Arguments
Skeptical Science New Research for Week #32 2023
Posted on 10 August 2023 by Doug Bostrom, Marc Kodack
Open access notables
From this week's government/NGO section and UC Berkeley's Goldman School of Public Policy, an attractive choice: 2035 and Beyond: The Report
The authors show that the United States has one of the world’s best offshore wind potentials, enough to power up to 5 percent in 2035 and 25 percent of America’s total power needs in 2050 with this abundant clean energy. Progress in the next decade is critical to build out the U.S. offshore wind supply chain. The right mix of policies that start today can make offshore wind a cornerstone of the transition to a zero-emission economy, creating jobs, improving grid reliability, and keeping electricity affordable. Over 4,000 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind potential is available along the U.S. coastline, including the Great Lakes, which could greatly complement onshore resources such as solar and wind to help achieve a 95% clean electricity grid by 2050 without substantially affecting wholesale electricity costs. Increasing ambition for offshore wind development could inject up to $1.8 trillion of investment into the U.S. economy and employ up to 390,000 workers in the sector in 2050.
How to get a quick snapshot of reality? For some matters, we only need ask the insurance industry. For instance, there are persistent, misogynist-whiffy jokes about "women drivers," but the jealously guarded bottom-line of insurance companies sets us straight: automobile driver's insurance is lower for women. Case closed, jokes deflated! So, how about another myth-afflicted topic— climate change? Over the decades anthropogenic climate change has been sliding into view on the calculators of insurance companies, and this activity has commensurately crept into the attention of academics interested in this sphere of economic activity. Lin Yang-Han & coauthors track this evolution from its inception, with Evolution of research on climate risk insurance: A bibliometric analysis from 1975 to 2022 just published in Advances in Climate Change Research.
Some 33 million smallholder farms supply about 70% of sub-Saharan Africa's food supply. A collective of "small" farms are the large foundations of stability for the entire continent, and attention must be paid. Just so: Isaac Ayo Oluwatimilehin and Ayansina Ayanlade's article Climate change impact on staple crops: assessment of smallholder farmers’ adaptation methods and barriers just published in Climate Risk Management suggests that while smallholders currently lack capacity to adapt their agricultural practices to the mess we're rapidly making of our climate, such adaptation holds promise not only to mitigate degradation of these farms but can in fact improve their output.
Frequency control is a big deal in AC (alternating current) power systems, such as those supplying the electrical outlets and equipment in our homes and factories. Various devices powered by our grid need fairly precise AC frequency in order not to malfunction or be damaged. Our generation systems evolved from the beginning so as to be very "stiff" against wavering load demand, thanks to the enormous collective mass of huge spinning armatures in myriad large generators. Much of this equipment is on the way out of the picture because it's overwhelmingly been part of big thermal plants consuming fossil fuels for operation. This largely leaves nuclear and hydroelectric plants to handle the momentum requirements for frequency control, as outmoded combustion thermal plants are retired. It's not really possible for many reasons for those to pick up all of the necessary "oomph" duty. An intriguing paper in Wind Energy explores how wind generation can help to close the gap: Providing power reserve for secondary grid frequency regulation of offshore wind farms through yaw control. The article is exemplary of the detail work needed to "just" transition to modern, permanent energy supplies now that we've twigged that fossil fuels are an ephemeral and hazardous power source.
