 2019
- One of Alaska’s warmest springs on record is causing a dangerous thaw by Sarah Kaplan, Science, Washington Post, Apr 19, 2019
- How We Roll: Study Shows We're More Lone Wolves Than Team Players by Emily Willingham, Behavior & Society, Scientific American, Apr 18, 2019
- For Earth Day, how Americans see climate change in 5 charts by Cary Funk & Brian Kennedy, Pew Research Center, Apr 19, 2019
Sat Apr 20, 2019
- For Earth Day, a look at how people around the world view climate change by Moira Fagan & Christine Huang, Pew Research Center, Apr 19, 2019
- U.S. Nuclear Power Plants Weren’t Built for Climate Change by Christopher Flavelle & Jeremy C.F. Lin, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Apr 18, 2019
- Talking about climate change in conservative places is hard. But we can’t afford not to by Megan Mayhew Bergman, Environment, Guardian, Apr 18, 2019
- Hurricane Michael Upgraded to Category 5 at Landfall by Bob Henson, Category 6, Weather Underground, Apr 19, 2019
- Glaciers gone after record hot summers by John Lewis, Otago Daily Times (NZ), Apr 20, 2019
- America’s record high energy consumption, explained in 3 charts by Umair Irfan, Energy & Environment, Vox, Apr 20, 2019
- We Asked the 2020 Democrats About Climate Change (Yes, All of Them). Here Are Their Ideas. by Lisa Friedman & Maggie Astor, Politics, New York Times, Apr 18, 2019
- High CO2 levels will wreck plants’ nutritional value, so don’t plan on surviving on vegetables by Ellie Anzilotti, Fast Company, Apr 19, 2019
Posted by John Hartz on Saturday, 20 April, 2019
