Arguments
2020 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #5
Posted on 1 February 2020 by John Hartz
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, Jan 26, 2020 through Sat, Feb 1, 2020
Editor's Pick
Social tipping points are the only hope for the climate
A new paper explores how to trigger them.
Egg on the edge. Fine balance, tipping point etc. Risk, danger concept or metaphor. by Sarah2, Shutterstock
At this point, the targets enshrined in the Paris climate agreement — holding the rise in global average temperature to a maximum of 2 degrees Celsius, with efforts to limit to 1.5°C — are beyond the reach of incrementalism. If the world’s large economies had begun a slow, steady reduction in greenhouse gas emissions back in the 1990s, it might have sufficed. But action has been delayed so long now that only rapid, radical change can still do the job.
As I wrote in a somewhat gloomy post earlier this month, the world is not exactly filled with happy signs and portents these days. The chances of sudden, coordinated change in a positive direction seem ... slim.
If there is any hope at all, it lies in the fact that social change is often nonlinear. Just as climate scientists warn of tipping points in biophysical systems, social scientists describe tipping points in social systems. Pressure can build beneath the surface over time, creating hairline fractures, until a precipitating incident triggers cascading changes that lead, often irreversibly, to a new steady state. (Think of the straw that broke the camel’s back.) It is less a matter of simple cause and effect than of emergent network effects that are unpredictable and somewhat mysterious even in retrospect.
Social tipping points are the only hope for the climate by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Jan 29, 2020
Click here to access the entire article as originally posted on the Vox website.
Articles Linked to on Facebook
Sun, Jan 26, 2020
- It’s Steven Mnuchin who should listen to economists on climate change by Matthew Yglesias, Vox, Jan 23, 2020
- Booming Plastics Industry Faces Backlash as Data About Environmental Harm Grows by James Bruggers, Inside Climate News, Jan 24, 2020
- These scientists think we're in a 'bushfire spiral'. They have a plan, Analysis by Liam Mannix, Sydney Morning Herald, Jan 26, 2020
- Big Business Says It Will Tackle Climate Change, but Not How or When by David Gelles & Somini Sengupta, Business, New York Times, Jan 23, 2020
- As heat rises, SC watches quietly. Will state suffer from lack of climate action? by Sammy Fretwell, Environment, The State, Jan 26, 2020
- We can’t recall the planet if we mess up: Climate change is risky business, Perspective by Rob Motta & Jim White, Capital Weather Gang, Washington Post, Jan 25, 2020
- Facing dire climate threats, Charleston has done little to reduce its carbon footprint by Tony Bartelme & Chloe Johnson, The Post & Courier, Jan 25, 2020
- Inequality makes climate crisis much harder to tackle by Larry Elliott, Business, Guardian, Jan 26, 2020
Mon, Jan 27, 2020
- The Fate of the Earth by Tom Engelhardt, TomDispatch.com, Jan 26, 2020
- Tragedy of bushfires cloud Australia Day celebrations by Lidia Kelly, Reuters, Jan 26, 2020
- Invasion Day is a day of mourning for Indigenous Australians. The bushfires make this year extra poignant. by Nylah Burton, Vox, Jan 24, 2020
- Four graphs that suggest we can’t blame climate change on solar activity by Gareth Dorrian & Ian Whittaker, The Conversation UK, Jan 24, 2020
- With the En-ROADS climate simulator, you can build your own solutions to global warming by Dana Nuccitelli, Yale Climate Connections, Jan 24, 2020
- Caught Off Guard: The Southeast Struggles with Climate Change by James Bruggers, InsideClimate News, Jan 27, 2020
- Mnuchin said Thunberg needed to study economics before offering climate proposals. So we talked to an economist. Analysis by Philip Bump, Politics, Washington Post, Jan 23, 2020
- YouTube has a big climate misinformation problem it can’t solve by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Jan 27, 2020
Tue, Jan 28, 2020
- Dwindling Arctic Sea Ice May Affect Tropical Weather Patterns by Bob Berwyn, InsideClimate News, Jan 27, 2020
- Blue Innovation in the Commonwealth, Opinion by Patricia Scotland, International Press Service (IPS), Jan 23, 2020
- ‘Green economy’ pioneer Pavan Sukhdev wins 2020 Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement, Climate Change, UN News, Jan 27, 2020
- Nature Losses Threaten Emerging Economies, SciDev.Net/IPS, Jan 24, 2020
