2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #42
A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the
Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Oct 15, 2023 thru Sat, Oct 21, 2023.
Story of the Week
Scientists lay out a sweeping roadmap for transitioning the US off fossil fuels
A 600-plus-page report from the National Academies of Science includes 80 recommendations for how the U.S. can achieve its target of net-zero emissions by 2050
Meeting the Biden administration’s goal for the United States to be a net-zero greenhouse gas emitter by 2050 is a monumental challenge that must be tackled at an even more daunting pace. But the nation’s top scientists envisioned that future and laid out a plan for realizing it in a report released on Tuesday.
In a sweeping 637-page document, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine made 80 recommendations for how the United States can justly and equitably pursue decarbonization policies. It includes recommendations for everything from establishing a carbon tax to phasing out subsidies for high-emissions animal agriculture and codifying environmental justice goals.
“This report addresses how the nation can best overcome the barriers that will slow or prevent a just energy transition,” said Stephen Pacala, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Princeton University and chair of the committee that authored the latest findings, which build on an earlier report released in 2021. He added that only about a quarter of the recommendations require congressional action, with many being targets at private institutions and federal agencies. There is also a recognition that some changes are unlikely to happen immediately.
“Do we think Congress will go out and pass this? No,” he said. “But maybe a future Congress will.”
The hope is that these recommendations can eventually help further solidify the impacts that legislation such as last year’s Inflation Reduction Act and the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law are expected to have.
Click here to access the entire article as originally posted on the Grist website.
Scientists lay out a sweeping roadmap for transitioning the US off fossil fuels A 600-plus-page report from the National Academies of Science includes 80 recommendations for how the U.S. can achieve its target of net-zero emissions by 2050. by Tik Root, Energy, Grist, Oct 17, 2023
Articles posted on Facebook
Sunday, Oct 15, 2023
- When it comes to heating the planet, the fluid in your AC is thousands of times worse than CO2 by Isabella O'Malley, Climate, AP News, Oct 13, 2023
- The Supreme Court rejected a Republican challenge to Biden’s climate math The social cost of carbon quantifies the hidden price of emitting CO2, from flood damage to health effects. by Kate Yoder, Climate, Grist, Oct 11, 2023
- Greta Thunberg: Who is the climate activist and what has she achieved? by Staff, Science, BBC News, Oct 11, 2023
- Biden administration launches ‘Earthshot’ effort to slash energy bills The Department of Energy's new initiative aims to cut household energy bills by 20 percent and the cost of decarbonizing by 50 percent. by Tik Rook & Zoya Teirstein, Climate, Grist, Oct 12, 2023
- How Megafires Are Remaking the World In our Pyrocene age, enormous wildfires aren’t merely damaging ecosystems but transforming them. by Emily Anthes, Climate New York Times, Oct 15, 2023
- Climate change is still the top issue in the 2024 election, Opinion by William Becker, The Hill, Oct 15, 2023
Monday, Oct 16, 2023
- IMF should give poor countries $300bn a year to fight climate crisis, says Joseph Stiglitz Developing nations need equivalent of US Inflation Reduction Act, says Nobel prize-winning economist by Larry Elliot, Environment, The Guardian, Oct 13, 2023
- Opinion: Climate change isn’t just about emissions. We’re ignoring a huge part of the fight, Opinion by David G. Victor & Veerabhadran Ramanathan, Los Angeles Times, Oct 15, 2023
- US oil production hits all-time high, conflicting with efforts to cut heat-trapping pollution by Seth Borenstein, Climate, AP News, Oct 13, 2023
- Climate change is the catastrophe to end all other catastrophes, Opinion by Fatima Bhutto, Washington Post, Oct 16, 2023
- Forests v farmland: what the world would look like if we allocated all our land in the optimal way by Deepa Senapathi, Environment, The Conversation UK, Oct 13, 2023
- Jane Goodall says we need hope to fight climate change — and her hope lies with youth ‘If we carry on like this, we will be doomed. But we’ve got this window of time and we have to get together.’Magan Carty, CBC Radio, Oct 16, 2023
Tuesday, Oct 17, 2023
- Africa and India push rich nations to phase out fossil fuels faster At Cop28, developed nations will face calls to quit fossil fuels faster than developing countries, who did less to cause the climate crisis by Joe Lo, Climate Home News, Oct 16, 2023
- New report has terrific news for the climate But also some bad news. by Dana Nuccitelli, Policy & Politics, Yale Climate Connections, Oct 16, 2023
- Climate change and an aging population New book explores how climate change impacts the elderly in unique ways — and how we can preserve their well-being and include them in solutions. by Danielle Arigoni, Environmental Health News, Oct 17, 2023 Note: This article is an excerpt from the book, Climate Resilience for an Aging Nation by Danielle Arigoni.
