Arguments
2013 SkS Weekly Digest #33
Posted on 18 August 2013 by John Hartz
SkS Highlights
What makes ice sheets grow and shrink?, a repost of an article by Freya Roberts of Carbon Brief, garnered the most comments of the articles posted this past week. John Abraham's guest post, Global warming, Arctic ice loss, and armchair scientists generated the second highest number of comments.
Toon of the Week
H/T to I Heart Climate Scientists
Quote of the Week
“In terms of global warming and ocean acidification,” Professor Olsen* said, the rate of change during the end-Triassic extinction “was comparable to what we’re doing today.”
*Paul E. Olsen, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University
Headstone for an Apocalypse, Op-ed by Peter Brannen, New York Times, Aug 16, 2013
SkS Week in Review
- 2013 SkS Weekly News Roundup #33B by John Hartz
- Andrew Dessler on Why It's Stupid not to Act on Climate Change by Andrew Dressler, Texas A&M University
- A vicious cycle: Could droughts and storms make climate change worse? by Roz Pidcock, Carbon Brief
- A grand solar minimum would barely make a dent in human-caused global warming by Dana
- 2013 SkS Weekly News Roundup #33A by John Hartz
- What makes ice sheets grow and shrink? by Freya Roberts, Carbon Brief
- Global warming, Arctic ice loss, and armchair scientists by John Abraham
SkS Rebuttal Articles Added
Dana's A grand solar minimum would barely make a dent in human-caused global warming has been adapted into new rebuttals (Basic and Intermediate) to the myth, "A grand solar minimum could trigger another ice age"
Coming Soon on SkS
- 2012: One of the 10 Warmest Years on Record (NOAA news release)
- CO2 limits will benefit the economy (gpwayne)
- 2013 SkS Weekly News Roundup #34A (John Hartz)
- Coumou & Robinson on Extreme Heat: Choose Your Own Adventure (Dana)
- Why Atmospheric CO2 matters: The Really Big Picture (Chris Colose)
- 2013 SkS Weekly News Roundup #34B (John Hartz)
SkS in the News
The Consensus Project 97% consensus result was referenced this week by Graham Readfearn at the Guardian Planet Oz, Open Parachute, Organizing for Action, The Moderate Voice, and Media Matters.
The 4 Hiroshima atomic bomb per second global heat accumulation analogy was used by Phys.org and The Conversation.
Dana's A grand solar minimum would barely make a dent in human-caused global warming was re-posted on Climate Crocks.
Greg Laden's Blog and Media Matters used Dana's Arctic Sea Ice Escalator.
Wotts Up With That Blog referenced the SkS resource on CO2 residence time.
SkS Spotlights
The Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory seeks fundamental knowledge about the origin, evolution and future of the natural world. Its scientists study the planet from its deepest interior to the outer reaches of its atmosphere, on every continent and in every ocean, providing a rational basis for the difficult choices facing humanity.
Lamont-Doherty is a core component of the Earth Institute, Columbia University, which brings together people and tools to address some of the world’s most challenging problems from climate change and environmental degradation, to poverty, disease and the sustainable use of resources. More than 120 Ph.D. level researchers work and teach at Lamont-Doherty; 80-90 graduate students are involved in research and a growing number of undergraduates participate in summer internships. Lamont-Doherty also operates a federally-funded research ship, the Marcus G. Langseth, which uses seismic data to map the sub-seafloor, highlighting hidden faults and other earthquake hazards.
Since its founding in 1949, Lamont-Doherty has been a leader in the earth sciences. Its scientists were the first to map the seafloor and develop a computer model that could predict an El Nino weather event, the first to provide concrete proof for the theory of plate tectonics and to reveal the oceans’ role in triggering abrupt climate change. With each year, our understanding of earth improves. Yet, new discoveries await us. It is that next insight on the horizon that keeps our researchers excited to learn more about how and why earth changes as it does.
Like the cartoon. I used to be a regular thorn in the side at Jo Nova, but it just seems to me now that they are irrelevant. There is no debate that we are causing global warming, its just about the size of the effect and the problem of getting action from governments.
[JH] Thank you for the positive feedback about the Toon of the Week and welcome to SkS.
There may be no debate under some definitions of the term, but Qld's Premier and its Minister for Environment seem to be getting their information from some source, and I wouldn't be surprised to learn that said source had some connection with Ms Codling and hubby. Not that I'm in any way insinuating that Campbell Newman would take scientific advice from billionaire mining magnates. Oh wait, yes I am!