107 articles in 53 journals by 566 contributing authors
Physical science of climate change, effects
Mechanisms of Tibetan Plateau Warming Amplification in Recent Decades and Future Projections, Hu et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-22-0471.1
The Relationship Between the Present-Day Seasonal Cycles of Clouds in the Mid-Latitudes and Cloud-Radiative Feedback, Furtado et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access pdf 10.1029/2023gl103902
Observations of climate change, effects
Atmospheric Water Vapor Transport between Ocean and Land under Climate Warming, Wang et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-22-0106.1
Climatology and Changes in Extratropical Cyclone Activity in the Southern Hemisphere during Austral Winters from 1948 to 2017, Zhan & Chen, Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology 10.1175/jamc-d-22-0061.1
Contrasting Trends and Drivers of Global Surface and Canopy Urban Heat Islands, Du et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access pdf 10.1029/2023gl104661
Evolution of heatwaves in Chile since 1980, González-Reyes et al., Weather and Climate Extremes Open Access 10.1016/j.wace.2023.100588
How Unusual Is the 2022 European Compound Drought and Heatwave Event?, Tripathy & Mishra, Geophysical Research Letters Open Access pdf 10.1029/2023gl105453
Temporal changes in dependence between compound coastal and inland flooding drivers around the contiguous United States coastline, Nasr et al., Weather and Climate Extremes Open Access 10.1016/j.wace.2023.100594
Unprecedented wildfires in Canada and transboundary effects of carbon monoxide pollution, Shakoor et al., Natural Hazards 10.1007/s11069-023-06117-4
Instrumentation & observational methods of climate change, effects
Performance of climate reanalyses in the determination of pan-Arctic terrestrial rain-on-snow events, TAO et al., Advances in Climate Change Research Open Access 10.1016/j.accre.2023.08.002
Modeling, simulation & projection of climate change, effects
Climatological features of future MCSs in convection-permitting climate models using CMIP6 and ERA5 in the central United States, Hwang et al., Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society 10.1002/qj.4549
Effects of urban expansion and anthropogenic heat enhancement on tropical cyclone precipitation in the Greater Bay Area of China, He et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 10.1029/2022jd038184
Future Physical and Biogeochemical Ocean Conditions under Climate Change along the British Columbia Continental Margin, Peña & Fine, Atmosphere Open Access pdf 10.1080/07055900.2023.2239186
Hysteresis of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation to CO2 forcing, Liu et al., Science Advances Open Access pdf 10.1126/sciadv.adh8442
Increasing connections of the leading internal mode of the summertime Northwest Pacific subtropical anticyclone with preceding ENSO under greenhouse warming in FGOALS-g3 super-large ensemble, Ma et al., International Journal of Climatology 10.1002/joc.8197
Projected changes in extreme climate events over Africa under 1.5 , 2.0 and 3.0 global warming levels based on CMIP6 projections, Ayugi et al., Atmospheric Research 10.1016/j.atmosres.2023.106872
Sensitive temperature changes on the Tibetan Plateau in response to global warming, Meng et al., Atmospheric Research 10.1016/j.atmosres.2023.106948
Temporal and Spatial Amplification of Extreme Rainfall and Extreme Floods in a Warmer Climate, Faghih & Brissette, Journal of Hydrometeorology 10.1175/jhm-d-22-0224.1
The Effect of Tropical Pacific Air-Sea Coupling on the Rainfall Response to Quadrupled CO2 Forcing, Hsu et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access pdf 10.1029/2023gl103466
Trends and climate change analysis for common climate variables in Gelgel Belese Watershed, Upper Blue Nile Basin, Ethiopia, Shitu et al., Theoretical and Applied Climatology 10.1007/s00704-023-04568-0
Advancement of climate & climate effects modeling, simulation & projection
A Pacific Tropical Decadal Variability Challenge for Climate Models, Zhao et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access pdf 10.1029/2023gl104037
An Approach to Link Climate Model Tropical Cyclogenesis Bias to Large-Scale Wind Circulation Modes, Feng et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access pdf 10.1029/2023gl103838
Applicability of CMIP5 and CMIP6 Models in China: Reproducibility of Historical Simulation and Uncertainty of Future Projection, Jia et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-22-0375.1
Climate Models Underestimate Dynamic Cloud Feedbacks in the Tropics, Hill et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access pdf 10.1029/2023gl104573
Historical Changes and Reasons for Model Differences in Anthropogenic Aerosol Forcing in CMIP6, Fiedler et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access pdf 10.1029/2023gl104848
Improved theory of ocean iron cycle resolves modelling issues, Toner, Nature 10.1038/d41586-023-02406-x
Model bias in calculating factor importance of climate on vegetation growth, Liang et al., Global and Planetary Change 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2023.104209
Projection of urban land surface temperature: An inter- and intra-annual modeling approach, Chen et al., Urban Climate 10.1016/j.uclim.2023.101637