- At a glance - Do high levels of CO2 in the past contradict the warming effect of CO2? by John Mason & Baerbel Winkler, Skeptical Science, Oct 17, 2023
- The next front in the climate fight: U.S. exports of natural gas Approval of new gas export terminals will lock in greenhouse gas emissions for decades, say activists, who are pressing Biden to halt these projects by Maxine Joselow & Timothy Puko, Climate, Washington Post, oct 17, 2023
- Analysis: ‘Greater than 99% chance’ 2023 will be hottest year on record by Zeke Hausfather, Temperature, Carbon Brief, Oct 16, 2023
Wednesday, Oct 18, 2023
- EU to push for COP28 deal on phasing out fossil fuels by Kate Abnett, Sustainability, Reuters, Oct 16, 2022
- How ‘The Day After Tomorrow’ altered popular opinion on climate change by Joe Willams, Film, Far Out, Oct 16, 2023
- How the Greenland ice sheet fared in 2023, Guest Post by Dr Martin Stendel & Dr Ruth Mottram, Carbon Brief, Oct 17, 2023
- One key step in the energy transition: No new gas lines, Major U.S. science group says states and municipalities should consider gas bans, Analysioffs by Maxine Joselow & Vanessa Montalbano, The Climate 202, Washington Post, Ohct 18, 2023
- How to Keep Climate Change from Breaking Your Budget by Mary Hoff, Notables, Ensia, Oct 18, 2023
- ***
Thursday, Oct 19, 2023
- Rubber drives ‘at least twice’ as much deforestation as previously thought by Aruna Chandrasekhar, Nature, The Guardian, Oct 18, 2023
- ‘Steve Bannon is watching us closely’: Naomi Klein on populists, conspiracists and real-world activism, Interview of Naomi Klein by Maya Goodfellow, Books, The Guardian, Oct 18, 2023
- What do Americans think is the biggest threat from global warming? by Jennifer Marlon, Matthew Ballew, Marija Verner, Jennifer Carman, Seth Rosenthal, John Kotcher, Edward Maibach & Anthony Leiserowitz, Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, Oct 18, 2023
- US invests $3.5 billion to bolster power grid, deploy clean energy by Timothy Gardner, Business, Reuters, Oct 19, 2023
- How a little-known pollution rule keeps the air dirty for millions of Americans An investigation found that local governments are increasingly exploiting a loophole in the Clean Air Act, leaving more than 21 million Americans with air that’s dirtier than they realize. by Molly Peterson, Dillon Bergin, Emily Zentner, & Andrew Witherspoon, Climate Justice, Grist, Oct 17, 2023
- Work on Europe's largest carbon capture site to start in Rotterdam next year by Bart Meijer, Sustainability, Reuters, Oct 18, 2023
- The next front in the climate fight: U.S. exports of natural gas Approval of new gas export terminals will lock in greenhouse gas emissions for decades, say activists, who are pressing Biden to halt these projects by Maxine Joselow & Timothy Puko, Climate, Washington Post, Oct 17, 2023
Friday, Oct 20, 2023
- This volcanic eruption reached so high it depleted the ozone layer by Kasha Patel, Environment, Washington Post, Oct 19, 2023
- Treating Mental Health as Part of Climate Disaster Recovery Mental health specialists discuss strategies for residents reexperiencing trauma in the aftermath of hurricanes, wildfires and floods by Anna Mattson, Mind & Brain, Scientific American, Oct 17, 2023
- FEMA Offers Every State $2 Million to Adopt Safer Building Codes First-of-its-kind FEMA funding aims to update archaic building codes that leave millions of people exposed to climate-fueled hurricanes, floods and other extreme weather by Thomas Frank, E&E News/Scientific American, Oct 13, 2023
- A Severe Drought Pushes an Imperiled Amazon to the Brink The rainforest holds a fifth of the world’s fresh water, but deforestation, dwindling rain and unrelenting heat are sucking it dry. by Ana Ionova & Manuela Andreoni, Climate, New York Times, Oct 17, 2023
- Canada’s astonishing and record fire season finally slows down by Ian Livingston, Weather, Washington Post, Oct 18, 2023
- Atlantic Hurricanes Are Getting Stronger, Faster, Study Finds The chance that a storm will get much more dangerous in less than a day has more than doubled over the past few decades. by Delger Erdenesanaa, Climate, New York Times, Oct 19, 2023
Saturday, Oct 21, 2023
- Africa and India push rich nations to phase out fossil fuels faster At Cop28, developed nations will face calls to quit fossil fuels faster than developing countries, who did less to cause the climate crisis by Joe Lo, Climate Home News, Oct 16, 2023
- The Hypocrisy at the Heart of the Insurance Industry Sometimes, a town doesn’t have to be under, water to become uninhabitable. All it has to do is be uninsurable by Zoë Schlanger, Science, The Atlantic, Oct 18, 2023
- Scientists lay out a sweeping roadmap for transitioning the US off fossil fuels A 600-plus-page report from the National Academies of Science includes 80 recommendations for how the U.S. can achieve its target of net-zero emissions by 2050. by Tik Root, Energy, Grist, Oct 17, 2023
- Q&A: The Pope’s New Document on Climate Change Is a ‘Throwdown’ Call for Action A professor who has studied Francis’ writings on climate says he singles out the U.S. for overconsumption and takes “aim” at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ denialism. Interview of Christiana Zenneran by Paloma Beltran, Policy & Politics, Inside Climate News, Oct 21, 2023
- Scientists Explore Pulling Potent Methane Out of the Air to Curb Warming Methane traps more heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, but pulling it from the air could prove to be a more complex task than removing CO2 by Chelsea Harvey, Environment, E&E News/Scientific American, Oct 20, 2023
- He Warned Canada About Climate Change but Says, ‘We’ve Failed Big Time’. After cautioning about environmental damage on TV for decades, David Suzuki, 87, one of Canada’s most famous scientists, felt a sense of defeat as he watched forests burn and temperatures soar this summer. by Norimitsu Onishi, Canada, New York Times, Oct 20, 2023
Posted by John Hartz on Saturday, 21 October, 2023