- If defending life on Earth is extremist, we must own that label, Opinion by George Monbiot, Comment is Free, Guardian, Jan 22, 2020
- Climate change: UK has 'one shot' at success at Glasgow COP26 by Matt McGrath, Science & Environment, BBC News, Jan 27, 2020
- Koch Spends More in 2019 to Stop Action on Climate by Don Wiener, Exposed, The Center for Media & Democracy, Jan 23. 2020
- The Pacific Ocean is so acidic that it's dissolving Dungeness crabs' shells by Scottie Andrew, CNN, Jan 27, 2020
Wed Jan 29, 2020
- Lawsuits Seeking Damages for Climate Change Face Critical Legal Challenges by David Hasemyer, InsideClimate News, Jan 28, 2020
- Fashion has a misinformation problem. That’s bad for the environment. by Aiden Wicker, Vox, Jan 27, 2020
- Australia's rainy respite from bushfires seen ending by Lidia Kelly, Reuters, Jan 27, 2020
- Weathercasters are talking about climate change — and how we can solve it by Maddie Stone, Grist, Jan 28, 2020
- Deep Decarbonization: A Realistic Way Forward on Climate Change, Opinion by David G Victor, Yale Environment 360, Jan 28, 2020
- “A Trillion Trees” is a great idea—that could become a dangerous climate distraction by James Temple, MIT Technology Review, Jan 28, 2020
- Earth's most biodiverse ecosystems face a perfect storm, News Release, Lancaster University (UK), Jan 27, 2020
- Social tipping points are the only hope for the climate by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Jan 29, 2020
Thu Jan 30, 2020
- Temperatures at a Florida-Size Glacier in Antarctica Alarm Scientists by Shoal Lawal, Climate, New York Times, Jan 29, 2020
- Tiny meteorites suggest ancient Earth had a carbon dioxide–rich atmosphere by Carolyn Gramling, Science News, Jan 29, 2020
- Australia’s capital city faces worst bush fire threat since 2003, as scorching heat plots a return by Andrew Freedman, Capital Weather Gang, Washington Post, Jan 29, 2020
- Carbon Capture: Solved by Software?. Opinion by Richard Middleton, Observation, Scientific American, Jan 23, 2020
- 5 Things to Know About Earth’s Warming Oceans by Tara Lohan, The Revelator, Jan 26, 2020
- The Trump administration is helping 9 states prepare for climate change by Zoya Teirstein, Grist, Jan 27, 2020
- We have the vaccine for climate disinformation – let’s use it by Stephan Lewandowsky & John Hunter, The Conversation US, Jan 30, 2020
- As climate change worsens, so does our grief and distress by Jamie Manson, EarthBeat, NCR, Jan 28, 2020
Fri Jan 31, 2020
- Climate change: Worst emissions scenario 'misleading' by Matt McGrath, Science & Environment, BBC News, Jan 29, 2020
- Tears for the Magnificent and Shrinking Everglades, a ‘River of Grass’ by Nina Burleigh, New York Times, Jan 29, 2020
- Scientists Just Found an Unexpectedly Large Source of Natural Greenhouse Gases by Patrick Galey, APF/Science Alert. Jan 30, 2020
- Jersey 'drowned landscape' could yield Ice Age insights by Paul Rincon, Science & Environment, BBC News, Jan 30, 2020
- This climate problem is bigger than cars and much harder to solve by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Jan 31, 2020
- Now that climate change is irrefutable, denialists like Andrew Bolt insist it will be good for us, Opinion by Van Baham, Comment is Free, Guardian, Jan 30, 2020
- Next self-paced run of Denial101x starts on February 4 by BaerbelW, Skeptical Science, Jan 30, 2020
- A Better Way to Talk About the Climate Crisis by Gretchen Gavett, Mobilizing the Climate, Harvard Business Review, Jan 30, 2020
Sat Feb 1, 2020
- Trump Administration Moves to Relax Rules Against Killing Birds by Lisa Friedman, Climate, New York Times, Jan 30. 2020
- Climate breakdown 'is increasing violence against women' by Fiona Harvey, Environment, Guardian, Jan 29, 2020
- Australia’s bushfires are approaching its capital Canberra by Umair Irfan, Energy & Environment, Vox, Jan 31, 2020
- Not to Ruin the Super Bowl, but the Sea Is Consuming Miami by Matt Simon, WIRED Magazine, Jan 31, 2020
- After the Flood by Inara Verzemnieks, The Reckoning, CNN News, CNN, Date of posting not provided
- Global Warming Fact: Lake Victoria Could Dry Up by Emily J Beverly, The National Interest, Jan 31, 2020
- Decade-long study shows long-term damage of inhaling bushfire smoke by Kathryn Diss, The World Today, ABC News (AU), Jan 29, 2020
- NOAA Leaders Privately Disowned Agency’s Rebuke of Scientists Who Contradicted Trump by Lisa Friedman, John Schwartz & Mark Walker, Climate, New York Times, Feb 1, 2020
The Vox article regarding Social Tipping Points research efforts is very helpful in spite of the admission of serious limitations and uncertainty.
