Arguments
2018 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #2
Posted on 13 January 2018 by John Hartz
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook page during the past week.
Editor's Pick
Climate change is triggering a migrant crisis in Vietnam
Harvesting rice. Phuong D. Nguyen / Shutterstock.com
The Vietnamese Mekong Delta is one of Earth’s most agriculturally productive regions and is of global importance for its exports of rice, shrimp, and fruit. The 18m inhabitants of this low-lying river delta are also some of the world’s most vulnerable to climate change. Over the last ten years around 1.7m people have migrated out of its vast expanse of fields, rivers and canals while only 700,000 have arrived.
On a global level migration to urban areas remains as high as ever: one person in every 200moves from rural areas to the city every year. Against this backdrop it is difficult to attribute migration to individual causes, not least because it can be challenging to find people who have left a region in order to ask why they went and because every local context is unique. But the high net rate of migration away from Mekong Delta provinces is more than double the national average, and even higher in its most climate-vulnerable areas. This implies that there is something else – probably climate-related – going on here.
Climate change is triggering a migrant crisis in Vietnam by Alex Chapman & Van Pham Dang Tri, The Conversation UK, Jan 9, 2018
Links posted on Facebook
Sun Jan 7, 2018
- Hot topic: How climate change is impacting the UAE and Gulf by Waheed Abbas, Kahleej Times (Dubai), Jan 6, 2018
- Nowhere to Hide from Climate Change by Pascal Laureyn, Inter Press Service (IPS), Jan 2, 2018
- Sydney hits its highest temperature recorded since 1939 with Penrith reaching 47.3C, ABC News (Australia), Jan 7, 2018
- Cooking the books on climate change by Eryk Bagshaw, Sydney Morning Herald, Jan 8, 2018
- Getting to 350: What It Will Take to Fix Global Warming, Analysis by Peter Montague, Truthout, Jan 6, 2018
- Climate Change Has Quadrupled Ocean ‘Dead Zones,’ Researchers Warn by Mary Papenfuss, HuffPost, Jan 6, 2018
Mon Jan 8, 2018
- LOL Something Matters by Daniel Engber, Science, Slate, Jan 3, 2018
- UNM meteorologist says Southwest ‘on front lines … of climate change’ by Rebecca Moss, The New Mexican, Jan 6, 2018
- How Climate Change forces Rural Vulnerabilities,& Human Migration to major Cities in Africa, African Climate Reporters, Jan 6, 2018
- Sydney swelters on hottest day since 1939 as mercury hits 47.3C, BBC News, Jan 7, 2018
- The Ocean Floor Is Sinking Under The Water Weight From Melting Glaciers, And It’s As Bad As It Sounds by Dana Dovey, Newsweek, Jan 8, 2018
- Which works better: climate fear, or climate hope? Well, it's complicated, Opnion by Lucia Graves, Climate Change, Guardian, Jan 4, 2018
- US hits record for costly weather disasters: $306 billion by Seth Borenstein, AP News, Jan 8. 2018
- German coalition negotiators agree to scrap 2020 climate target - sources by Markus Waket, Reuters, Jan 8, 2018
Tue Jan 9, 2018
- Ocean Acidification Changing Mussel Shell Structure, E360 Digest, Yale Environment 360, Jan 8, 2018
- Cooperation to curb Asia’s climate risks still too rare – scientists by Saleem Shaikh & Sughra Tunio, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Jan 8, 2018
- In New York, Drawing Flood Maps Is a ‘Game of Inches by David W Chen, New York Times, Jan 7, 2018
- Charcoal business threatens African Forestry, African Climate Reporters, Jan 8, 2018
- Evaluating biases in Sea Surface Temperature records using coastal weather stations by Kevin C, Skeptical Science, Jan 8, 2018
- Alaska releases first detailed report on negative health impacts of climate change by Tegan Hanlon, Anchorage Daily News, Jan 8, 2018
- The 'imminent mini ice age' myth is back, and it's still wrong by Dana Nuccitelli, Clmate Consensus - the 97%, Guardian, Jan 9, 2018
- Rick Perry’s proposed coal bailout just died an unceremonious death by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Jan 9, 2018
Wed Jan 10, 2018
- Australia's emissions are rising. It's time for this government to quit pretending by Greg Jericho, Guardian, Jan 9, 2018
- UK government slashes outlook for new gas power plants, Analysis, Carbon Brief, Jan 8, 2018
- Middle ground: Fertile for climate change dialogue by Karin Kirk, Yale Climate Communications, Jan 8, 2018
- Southern California mudslides wipe out homes, leaving 13 dead by Darran Simon, Paul Vercammen & Faith Karimi, CNN, Jan 10, 2018
- 2017 Was the Third Hottest Year on Record for the U.S. by Scott Waldman, ClimateWire/Scientific American, Jan 9, 2018
- NASA just made a stunning discovery about how fracking fuels global warming by Joe Romm, Think Progress, Jan 9, 2018
- How Much Has ‘Climate Change’ Been Scrubbed From Federal Websites? A Lot. by Coral Davenport, Climate, New York Times, Jan 10, 2018
