2012 SkS Weekly Digest #24
Posted on 18 June 2012 by John Hartz
SkS Highlights
Over the past few weeks, SkS articles about the "politics" of climate change have generated more comments than article about the "science" of climate change. A case in point is Andy S's Scientific literacy and polarization on climate change. In this article, Andy discusses the findings of the paper, The polarizing impact of science literacy and numeracy on perceived climate change risks by Kahan et al published online by Nature Climate Change on May 27, 2012.
Toon of the Week

Oxymoron
Source: Stephanie McMillan, Code Green.
Quote of the Week
“If decision-makers continue to focus mainly on economic growth to address the needs of humanity, rather than taking a range of factors into account in a more sustainable approach, they risk leaving future generations an even more polarised and dangerous world.” -- Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Chair of The Elders.
Source: Rio+20: Concrete Goals the Only Recipe for Success by Stephen Leahy, IPS News, June 16, 2012
Issue of the Week
What is your primary source of information about what's transpiring at the ogoing Rio+20 summit?
Scientific Term of the Week
Aerosols: A collection of airborne solid or liquid particles, with a typical size between 0.01 and 10 μm that reside in the atmosphere for at least several hours. Aerosols may be of either natural or anthropogenic origin. Aerosols may infl uence climate in several ways: directly through scattering and absorbing radiation, and indirectly by acting as cloud condensation nuclei or modifying the optical properties and lifetime of clouds (see Indirect aerosol effect).
Source: Annex I (Glossary) to Climate Change 2007: Working Group I: The Physical Science Basis, IPCC Fourth Assessment Report.
The Week in Review
A complete listing of the articles posted on SkS during the past week.
- Seagrasses Can Store as Much Carbon as Forests by John Hartz
- If Earth was on Facebook by Dana
- Hansen 1988 Update - Which Scenario is Closest to Reality? by Dana
- Glimmer of hope? A conservative tackles climate change by Tom Smerling
- Scientific literacy and polarization on climate change by Andy S
- Greenhouse gases are responsible for warming, not the sun by by Bart Verheggen
- HadCRUT4: Analysis and critique by Kevin C
- New research from last week 23/2012 by Ari Jokimäki
- Carbon Pricing Alarmists Disproven by the Reality of RGGI by Dana
Coming Soon
A list of articles that are in the SkS pipeline. Most of these articles, but not necessarily all, will be posted during the week.
- Simply Wrong: Jan-Erik Solheim on Hansen 1988 (Dana)
- New research from last week 24/2012 (Ari Jokimäki)
- Adding wind power saves CO2 (MarkR)
- Arctic sea ice takes a first nosedive (Neven)
- Christy Exaggerates the Model-Data Discrepancy (Dana)
- Murry Salby's Correllation Condundrum (Dikran Marsupial)
SkS in the News
Dana's Fred Singer Promotes Fossil Fuels through Myths and Misinformation was re-posted on Climate Progress.
SkS Spotlights: The Alfred Wegener Institute
The Alfred Wegener Institute carries out research in the Arctic and Antarctic as well as in the high and mid latitude oceans. The institute coordinates German polar research and makes available to national and international science important infrastructure, e.g. the research ice breaker “Polarstern” and research stations in the Arctic and Antarctic.

Arguments




























Of course if "development" is identified with the economic model that rules the world since the Industrial Revolution, that is, an endless economic growth that depends on the intensive use of limited and non-renewable natural resources, sustainable "development" is an oxymoron.
However, if "development" is identified not with identified with things like the GDP growth, but with the quality of life of the common people (health, a purchasing power that permits everyone to cover at least the basic needs, social equality, education, etc) then not only sustainable development isn't an oxymoron, but sustainability becomes a necessary condition for development.
At the system level, development (which is analogous to complexity) is asymptotically constrained by energetic input into the system.
Game Over For The Climate?
'Whatever happened to the green movement? It’s been 50 years since the publication of Rachel Carson’s classic Silent Spring, a powerful book about the environmental devastation wreaked by chemical pesticides. Since then we’ve had the rise and fall - or at least the compromised assimilation - of green groups such as Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and Forum For the Future.
Last week, the Independent marked the half-century with a well-meaning but frankly insipid ‘landmark series’ titled ‘The Green Movement at 50’. But there’s a glaring hole in such coverage; and, indeed, in the ‘green movement’ itself: the insidious role of the corporate media, a key component of corporate globalisation, in driving humanity and ecosystems towards the brink of destruction"
http://www.medialens.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&layout=blog&id=1&Itemid=50
http://members5.boardhost.com/medialens/msg/1340210498.html
Science held hostage in climate debate – a Financial Review article by Garth Paltridge