Posted on 12 August 2018 by John Hartz

Story of the Week...

On climate change, it’s time to start panicking 

The crisis over global warming warrants an unparalleled response 

(Getty/Photo Montage by Salon)

It is time for us to panic about global warming. Indeed, a proper state of panic is long overdue.

Global warming has made the news for a number of reasons this week: The Supreme Court rejected a request by President Donald Trump to halt a lawsuit by children and teenagers to force the federal government to address man-made climate change; Trump's Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Transportation took new steps to reverse President Barack Obama's rules requiring car manufacturers to steadily reduce greenhouse gas pollution from their vehicles; former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger denounced those same Trump policies as "stupid"; and The New York Times ran a brilliant piece documenting how, between 1979 and 1989, the world had the opportunity to effectively address man-made climate change... and squandered it.

Yet this is one of those issues in which — because there are so many twists and turns and overwhelming details — it is easy to lose sight of a crucial fact: If we do not resolve the problem of man-made climate change, it could quite literally spell the end of human civilization.

"There will be and already is major consequences and they grow over time. It does not look good," Kevin Trenberth, a a Distinguished Senior Scientist in the Climate Analysis Section at the National Center for Atmospheric Research at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, told Salon by email. "The effects are always local but there are more and more of them and the consequences are major. These includes floods and drought, heat waves and wild fires." He also pointed Salon in the direction of a paper he co-authored that elaborated on how Hurricane Harvey in particular could be linked to climate change.

On climate change, it’s time to start panicking by Matthew Rozsa, Salon, Aug 5, 2018 

Opinion of the Week...

Don’t despair – climate change catastrophe can still be averted

The future looks fiery and dangerous, according to new reports. But political will and grassroots engagement can change this

‘A new scientific report says that even fairly modest future carbon emissions could set off a cascade of catastrophe.’ Wild fire in Athens, Greece. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images 

This is the summer when, for many, climate change got real. The future looks fiery and dangerous. Hot on the heels of Trump, fake news and the parlous state of the Brexit negotiations, despair is in the air. Now a new scientific report makes the case that even fairly modest future carbon dioxide emissions could set off a cascade of catastrophe, with melting permafrost releasing methane to ratchet up global temperatures enough to drive much of the Amazon to die off, and so on in a chain reaction around the world that pushes Earth into a terrifying new hothouse state from which there is no return. Civilisation as we know it would surely not survive. How do we deal with such news?

As a research scientist in this field, I can give some nuance to the headlines. One common way of thinking about climate change is the lower the future carbon dioxide emissions, the less warming and the less havoc we will face as this century progresses. This is certainly true, but as the summer heatwave and the potential hothouse news remind us, the shifts in climate we will experience will not be smooth, gradual and linear changes. They may be fast, abrupt, and dangerous surprises may happen. However, an unstoppable globally enveloping cascade of catastrophe, while possible, is certainly not a probable outcome.

Don’t despair – climate change catastrophe can still be averted, Opinion by Simon Lewis, Comment is Free, Guardian, Aug 7, 2018 

Toon of the Week...

Quote of the Week...

"I would place a price on carbon," Michael E. Mann, a Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Science at Penn State, told Salon by email. "Whether this takes the form of a carbon tax (a revenue-neutral carbon tax? fee and dividend? cap-and-trade?), I leave that to the policymakers to determine as long as they accept, as the premise for policy, what the science has to say about the reality and threat of climate change. The price on carbon needs to be set such that it leads to a reduction in carbon emissions of several percent a year for the next few decades. If we do that, we can avoid a catastrophic 2C (~3.5 F) warming of the planet." 

On climate change, it’s time to start panicking by Matthew Rozsa, Salon, Aug 5, 2018

Video of the Week...

Mike Mann provides a clear explanation of the relation between climate change and current extreme weather around the world, and the imperative to reduce carbon emissions.

Via https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/climate-change-is-making-wildfires-more-extreme-heres-how 

Climate change fuels wildfires. Here’s how, ClimateState, Aug 7, 2018

Coming Soon on SkS...

• Trump reignited his war with California, but his Tweet got burned (Dana)
• What does ‘mean’ actually mean? (Kevin Cowtan)
• Guest Post (John Abraham)
• Climate change and wildfires – how do we know if there is a link? (Kevin Trenberth)
• New research this week (Ari)
• 2018 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #33 (John Hartz)
• 2018 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #33 (John Hartz)

Climate Feedback Reviews...

[To be added.] 

Poster of the Week...

SkS Week in Review... 

• 2018 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #32 by John Hartz
• Welcome to the Pliocene by John Mason
• New research, July 30 - August 4, 2018 by Ari Jokimäki
• Factcheck: How global warming has increased US wildfires by Zeke Hausfather 
• (Carbon Brief)
• Climate change science comeback strategies by Karen Kirk (Yale Climate Connections)
• Pollution is slowing the melting of Arctic sea ice, for now by John Abraham (Climate Consensus - the 97%, Environment, Guardian)
• The GOP and Big Oil can't escape blame for climate change by Dana Nuccitelli (Climate Consensus - the 97%, Environment, Guardian)
• 2018 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #31 by John Hartz