Simulations of the North Tropical Atlantic Mode–ENSO connection in CMIP5 and CMIP6 models, Tian et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 10.1029/2023jd039018
The CESM2 Single-Forcing Large Ensemble and Comparison to CESM1: Implications for Experimental Design, Simpson et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-22-0666.1
The performance of CMIP6 models in describing the temperature annual cycle in China from 1961 to 2014, Zhang et al., Theoretical and Applied Climatology 10.1007/s00704-023-04580-4
Cryosphere & climate change
Constraints on the Cryohydrological Warming of Firn and Ice in Greenland From Rayleigh Wave Ellipticity Data, Jones et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access pdf 10.1029/2023gl103673
CRYO, Wright et al., Microscopy and Microanalysis Open Access pdf 10.1017/s1431927603440518
Constraints on the Cryohydrological Warming of Firn and Ice in Greenland From Rayleigh Wave Ellipticity Data, Jones et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access pdf 10.1029/2023gl103673
Sea level & climate change
How accurate is accurate enough for measuring sea-level rise and variability, Meyssignac et al., Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-023-01735-z
Paleoclimate & paleogeochemistry
Climate system asymmetries drive eccentricity pacing of hydroclimate during the early Eocene greenhouse, Walters et al., Science Advances Open Access pdf 10.1126/sciadv.adg8022
Living through changing climates: Temperature and seasonality correlate with population fluctuations among Holocene hunter-fisher-gatherers on the west coast of Norway, Lundström, The Holocene 10.1177/09596836231185839
Triassic-Jurassic vegetation response to carbon cycle perturbations and climate change, Bos et al., Global and Planetary Change Open Access 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2023.104211
Biology & climate change, related geochemistry
Climate-driven tree growth and mortality in the Black Forest, Germany—Long-term observations, Spiecker & Kahle, Global Change Biology Open Access pdf 10.1111/gcb.16897
Impacts of climate change on Herpetofauna diversity in Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP), Alex et al., Conservation Biology 10.1111/cobi.14155
New-generation geostationary satellite reveals widespread midday depression in dryland photosynthesis during 2020 western U.S. heatwave, Li et al., Science Advances Open Access pdf 10.1126/sciadv.adi0775
Ocean acidification in the Philippines and the potential role of water pollution management in mitigating an unaddressed threat, Reyes et al., Regional Environmental Change 10.1007/s10113-023-02102-6
Predicted range shifts of alien tree species in Europe, Pucha?ka et al., Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 10.1016/j.agrformet.2023.109650
Projected Rainfall-Driven Expansion of Woody Cover in African Drylands, Zhang et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access pdf 10.1029/2023gl103932
The effects of climate change on the ecology of fishes, Nagelkerken et al., PLOS Climate Open Access pdf 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000258
The response of coral skeletal nano structure and hardness to ocean acidification conditions, Tan et al., Royal Society Open Science Open Access 10.1098/rsos.230248
GHG sources & sinks, flux, related geochemistry
A Shift From Temperature to Water as the Primary Driver for Interannual Variability of the Tropical Carbon Cycle, He et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access pdf 10.1029/2023gl102812
Effects of herbivore on seagrass, epiphyte and sediment carbon sequestration in tropical seagrass bed, Jiang et al., Marine Environmental Research 10.1016/j.marenvres.2023.106122
Long-term organic carbon preservation enhanced by iron and manganese, Moore et al., Nature Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41586-023-06325-9
Spatial and temporal variations of gross primary production simulated by land surface model BCC&AVIM2.0, Li et al., Advances in Climate Change Research Open Access 10.1016/j.accre.2023.02.001
Spatial predictions and uncertainties of forest carbon fluxes for carbon accounting, Araza et al., Scientific Reports Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41598-023-38935-8
The carbon transfer from plant to soil is more efficient in less productive ecosystems, Fan et al., Global Biogeochemical Cycles 10.1029/2023gb007727
Decarbonization
Accelerated ageing of organic and perovskite photovoltaics, Burlingame et al., Nature Energy 10.1038/s41560-023-01330-8
Are research and development on energy efficiency and energy sources effective in the level of CO2 emissions? Fresh evidence from EU data, Bilgili et al., Environment, Development and Sustainability 10.1007/s10668-023-03641-y
Determining an equation for estimating the evaporation from water surfaces covered with photovoltaic panels, Asmani et al., International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology 10.1007/s13762-023-04910-z
Early adopters of residential solar PV distributed generation: Evidence from Brazil, Chile and Mexico, Chueca et al., Energy for Sustainable Development 10.1016/j.esd.2023.101284
