Posted on 4 October 2015 by John Hartz

SkS Highlights

Was Broecker really the first to use the term Global Warming? by Ari Jokimäki attracted the highest number of comments of the articles posted on SkS during the past week. Not only is Jokimäki's original research very informative, but the commentary also adds to the body of knowledge. If you have not done so already, you will want to check it out. 

El Niño Watch

African crops, economies at risk as El Nino threatens to scorch and soak by Ed Stoddard, Reuters, Oct 2, 2015

Toon of the Week

Hat tip to I Heart Climate Scientists

Quote of the Week

Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England has warned that climate change will lead to financial crises and falling living standards unless the world’s leading countries do more to ensure that their companies come clean about their current and future carbon emissions.

In a speech to the insurance market Lloyd’s of London on Tuesday, Carney said insurers were heavily exposed to climate change risks and that time was running out to deal with global warming.

The governor said that proposals would probably be put to the G20 meeting in Turkey in November urging the world’s leading developed and developing countries to bring in tougher corporate disclosure standards so that investors could better judge climate change risks.

“The challenges currently posed by climate change pale in significance compared with what might come,” Carney said. “The far-sighted amongst you are anticipating broader global impacts on property, migration and political stability, as well as food and water security. So why isn’t more being done to address it?”

Carney warns of risks from climate change 'tragedy of the horizon' by Larry Elliott, The Guardian, Sep 29, 2015 

They Said What?

3. Climate change. Some Republican candidates for president avoid denying outright that climate change is happening, but every single one of them downplays it or lies about the policy solutions that have been proposed. Other candidates stake ground on the argument that climate change is a hoax being perpetuated by scientists for reasons unknown. That group includes Donald Trump, Rick Santorum, Marco Rubio, Mike Huckabee and Ben Carson.

But don’t let that fool you into thinking the rest of them are moderates on the issue or somehow being honest. They just lie more creatively. One strategy is to cast doubt on the degree to which it's human-caused, implying it’s just a thing that happens and there’s nothing to be done. “I don't think the science is clear on what percentage is man-made,” Jeb Bush said in a typical comment, adding that “for the people to say the science is decided on this is just really arrogant.” But waving away the evidence determined by experts because it’s inconvenient is hardly a sign of humility. Bobby Jindal and Rand Paul take similar stances.

Then there are the people who accept the science on this but issue B.S. about the policy. In this camp you have Chris Christie calling for a “global solution” and Carly Fiorina griping that “a single nation acting alone can make no difference at all.” The lie here is implicit: They want you to believe that liberals are only interested in reducing carbon emissions in the U.S.

In reality, no one has actually suggested a U.S.-only approach to climate change. Nearly all efforts have been international, such as the Kyoto Protocol, in which industrialized countries across the planet committed to reducing carbon emissions, a treaty that President Clinton signed but that was not ratified by the Senate. Recent efforts have also included global partners, with China and the U.S. trapped in tense negotiations that would require both countries to reduce emissions. No one thinks we can do this alone, and it’s sleazy of Republicans to imply otherwise.

4 Ways the Insane GOP Primary Has Made America's Discourse Dumber Than Ever by Amanda Marcotte, AlterNet, Sep 29, 2015 

Coming Soon on SkS

• The Republican Party stands alone in climate denial (Dana)
• Skeptical Science reader survey - thanks for your feedback (BaerbelW)
• Still no let up in ocean warming (Rob Painting)
• Guest post (John Abraham)
• The pope, climate change and the cultural dimensions of the Anthropocene (Andrew J Hoffman)
• 2015 SkS Weekly News Roundup #41 (John Hartz)
• 2015 SkS Weekly Digest #41 (John Hartz)

Poster of the Week

SkS Week in Review 

• 2015 SkS Weekly News Roundup #40 by John Hartz
• Emphasizing co-benefits motivates people to take action on climate change by John Abraham (Climate Consensus-the 97%, The Guardian)
• Was Broecker really the first to use the term Global Warming? by Ari Jokimäki
• Is the fossil fuel industry, like the tobacco industry, guilty of racketeering? by Dana Nuccitelli (Climate Consensus-the 97%, The Guardian)
• Drought stunts tree growth for four years, study says by Robert McSweeney (The Carbon Brief)
• 2015 SkS Weekly Digest #39 by John Hartz

97 Hours of Consensus: Peter Stott

Peter Stott's bio page

Quote derived with author's permission from:

"... the chances that we’ve got it wrong, that the scientific consensus is wrong about that this, that there isn’t a major human influence on climate — the chances that that’s the case seems to keep reducing as we get more and more data."