- Trump Just Let Florida Block Offshore Drilling. That’s a Scandal. by Eric Levitz, New York Magazine, Jan 10, 2018
Thu Jan 11, 2018
- The impact of climate change on the Antarctic, EuroNews, Jan 9, 2018
- The Key To Slowing Global Warming by Riduna, Skeptical Science, Jan 10, 2018
- Scientists say 'dead zones' like those in Chesapeake have grown four-fold across oceans, threaten marine life by Scott Dance, The Baltimore Sun, Jan 7, 2018
- Baloney Meter: will the Liberal carbon tax really mean paying more for everything? by Mia Robson, Canadian Press/National Observer, Jan 11, 2018
- Climate Change Is Altering Lakes and Streams, Study Suggests by Carl Zimmer, Science, New York Times, Jan 11, 2018
- New York City sues five oil giants for causing climate 'tragedy' by Carl Meyer, National Observer, Jan 10, 2018
- Warming will put millions more at flood risk in next 20 years - scientists by Alex Whiting, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Jan 10, 2018
- Wind & Solar + Storage Prices Smash Records by Christopher Arcus, CleanTehnica, Jan 11, 2018
Fri Jan 12, 2018
- Ecosystems Are Collapsing, Food Bowls Are Next by David Fickling, Bloomberg Gladfy, Jan 8, 2018
- Solar steam powers homes – and new jobs – in South Africa by Munyaradzi Makoni, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Jan 11, 2018
- That Recent Brutally Cold Weather? It’s Getting Rarer by Henry Fountain, Climate, New York Times, Jan 11, 2018
- Nuclear debacle energizes push for solar power expansion by Sammy Fretwell, The State (Columbia, SC), Jan 9, 2018
- 5 of the biggest planned renewable energy projects in the world by Climate Action, Jan 11, 2018
- As Trump's fossil-fuel 'energy dominance' plan founders, a crucial solar energy decision nears by Keith Schneider, Los Angeles Times, Jan 10, 2018
- In a fast-warming world, scientists say recent cold wave was exceptionally weird by Jason Samenow, Captial Weather Gang, Washington Post, Jan 11, 2018
- Even a small cut in global warming will help slow sea level rise by Olive Heffernan, New Scientist, Jan 12, 2018
Sat Jan 13, 2018
- Climate change is triggering a migrant crisis in Vietnam by Alex Chapman & Van Pham Dang Tri, The Conversation UK, Jan 9, 2018
- After an Uncertain Start, U.S. Offshore Wind Is Powering Up by Roger Drouin, Yale Enviroment 360, Jan 11, 2018
- El Niño causes West Antarctica’s ice shelves to gain height yet lose mass by Robert McSweeney, Carbon Brief, Jan 8. 2018
- “Climate change” and “global warming” are disappearing from government websites by Umair Irfan, Energy & Environment, Vox, Jan 11, 2018
- Offshore Drilling Plan Under Fire: Zinke May Have Violated Law, Senator Says by Sabrina Shankman, InsideClimate News, Jan 11, 2018
- Climate Change in My Backyard, Opinion by Leah C Stokes, New York Times, Jan 11, 2018
- Scott Pruitt confirms who he really works for in a tweet by Natasha Geiling, Think Progress, Jan 12, 2018
- Sheldon Walker and the non-existent “pause” by Tamino, Open Mind, Jan 13, 2018
From research by the university of Ryukyus in Vietnam, rates of sea level rise in Vietnam over 1991 - 2003 are 3.1mm.
citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.655.7245&rep=rep1&type=pdf
According to research published in Nature Journal, predicted sea level rise by 2050 is 300mm, and will cause further salinity intrusion.
www.nature.com/articles/nclimate2469
According to research in Environmental Letters Journal, the Mekong Delta area is also subsiding, due to excessive extraction of groundwater. This presumably compounds the flooding, sea level rise, and salinity problems.
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aa7146
So imo with so many factors involved and pressure on the land, the migrant crisis is likely to get much worse.
nigelj,
There is an additional concern related to the over-extraction of aquifer water in the delta that does not appear to be mentioned in the research in Environmental Letters Journal you linked because it does not affect the subsidence issue that was being investigated.
Rapid aquifer drawdown near ocean/sea interfaces will result in salt water encroaching into the inland extraction locations. This occurred on Oahu, Hawaii when prolonged over-extraction resulted in salt water being drawn up from extraction wells. The over-extraction was not appreciated before the salt water arrived because the water head at the extraction point was not dropping.
Climate change may have added to the problem of oceanic dead zones but the primary cause is the export of Nitrogen from our farm lands via our rivers into the oceans. Witness how the major dead zones are at the mouth of rivers. The wide adoption of the so called Conservation Agriculture would hugely mitigate nitrogen pollution while keeping this valuable and expensive nutrient on the land where it would be a fertilizer instead of a pollutant. The best explanation of Conservation Agriculture I have seen is the book by Prof Mongomery, Growing a Revolution