Evaluation and modeling of a solar photovoltaic power plant: Case of the Sakal plant, Sene et al., Energy for Sustainable Development 10.1016/j.esd.2023.101287
Providing power reserve for secondary grid frequency regulation of offshore wind farms through yaw control, Oudich et al., Wind Energy Open Access pdf 10.1002/we.2845
Response of mineral market to renewable energy production in the USA: Where lies the sustainable energy future, Abbas et al., Energy Policy 10.1016/j.enpol.2023.113749
Geoengineering climate
Public response to solar geoengineering: how media frames about stratospheric aerosol injection affect opinions, Bolsen et al., Climatic Change 10.1007/s10584-023-03575-4
Climate change communications & cognition
Do Flood and Heatwave Experiences Shape Climate Opinion? Causal Evidence from Flooding and Heatwaves in England and Wales, Lohmann & Kontoleon, Environmental and Resource Economics Open Access pdf 10.1007/s10640-023-00796-0
From causes to consequences, from chat to crisis. The different climate changes of science and Wikipedia, Korte et al., Environmental Science & Policy Open Access 10.1016/j.envsci.2023.103553
Key predictors for climate policy support and political mobilization: The role of beliefs and preferences, Simon, PLOS Climate Open Access pdf 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000145
Public recognition of climate change inequities within the United States, Schuldt & Pearson, Climatic Change 10.1007/s10584-023-03594-1
The concerned steward effect: Exploring the relationship between climate anxiety, psychological distress, and self-reported climate related behavioural engagement, Lukacs et al., Journal of Environmental Psychology 10.1016/j.jenvp.2023.102091
Agronomy, animal husbundry, food production & climate change
Assessing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions in Cretan vineyards for the development of a crop-specific decision support tool, Pilafidis et al., Environment, Development and Sustainability 10.1007/s10668-023-03649-4
Building climate resilience, social sustainability and equity in global fisheries, Prellezo et al., npj Ocean Sustainability Open Access pdf 10.1038/s44183-023-00017-7
Climate change impact on staple crops: assessment of smallholder farmers’ adaptation methods and barriers, Ayo Oluwatimilehin & Ayanlade, Climate Risk Management Open Access 10.1016/j.crm.2023.100542
Climate-smart peatland management and the potential for synergies between food security and climate change objectives in Indonesia, Lupascu et al., Global Environmental Change 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2023.102731
CO2 and temperature dominate the variation characteristics of wheat yield in China under 1.5 °C and 2.0 °C warming scenarios, Yang et al., Theoretical and Applied Climatology 10.1007/s00704-023-04574-2
Effect of forest management choices on carbon sequestration and biodiversity at national scale, Mäkelä et al., Ambio Open Access pdf 10.1007/s13280-023-01899-0
Social influence and reduction of animal protein consumption among young adults: Insights from a socio-psychological model, Severijns et al., Journal of Environmental Psychology 10.1016/j.jenvp.2023.102094
The influence of increasing temperatures on highland barley yields and on the maximum cultivation altitude on the Tibetan Plateau, WANG et al., Advances in Climate Change Research Open Access 10.1016/j.accre.2023.08.001
Hydrology, hydrometeorology & climate change
Energy Surplus and an Atmosphere-Land-Surface “Tug of War” Control Future Evapotranspiration, Xu et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access pdf 10.1029/2022gl102677
MOPREDAS_century database and precipitation trends in mainland Spain, 1916–2020, Gonzalez-Hidalgo et al., International Journal of Climatology Open Access pdf 10.1002/joc.8060
Climate change economics
Taxing household energy consumption in the EU: The tax burden and its redistributive effect, Amores et al., Energy Policy 10.1016/j.enpol.2023.113721
Towards low carbon and sustainable environment: does income inequality mitigate ecological footprints in Sub-Saharan Africa?, Gimba et al., Environment, Development and Sustainability 10.1007/s10668-023-03580-8
Climate change and the circular economy
Biogas-based systems: An opportunity towards a post-fossil and circular economy perspective in Italy, Sica et al., Energy Policy 10.1016/j.enpol.2023.113719
Climate change mitigation public policy research
Assessing the co-benefits of emission reduction measures in transportation sector: A case study in Guangdong, China, Hu et al., Urban Climate 10.1016/j.uclim.2023.101619
Better clean or efficient? Panel regressions, Schneider & Sinha Preisig Rzechowicz Cella Almahdawi Young Jeffery Anita Liang Zhang Kanegsberg McLaren Brooks Rugg Rugg Sithole de Boyrie Acar Alshomer Shabbir Godwin Jeon Chia Fah Ting , Climatic Change Open Access 10.1007/s10584-023-03563-8
Energy sector sustainability for a fast-growing economy like Bangladesh: an empirical assessment, Mahmud & Roy, Sustainability Science 10.1007/s11625-023-01385-2
Impact of siting ordinances on land availability for wind and solar development, Lopez et al., Nature Energy 10.1038/s41560-023-01319-3
Nature to the rescue: past drivers and future potential of the Australian land-based carbon offsets market, Barber et al., Climate Policy Open Access pdf 10.1080/14693062.2023.2239758
