Posted on 29 September 2024 by BaerbelW, Doug Bostrom, John Hartz

Story of the week

Given the headlines dominance of hot oceans lofting water into the atmosphere where it then obeys the Clausius-Clapeyron relationship thereby leading to catastrophic rainfall, our Story of the Week might have been a composite of misery brought down on many heads thanks to our having changed Earth's climate. For an example of our hydrometeorological scope of disaster being widened in plain view over the past week alone, simply scan the article listing below to see how the story of Hurricane Helene evolved.

But extreme rainfall is not uppermost in the thoughts of our Skeptical Science team. Instead, a much more local tragedy has overwhelmed us: the sudden loss of key Skeptical Science author and highly esteemed and valued colleague John Mason. John passed away on Friday, September 20, untimely and wholly unanticipated.  Not only was John extraordinarily productive for Skeptical Science but he was also a person who inevitably ended up being counted as a friend to any colleague with whom he shared purpose and effort. John's death is a full-spectrum loss, a cruel blow. For us, the Story of the Week is about Remembering our friend John Mason. 

Stories we promoted this week, by publication date:

Before September 22

• COP29 aims to boost battery storage and grids for renewables, as pledges proliferate, Politics, Climate Home News, Jo Lo. "Governments are being asked to sign up to a goal to boost energy storage six-fold and renew or add 80 million km of electric grids, among other initiatives"
• Why everywhere seems to be flooding right now, Climate, Vox, Li Zhou. "Unique factors have driven torrential rains around the world — but there’s also a likely common thread."
• Even solar energy’s biggest fans are underestimating it, Climate, Vox, Umair Irfan. "Solar’s extraordinary forecast-defying growth, explained."
• Turning the Tide on Climate Change, ClimateAdam on Youtube, Adam Levy.
• Video: Can a colossal extreme weather event galvanize action on the climate crisis?, Eye on the Storm, Yale Climate Connections, YCC Team. "Many extremes over the past 40 years might have triggered transformational change – but didn’t. Meteorologist Dr. Jeff Masters explains."

September 22

• 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #38, Skeptical Science, Bärbel Winkler, Doug Bostrom & John Hartz. A listing of 33 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Mon, September 16, 2024 thru Sun, September 22, 2024.

September 23

• Climate change is a pollution problem, and countries have stopped similar threats before - think DDT and acid rain, The Conversation - Articles (US), Alexander E. Gates.
• Where the sea wall ends, Climate, Washington Post, Chris Mooney, John Muyskens & Brady Dennis, Photos & videos by Ricky Carioti. "At a time of fast-rising seas, the ocean is eating away at this barrier island and others like it. But humans, who have held their ground here for over a century, are planning new condos."
• How many people did the Beryl blackout kill?, The Climate Brink, Andrew Dessler.
• Earth may have breached seven of nine planetary boundaries, health check shows, Environment, The Guardian, Damian Carrington. "Ocean acidification close to critical threshold, say scientists, posing threat to marine ecosystems and global liveability"Earth may have breached seven of nine planetary boundaries, health check shows
• Helene forecast to rapidly intensify and hit Florida as a major hurricane, Weather, CNN, Mary Gilbert.
• A Thousand Lives Lost, and Millions Disrupted, by Flooding in Western Africa, Living on Earth/Inside Climate News, Interview by Steve Curwood. "The city of Maiduguri, in Nigeria, had been drought-stricken. Then the rains, amplified by climate change, began and wouldn’t stop, inundating homes and overwhelming a dam."

September 24

• In the gateway to the Arctic, fat, ice and polar bears are crucial. All three are in trouble., Phys.org, Seth Borenstein.
• As Earth’s Climate Unravels, More Scientists Are Ready to Test Geoengineering, Scientific American, Mark Fischetti. "More and more climate scientists are supporting experiments to cool Earth by altering the stratosphere or the ocean"
• Why could Helene trigger massive rainfall inland? Blame the Fujiwhara effect, USA TODAY, Doyle Rice. "Forecasters say soon-to-be Hurricane Helene could undergo a Fujiwhara 'interaction' with another storm over the south-central US"
• Under a Texas sun, agrivoltaics offer farmers a new way to make money, Business, Washington Post, Samuel Gilbrt. "Solar grazing helps farmers feed their flocks while the expanding solar industry provides more clean energy to the grid."
• Hurricanes have changed. The way we prepare for them should, too., Weather, CNN, Rachel Ramirez.

September 25

• Labor`s coalmine expansion approvals undermine its credibility on the global stage | Adam Morton, The Guardian, Adam Morton. How does a massive coal push lasting decades line up with what it has pledged? Leaders of low-lying Pacific nations might appreciate some answers
• Helene rapidly intensifies into a hurricane on its path to the strongest storm to hit the US in over a year, US, CNN, Mary Gilbert, Taylor Ward & Dalia Faheid.
• Climate change supercharged Europe floods - scientists, Earth, BBC News, Mark Poynting & Greg Brosnan.
• Hurricane Helene forecast to explode into catastrophic Category 4 ahead of Florida landfall, CNN, Mary Gilbert, Taylor Ward, Emma Tucker & Dalia Faheid,.
• At Climate Forward Event, an Architect of Project 2025 Dismisses Global Warming, New York Times , Carol Davenport. "At a New York Times Climate Forward event, Kevin D. Roberts said climate change 'amounted to a 'hot year'.”

September 26

• Climate change destroyed an Alaska village. Its residents are starting over in a new town, The Independent News, Rick Bowmer and Mark Thiessen. Erosion and melting permafrost have just about destroyed the Alaska village of Newtok

September 27

• Remembering our friend John Mason, Skeptical Science, SkS Team.
• $2.6tn spent annually on subsidies that harm the environment, and other nature and climate stories you need to read this week, Agenda, World Economic Forum (WEF), Tom Crowfoot.
• Four ways climate change likely made Hurricane Helene worse, Eye on the Storm, Yale Climate Connections, Jeff Masters. "Climate change makes the strongest hurricanes stronger, increases rainfall, increases storm surge damage through sea level rise, and increases the probability of rapid intensification events."
• Sloths may be in danger by the end of the century, Popular Science, Andrew Paul. The existential threat of warmer temperatures will likely be 'profound.’
• Fossil Fuel Presence at Climate Week NYC Spotlights Dissonance in Clean Energy Transition, Today's Climate, Inside Climate News, Kiley Price. "As climate activists spoke out against fossil fuel presence, countries detailed the barriers slowing their transition to clean energy."

September 28

• Dozens dead as Helene unleashes life-threatening flooding and knocks out power to millions across Southeast, Weather, CNN, Dalia Faheid.
• Brazil`s `Paradise` on fire: `The forest is burning. Animals are burning. Everything`s burning`, The Guardian, Tom Phillips. Along the Madeira river basin, in the Amazon, locals blame climate change and human greed for the wildfires