Although specifics regarding social tipping points are not easy to evaluate, any expanded awareness and improved understanding applied to help develop sustainable corrections and improvements for the benefit of the future of humanity is helpful. And every step of expanded awareness and improved understanding that way is essentially an irreversible increment towards helpful social tipping points. Once someone has expanded their awareness and understanding that way they will likely make personal helpful corrective actions.
The effort to achieve and improve on the Sustainable Development Goals is only going to increase. It will not go away no matter how much the resistance to the required changes appears to temporarily regionally Win.
Everyone’s actions add up. And though it may be difficult to get a rather fundamentally harmfully self-interested made-up mind to expand its awareness and understanding, there is no reversing the thoughts of a mind that has expanded awareness and understanding to help others and be less harmful to others. Such a mind is almost certain to develop further improvements in that direction. And other characteristics of the expanding and improving thoughtful helpful mind do not matter. Things like political-leaning have very little influence, except for some tribes trying to limit expanding awareness and understanding among their ideological political or otherwise made-up cults even though that is undeniably a harmfully unsustainable way to play the game that has a declining ability to sustain its perceptions of winning that way.
In many ways the efforts to resist correction and limit awareness and understanding may accelerate the development of helpful social tipping points of expanded awareness and improved understanding governing over those trying to resist correction.
Hopefully the harmful efforts to resist correction do not get pushed to the point of developing a powerful over-corrective social tipping point reaction. But history is full of examples showing that is a possible future result if the resistance to correction does not give up on their efforts to be as harmfully incorrect as they can get away with.
A useful book is "The Tipping Point, by M Gladwell". It describes how trends simmer way for years with little or no momentum then theres a tipping point where change is rapid often exponential. One new factor comes along that can hugely invigorate the trend. That new factor doesn't have to be huge, but it does has to have the right characteristics, be at the right time, and have a popular connection with the public.
They use examples from fashion, epidemiology of disease spread, spread of new educational ideas and some other stuff I think. One amusing example is hush puppy shoes that were never really fashionable until a group of kids started wearing them as an anti fashion statement. Sales increased over a couple of years then exploded with youth, as the idea became popular. it was the idea that connected.
So Greta Thunberg could potentially fit the description of the start of a tipping point but only time will really tell.
Right that's me done for the day.
On a live TV broadcast in Australia a Senator is booed by the audience when he says he questions in climate change is "human caused" He says "my mind is open" based on "I'm not relying on evidence".
Michael Man responds "you should keep open mind but not so open your brain falls out" (2:00, the very end).
Three cheers for Michael Mann!!! On live TV!!
The public reaction seen in the live TV broadcast that Michael Sweet's comment @3 provided a link to is indeed encouraging.
However, the reasons people vote the way they do is what needs to change, not just the expression of public moments of ridicule.
Many people who understand that the developed attitudes and actions of most of the more fortunate humans are causing significant unacceptable climate change to occur will continue to vote for candidates and parties they know do not share that understanding and the need for correction. They will vote for candidates and parties that have a proven a history of resisting expanded awareness, resisting improving understanding, resisting applying learning to help develop sustainable improvements for humanity, resisting correction.
Some people will understand they should dislike a Leader, or leadership candidate, who proves they lack the ability to responsibly perform the duties of their elected office like the "booed at Senator". But they will still vote for that type of individual or party "for other reasons". And, tragically, what many of those types of voters will fail to realize is that the "other reasons" they have for voting for that type of candidate or party are also resistance to expanded awareness, improved understanding and correction of unjustified developed beliefs and related harmful unsustainable actions.
The pursuit of Sustainable Development is a response to the harmful developments that have been occurring. And many of the wealthy and powerful have responded to the expanded awareness and improved understanding of the corrections of what has developed in order to achieve Sustainable Development by gathering up the diversity of "resistance to Sustainable Development Corrections" into United Political Groups as a way to divisively polarize societies in order to prolong the winning by a Collective Diversity of Resistance to Sustainable Development Correction. They, like the Senator, demand the freedom to believe whatever they want as the justification for resisting the correction of something they have developed a liking for. They like the freedom to continue to do what they like. They dislike "Any External Governing/Limiting of their behaviour, and any related corrections of beliefs".
Yes good on Mann. Its about time the scientific community was just a little bit more, whats the word, pointedly critical of the denialists, but in a humorous way.
What intrigued me is when he said "Im not relying on evidence". Bet he didn't mean for that to slip out. Bit of a freudian slip perhaps.
Someone should have asked him what he was relying on. Fairy dust perhaps.