On the preferences for an environmentally friendly and fair energy transition: A stated choice experiment for Germany, Kanberger & Ziegler, Energy Policy 10.1016/j.enpol.2023.113730
Optimal production–inventory decision with shortage for deterioration item and effect of carbon emission policy combination with green technology, Muthusamy et al., Environment, Development and Sustainability 10.1007/s10668-023-03621-2
Policy designs to increase public and local acceptance for energy transition in South Korea, Moon et al., Energy Policy 10.1016/j.enpol.2023.113736
Sustainable development pathways of China's wind power industry under uncertainties: Perspective from economic benefits and technical potential, Wang et al., Energy Policy 10.1016/j.enpol.2023.113737
The impact of climate policy uncertainty on ESG performance, carbon emission intensity and firm performance: evidence from Fortune 1000 firms, Persakis, Environment, Development and Sustainability 10.1007/s10668-023-03634-x
The impact of government subsidies on technological innovation of new energy vehicle enterprises: from the perspective of industry chain, Wu et al., Environment, Development and Sustainability 10.1007/s10668-023-03697-w
Climate change adaptation & adaptation public policy research
Assessing climate service products with evaluation metrics: an application to decision support tools for climate change adaptation in the USA, Jahan et al., Climatic Change 10.1007/s10584-023-03595-0
Climate adaptation research priorities and funding: a review of US federal departments’ climate action plans, vonHedemann et al., Climate Policy 10.1080/14693062.2023.2242313
Disaster-driven climate adaptation: bringing institutions in, Zhang, Urban Climate 10.1016/j.uclim.2023.101638
Futuremaking in a disaster zone: Everyday climate change adaptation amongst Quechua women in the Peruvian Cordillera Blanca, Moulton & Carey, Environmental Science & Policy 10.1016/j.envsci.2023.103551
How climate change could affect different cities in Canada and what that means for the risks to the built-environment functions, Viseh & Bristow, Urban Climate 10.1016/j.uclim.2023.101639
Linking sea-level research with local planning and adaptation needs, Blankespoor et al., Nature Climate Change Open Access 10.1038/s41558-023-01749-7
Urban variables for adaptation to global warming in a hot-humid climate. Cuban cities as a case study, Conzález Couret et al., Urban Climate 10.1016/j.uclim.2023.101633
‘Community-based adaptive entrepreneurship’ addressing climate and ecosystem changes: evidence from a riparian area in Bangladesh, Shahidullah, Climate Risk Management Open Access 10.1016/j.crm.2023.100543
Climate change impacts on human health
Systematic exploration of heat wave impact on mortality and urban heat island: A review from 2000 to 2022, Yadav et al., Urban Climate 10.1016/j.uclim.2023.101622
The hidden health costs of climate change: Accounting for extreme heat harms to women in the global South, Limaye, PLOS Climate Open Access pdf 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000267
wMel replacement of dengue-competent mosquitoes is robust to near-term change, Vásquez et al., Nature Climate Change Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41558-023-01746-w
Other
Cessation of Labrador Sea Convection Triggered by Distinct Fresh and Warm (Sub)Mesoscale Flows, Clément et al., Journal of Physical Oceanography Open Access pdf 10.1175/jpo-d-22-0178.1
Challenging the values of the polluter elite: A global consequentialist response to Evensen and Graham's (2022) ‘The irreplaceable virtues of in-person conferences’, Whitmarsh & Kreil, Journal of Environmental Psychology 10.1016/j.jenvp.2022.101881
Decadal changes in Atlantic overturning due to the excessive 1990s Labrador Sea convection, Böning et al., Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-023-40323-9
Evolution of research on climate risk insurance: A bibliometric analysis from 1975 to 2022, Yang-Han et al., Advances in Climate Change Research Open Access 10.1016/j.accre.2023.08.003
Sustainable management in the slow fashion industry: carbon footprint of an Italian brand, de Albuquerque Landi et al., The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment Open Access pdf 10.1007/s11367-023-02205-6
Informed opinion, nudges & major initiatives
As climate changes, everything changes, Christian Bernhofer, Theoretical and Applied Climatology Open Access 10.1007/s00704-023-04548-4
Supporting adaptation, Editorial, Nature Climate Change, Open Access 10.7748/eldc.8.6.39.s33
Articles/Reports from Agencies and Non-Governmental Organizations Addressing Aspects of Climate Change
Renewable Electricity in New York State, Review and Prospects, Thomas DiNapoli, Office of the New York State Comptroller
To carry out the goals and directives of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, New York is pursuing an aggressive campaign to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to levels identified by climate scientists as necessary to limit the most dangerous impacts of climate change. While this effort will require changes in the use of energy across all economic sectors, success in these efforts is predicated on our ability to encourage the development of a large supply of zero-emitting renewable electricity.
