Arguments
2014 SkS Weekly Digest #22
Posted on 1 June 2014 by John Hartz
SkS Highlights
Rapid climate changes more deadly than asteroid impacts in Earth’s past – study shows. by Howard Lee received the most comments of the articles posted on SkS during the past week once again reflecting how many people are interested in geolgical extinction events.
Dana's The Wall Street Journal denies the 97% scientific consensus on human-caused global warming garnered the second highess number of comments, More posts on the issues addressed in Dana's article will be posted on SkS and elsewhere in the weeks to come.
El Niño Watch
- 2014 to be high El Nino year by Kruthi Gonwar, Deccan Chronicle (India), May 31, 2014
- Australia Wheat Areas Seen Drier Through Winter as El Nino Looms by Phoebe Sedgman, Bloomberg News, May 28, 2014
- How will El Nino impact weather patterns? by Dr. Doug Gillham, The Weather Network (Canada), May 28, 2014
- Which parts of U.S. could benefit most from El Niño? by Brendan Richardson, Capital Weather Gang, Washington Post, May 29, 2014
Toon of the Week
Quote of the Week
"... We can choose to act now before it is finally too late, using all of the power and influence that each of you can bring to bear to create an inclusive, sustainable and resilient society," he (Prince Charles) said in a speech in London to a conference entitled Inclusive Capitalism.
He added: "There will, of course, be hard choices to make, and, take it from me, in the short term, you will not be popular with your peers, but if you stand firm and take the kind of action that is needed, I have every confidence the rewards will be immense."
Britain's Prince Charles stirs controversy with warning over climate by Belinda Goldsmith, Reuters, MAy 29, 2014
SkS in the News
John Cook's SkS artice, Skeptical Science Study Finds 97% Consensus on Human-Caused Global Warming in the Peer-Reviewed Literature is linked to by Lindsay Abrams in her Salon article, WSJ’s shameful climate denial: The scientific consensus is not a myth.
Scott Sutherland embeds a graphic credited to the American Meteorological Society via SkepticalScience.com in his article, Ocean acidification, global warming's 'evil twin', threatens marine ecosystems posted on the Weather Network website.
Public interest in climate change over the past decade and the effects of the 'climategate' media event by William R L Anderegg and Gregory R Goldsmith 2014 Environ. Res. Lett. references Quantifying the consensus on anthropogenic global warming in the scientific literature, Cook et al, 2013 Environ, Res. Lett.
A letter to the Editor by Owen L. Toth published in the Casper (Wyoming) Tribune includes the following:
You can't reason with the irrational or delusional but you can direct yourself and others to www.skepticalscience.com which makes very complicated science and physics easy to understand. Anyone who is young, has children, grand children or great grand children, needs to pay closer attention.
The Basic version of the SkS rebuttal article, What does past climate change tell us about global warming? is linked to in the introduction to the video, Neil deGrasse Tyson Debunks An Anti-Science Fox News Claim In Two Minutes posted on Media Matters.
SkS Spotlights
The Climate Reality Project, founded and chaired by former Vice President and Nobel Laureate Al Gore, is dedicated to unleashing a global cultural movement demanding action on the climate crisis. Despite overwhelming international scientific consensus on climate change, the global community still lacks the resolve to implement meaningful solutions. The Climate Reality Project exists to forge an unwavering bedrock of impassioned support necessary for urgent action. With that foundation, together we will ignite the moral courage in our leaders to solve the climate crisis.
The Climate Reality Project employs cutting-edge communications and grassroots engagement tools to break the dam of inaction and raise the profile of the climate crisis to its proper state of urgency. With a global movement more than 5 million strong and a grassroots network of Climate Reality Leaders trained by Chairman Al Gore, we stand up to denial, press for solutions, and spread the truth about climate change to empower our leaders to solve the climate crisis.
Poster of the Week
h/t to The Climate Reality Project
Insurance Industry Watch
- Buying Insurance Against Climate Change by Robert L Shiller, TheUpshot, New York Times, May 24, 2014
- Insurers See Risk, Adapt To Climate Change by Joel Gordes, The Hartford Courant, ,May 28, 2014
Coming Soon on SkS
- Republican witness admits the expert consensus on human-caused global warming is real (Dana)
- President Obama gets serious on climate change (John Abraham)
- The Skepticism In Skeptical Science (CollinMaessen)
- This Ice Sheet Will Unleash a Global Superstorm Sandy That Never Ends (Chris Mooney)
- SkS Weekly News Roundup (John Hartz)
Mother Nature Always Bats Last!
- Japan heatwave kills two, hundreds taken to hospital, ZeeNews, June 1, 2014
- UPDATE June 1: Record May Heat Wave in Northeast China, Koreas by Christopher C. Burt, Weather Underground, May 30, 2014
Regarding the Skeptical Science Highlights:
One thing that struck me about the comment thread of this post has been the overall high quality of the comments. It's not the case that someone started spouting re-hashed rhetoric which others have been forced to step in and debunk - instead the commenters have been sharing perspectives and papers.
It's the kind of comment thread that I suspect every science blog aspires to have all the time.
Why is a Catholic or Anglican bishop included in the cartoon, considering that both those churches publicly recognize the reality and the seriousness of AGW?
@2 Magma,
Good question.
Pope Francis and Pope Benedict.
that cartoon is terribly ad hominem. i support Skepticla Science, but you should take down that cartoon.
You are the first and only reader to have voiced concern.
bibasir, I don't understand the claim of ad hominem. The argument being made is that these reactions exist among members of the general public. If anything, the problem with the logic is overgeneralization (stereotyping), e.g. all religious people mindlessly accept the doctrine of their religion. However, all fairly realistic visual representations of people have that problem.
Actually, I find it interesting that two religious figures are present, and I assume the synergy between the two forces the first woman to be a representation of the hyperindividualist's concept of religion. In this cartoon, for example, "Jesus is who I need him to be at any given time."
The cartoon comprises a semiotic of hair, dress, facial expression, and text to create a complex representation of the typical reactions of people in the US to the message of the science of global warming. It is a conscious stereotype meant to provoke. SkS is not the target context for the cartoon, but it is still apropriate for appearance on SkS because SkS is all about the communication of climate science to the general public.
Ad hominem is an argument directed against a person rather than the debating position they are maintaining. However, in the cartoon, it is the debating position that is being ridiculed and it is ridiculous because of the content not because of who is saying it.
I wonder if Bibasir's concerns weren't meant for the toon in Weekly Digest #21 rather than the one in weekly Digest #22.