Arguments
2013 SkS Weekly Digest #48
Posted on 1 December 2013 by John Hartz
SkS Highlights
Rob Honeycutt's Climate Bet for Charity, 2013 Update garnered the most comments of the articles posted on SkS this past week. Next in line is 4 Hiroshima bombs per second: a widget to raise awareness about global warming by John Cook and Bob Lacatena. Coming in third is John Cook's Attacks on scientific consensus on climate change mirror tactics of tobacco industry. All three are on this week's "must read" list.
SkS Toon of the Week
h/t to I Heart Climate Scientists.
Quote of the Week
''Australia is now an emerging energy superpower and our argument is if you're serious about nature conservation, and if you're serious about climate change, you can't just keep messing around with domestic issues, you've got to look at the export industry,'' said Wilderness Society national campaign director Lyndon Schneiders.
''We've got to make a decision as a country to keep large coal, oil and gas reserves actually in the ground.''
Australia's Wilderness Society launches legal attack on coal industry by Jill Stark, The Sunday Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, Dec 1, 2011
SkS Week in Review
- What climate denial has learnt from tobacco denial by Anne-Marie Blackburn
- Five Holiday Gift Ideas for the Skeptic In Your Life, with Unlimited Gift Coupon! by Doug Bostrom
- Attacks on scientific consensus on climate change mirror tactics of tobacco industry by John Cook
- Video: 10 climate myths debunked in under 4 minutes by Hank Green
- Climate Bet for Charity, 2013 Update by Rob Honeycutt
- 2013 SkS News Bulletin #18: Warsaw Climate Talks by John Hartz
- No, Greenland Wasn't Green by Anne-Marie Blackburn
- 4 Hiroshima bombs per second: a widget to raise awareness about global warming by John Cook & Bob Lacatena
Coming Soon on SkS
- How do meteorologists fit into the 97% global warming consensus? (Dana)
- Climate Change: Years of Living Dangerously (Rob Painting)
- Experts say the IPCC underestimated future sea level rise (John Abraham)
- Provisional Statement on Status of Climate in 2013 (John Hartz)
- Media failure on Iraq War repeated in climate change coverage (Stephan Lewandowsky)
In the Works
- Behind the Lines (jg)
- Swedish translation of The Scientific Guide to Global Warming Skepticism (BaerbelW)
- South Scores 11th-Hour Win on Climate Loss and Damage (Stephen Leahy)
- Why is Antarctic Sea Ice Growing? (Guy Williams)
- Climate Risk Index 2014: Haiti, Philippines and Pakistan most affected (John Hartz)
- Cowtan and Way (2013) open access (Kevin C)
- Comments on the Purpose of Privacy (Rob Honeycutt)
SkS in the News
The new Skeptical Science Global Warming Widget was discussed at Real Sceptic and installed on 36 blogs.
John Cook's Attacks on scientific consensus on climate change mirror tactics of tobacco industry was published in the Newcastle Herald.
Cowtan & Way (2013) was discussed by Zeke Hausfather at Yale Forum and on NL News.
The Cook et al. (2013) consensus paper was referenced by Media Matters and The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation.
SkS Spotlights
The International Instittue for Industrial Environmental Economics (IIIEE) is an international and multidisciplinary institute at Lund University with the overall ambition to advance and apply knowledge in policy and strategy for sustainable solutions.
We are an international institute within Lund University that creates a bridge between academia and practise in order to meet sustainability challenges.
We provide knowledge and inspire individuals and organizations in the advancement of sustainable solutions.
We educate students with a strong desire to make a difference. We do this through interdisciplinary MSc and PhD programmes, undergraduate courses and executive training. Our educational activities target future decision makers in management and policy for sustainable development.
We conduct interdisciplinary research that explores and advances knowledge in the design, application and evaluation of strategies, policies and tools for a transition towards sustainable solutions.
We engage in continuous dialogue with stakeholders from government, industry and society both in our research and educational activitites.
Discussion of the latest methane revelations Shakhova et al (2013) on realclimate by the relevant expert: David Archer.
Interesting read including comments.
In a nutshell:
1. uncertainties too large to have an opinion if CH4 degassing increrased signifficantly in last decade
2. current best state of knowledge indicates any release of large (measured in Gt) amount will be over 1000s y
3. no evidence of 50Gt+ "bomb" ready to release within decades has been found, so the "methane scare" is unfounded
Nothing, even 'In the Works' on the new Nature Geoscience study on Arctic sea bed methane emission rates being revised upwards by a factor of 2+? Even though RealClimate, Arctic Sea Ice Blog are discussing this important paper?
Chriskoz does a good job of nutshelling Archer's points, but there's much more to discuss on this one.
I'm a bit busy, but I could try to summarize the various positions briefly in the next couple days, if you like.
[JH] If you wish to write a draft article for posting on SkS, you should contact John Cook via the "Contact Us" link found on the bottom of this page.