2035 and Beyond: The Report, Goldman School of Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley, Energy Innovation Policy & Technology, GridLab
The authors show that the United States has one of the world’s best offshore wind potentials, enough to power up to 5 percent in 2035 and 25 percent of America’s total power needs in 2050 with this abundant clean energy. Progress in the next decade is critical to build out the U.S. offshore wind supply chain. The right mix of policies that start today can make offshore wind a cornerstone of the transition to a zero-emission economy, creating jobs, improving grid reliability, and keeping electricity affordable. Over 4,000 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind potential is available along the U.S. coastline, including the Great Lakes, which could greatly complement onshore resources such as solar and wind to help achieve a 95% clean electricity grid by 2050 without substantially affecting wholesale electricity costs. Increasing ambition for offshore wind development could inject up to $1.8 trillion of investment into the U.S. economy and employ up to 390,000 workers in the sector in 2050.
Cooling Cities, Crown et al., Natural Areas Conservancy
The authors focused on quantifying differences in air and surface temperature between types of urban greenspace, with a focus on natural areas. They found that natural areas are the coolest types of greenspaces in cities. Natural areas were significantly cooler than non-natural and landscaped areas, and forested natural areas have lower air temperature than areas of landscaped trees by several degrees. In some cities on a hot summer day – it was over 10 °F cooler in a forested natural area compared to under landscaped trees just a few hundred feet away in a street scape. They also found that forests that were higher quality tended to be cooler than those that were more degraded during the warmest point of the day and had lower high temperature extremes.
Umweltbewusstsein in Deutschland 2022 (Environmental awareness in Germany 2022), Grothmann et al., Herausgeber Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz, nukleare Sicherheit und Verbraucherschutz (BMUV) Arbeitsgruppe Öffentlichkeitsarbeit, Online-Kommunikation, Trends & Analysen (Publisher Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) Working Group on Public Relations, Online Communication, Trends & Analysis)
Die Studie zum Umweltbewusstsein im Jahr 2022 zeigt, dass der Umwelt- und Klimaschutz weiterhin ein wichtiges Thema für die Bevölkerung ist – auch, wenn andere gesellschaftliche Herausforderungen gerade stärker im Vordergrund stehen. Als Schwerpunktthema behandelt die Studie den umwelt- und klimafreundlichen Umbau der deutschen Wirtschaft, welcher von einer deutlichen Mehrheit (91 Prozent) befürwortet wird. Die Ergebnisse weisen aber auch auf weit verbreitete Sorgen hin, dass durch den ökologischen Wirtschaftsumbau soziale Ungleichheit und gesellschaftliche Konflikte zunehmen. Dem Staat kommt daher aus Sicht der Befragten die wichtige Rolle zu, den Umbau sozial gerecht zu gestalten. Für die Studie wurden im Sommer 2022 rund 2.000 Personen mittels repräsentativer Online-Interviews befragt. Die Studie bietet eine sozialwissenschaftlich fundierte Grundlage für die Umweltpolitik und Umweltkommunikation und richtet sich an die fachlich interessierte Öffentlichkeit.
