Posted on 8 May 2016 by John Hartz

SkS Highlights

Using the metric of the number of comments garnered, the following articles were the most popular of those posted on SkS during the past week:

• Scientists are figuring out the keys to convincing people about global warming by Dana Nuccitelli (Climate Consensus -the 97%, Guardian)
• Handy resources when facing a firehose of falsehoods by BaerbelW & jg
• Peabody coal's contrarian scientist witnesses lose their court case by John Abraham (Climate Consensus -the 97%, Guardian) 

El Niño Impacts

The international community must boost efforts to build the capacity for disaster risk management and readiness to prevent El Niño weather extremes from causing humanitarian crises in affected countries and impeding their development, the President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) said today.

“We must remember that El Niño is not a one-off event but recurring global phenomena that we must address for future generations and to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” said ECOSOC President Oh Joon at the opening of a special meeting on Impacts of the 2015/16 El Niño phenomenon: Reducing risks and capturing opportunities at UN Headquarters in New York.

“All partners, the United Nations, international and regional organizations, civil society, the private sector and the scientific community, need to take coordinated and fortified action to tackle El Niño risks,” he added.

‘El Niño is not a one-off event,’ UN says, calling for action to address phenomenon’s impacts, UN News Center, May 6, 2016 

Toon of the Week

Hat tip to I Heart Climate Scientists

Quote of the Week 

The effects may extend far beyond Canada and Alaska, because of the frozen organic matter under the forest permafrost. Wildfires can strip away the protective vegetative blanket and release all that stockpiled carbon into the atmosphere, says Merritt Turetsky, an ecosystem ecologist at the University of Guelph in Ontario. The thawing soil could also trigger microbial activity, releasing more carbon dioxide and methane.

In other words, more wildfires can mean more greenhouse gases, accelerating the very climate change that may have helped kick off the fires in the first place — not to mention changing the equation for rest of the globe.

“This is carbon that the ecosystem has not seen for thousands of years and now it’s being released into the atmosphere,” says Turetsky. “We need to start thinking about permafrost and we need to start thinking about deep carbon and everything we can do to inhibit the progression of climate change.”

Canada’s huge wildfires may release carbon locked in permafrost by Aviva Rutkin, New Scientist, May 6, 2016 

He Said What?

An independent TD (member of the Irish parliament) has denied there is a human impact on climate change.

Speaking in the Dail (Irish parliament), on Wednesday, Danny Healy-Rae said "God above" controlled the weather.

During a debate on the issue, he denied the burning of fossil fuel was the main cause of global warming. 

Danny Healy-Rae: TD denies there is a human impact on climate change, BBC News, May 5, 2016

SkS in the News

Communicating climate change is hard. Debunking climate myths is even harder.

Take it from me, I’ve spent the last decade researching climate communication and the psychology of misinformation. So let me express my expert opinion on a Jimmy Kimmel comedy segment on climate change.

It’s one of the better pieces of climate communication I’ve encountered.

Jimmy Kimmel, Expert Climate Communicator — Who Knew?! by John Cook, Huffington Post, May 6, 2016 

SkS Spotlights: Climate for Health

Climate for Health is a national initiative led by a diverse network of health leaders from across the health sector representing key health care, public health, clinical, and medical institutions and associations. Committed to advancing climate solutions to protect the health and well being of Americans, our leaders offer support, inspiration, and resources to new leaders ready to make their own commitment and build support for climate solutions.
 
As local, regional, and national health leaders, it is our responsibility to help the public prepare for the health risks posed by our changing climate, and to empower them to care for climate change as part of caring for their own health.
 
By joining Climate for Health, we commit to implementing climate solutions within our own organizations, and working together to prepare, empower, and inspire our patients, staff, communities, other health leaders, and the nation on climate change solutions.

Climate for Health is a program created by health sector leaders in collaboration with ecoAmerica through its MomentUs initiative. It is funded by The MacArthur Foundation, The Linden Trust for Conservation, and others.  

Coming Soon on SkS

• Explainer: 10 ways ‘negative emissions’ could slow climate change (Carbon Brief Staff)
• CO2's Role in Global Warming Has Been on the Oil Industry's Radar Since the 1960s (Inside Climate News)
• Coal made its best case against climate change, and lost (Dana)
• Ocean Oxygen – another shoe dropping (howardlee)
• Lord Krebs: scientists must challenge poor media reporting on climate change (John Krebs)
• 2016 SkS Weekly News Roundup #20 (John Hartz)
• 2016 SkS Weekly Digest #20 (John Hartz)

Poster of the Week

SkS Week in Review 

• 2016 SkS Weekly News Roundup #19 by John Hartz
• Deep sea microbes may be key to oceans’ climate change feedback by Howard Lee (Climate Consensus -the 97%, Guardian)
• Consensus on consensus by Andy Skuce (Corporate Knights Magazine) 
• Scientists are figuring out the keys to convincing people about global warming by Dana Nuccitelli (Climate Consensus -the 97%, Guardian)
• Handy resources when facing a firehose of falsehoods by BaerbelW & jg
• Peabody coal's contrarian scientist witnesses lose their court case by John Abraham (Climate Consensus -the 97%, Guardian) 
• 2016 SkS Weekly Digest #18 by John Hartz

97 Hours of Consensus: James Byrne

James Byrne's bio page & Quote source