The study on environmental awareness in 2022 shows that environmental and climate protection continues to be an important issue for the population - even if other social challenges are more in the foreground. The study focuses on the environmentally and climate-friendly restructuring of the German economy, which is supported by a clear majority (91 percent). However, the results also point to widespread concerns that social inequality and social conflicts will increase as a result of ecological economic restructuring. From the point of view of the interviewees, the state, therefore, has an important role to play in shaping the restructuring in a socially just manner. For the study, around 2,000 people were surveyed in the summer of 2022 using representative online interviews. The study offers a socio-scientific basis for environmental policy and environmental communication and is aimed at the interested public.
Sustainable Metals Manufacturing Opportunities in Indiana, Johnson et al., American Council for Energy-Efficiency Economy and Citizens Action Coalition
Indiana is home to more than a quarter of the United States' steelmaking capacity and has more manufacturing jobs per capita than any other state. It also houses one of only five remaining U.S. primary aluminum smelters. These primary metals manufacturing facilities are the basis of many supply chains and are especially critical to the emerging electric vehicle industry. The authors analyze the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead for Indiana’s steel and aluminum manufacturing industries. Leaders from state and local government, communities, organized labor, and industry must come together to chart a path forward for sustainable metals manufacturing in the state and ensure that Indiana leads the U.S. into the future of sustainable domestic manufacturing. The state can accomplish this by building new manufacturing facilities, expanding access to clean energy, and ensuring a well-trained workforce that is ready to engage with new, advanced manufacturing technology.
Future of America’s Forests and Rangelands, US. Forest Service
The authors summarize findings about the status, trends, and projected future of the Nation's forests and rangelands and the renewable resources that they provide. They specifically focuses on the effects of both socioeconomic and climatic change on the U.S. land base, disturbance, forests, forest product markets, rangelands, water, biodiversity, and outdoor recreation. Differing assumptions about population and economic growth, land use change, and global climate change from 2020 to 2070 largely influence the outlook for U.S. renewable resources. Land development will continue to threaten the integrity of forest and rangeland ecosystems. In addition, the combination and interaction of socioeconomic change, climate change, and the associated shifts in disturbances will strain natural resources and lead to increasing management and resource allocation challenges. At the same time, land management and the adoption of conservation measures can reduce pressure on natural resources.
Critical Materials Assessment, Bauer et al., Department of Energy
The authors analyze the results of a formal material criticality assessment to identify which materials are critical to the continued worldwide deployment of clean energy technologies. They used previous Department of Energy supply chain deep-dive assessments to develop the initial list of materials to evaluate. The authors include engineered materials that were identified as bottlenecks for clean energy deployment in DOE’s deep-dive assessments, namely silicon carbide (SiC) and electrical steel. The use of SiC in power electronics has become more significant, particularly for electric vehicle (EV) inverters. While expansion of SiC wafer manufacturing capacity seems able to keep up with demand, but low yield and high cost are key constraints on growth. In addition to engineered materials, this assessment considers a larger set of materials and technologies than previous reports and introduces a formal screening method to determine which materials to include in the criticality assessment.
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Most articles appearing here are found via RSS feeds from journal publishers, filtered by search terms to produce raw output for assessment of relevance.
Relevant articles are then queried against the Unpaywall database, to identify open access articles and expose useful metadata for articles appearing in the database.
The objective of New Research isn't to cast a tinge on scientific results, to color readers' impressions. Hence candidate articles are assessed via two metrics only:
- Was an article deemed of sufficient merit by a team of journal editors and peer reviewers? The fact of journal RSS output assigns a "yes" to this automatically.
- Is an article relevant to the topic of anthropogenic climate change? Due to filter overlap with other publication topics of inquiry, of a typical week's 550 or so input articles about 1/4 of RSS output makes the cut.
A few journals offer public access to "preprint" versions of articles for which the review process is not yet complete. For some key journals this all the mention we'll see in RSS feeds, so we include such items in New Research. These are flagged as "preprint."
The section "Informed opinion, nudges & major initiatives" includes some items that are not scientific research per se but fall instead into the category of "perspectives," observations of implications of research findings, areas needing attention, etc.
Suggestions
Please let us know if you're aware of an article you think may be of interest for Skeptical Science research news, or if we've missed something that may be important. Send your input to Skeptical Science via our contact form.
Journals covered
A list of journals we cover may be found here. We welcome pointers to omissions, new journals etc.
Previous edition
The previous edition of Skeptical Science New Research may be found here.
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