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2018 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #47
Posted on 24 November 2018 by John Hartz
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sunday, Nov 18 through Saturday, Nov 24.
Editor's Pick
Climate Change Puts U.S. Economy and Lives at Risk, and Costs Are Rising, Federal Agencies Warn
The National Climate Assessment describes increasing heat, fire and flood damage. It's a stark contrast to Trump's energy policies and climate claims.
The National Climate Assessment warns of increasing extreme rainfall events, like the storm that flooded communities across a large swath of Louisiana in 2016. Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
The U.S. government's climate scientists issued a blunt warning on Friday, writing that global warming is a growing threat to human life, property and ecosystems across the country, and that the economic damage—from worsening heat waves, extreme weather, sea level rise, droughts and wildfires—will spiral in the coming decades.
The country can reduce those costs if the U.S. and the rest of the world cut their greenhouse gas emissions, particularly the burning of fossil fuels. Capping global greenhouse gas emissions to limit warming to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6°F) or less would avoid hundreds of billions of dollars of future damages, according to the Fourth National Climate Assessment, written by a science panel representing 13 federal agencies.
The report, like a recent comprehensive assessment issued by the United Nations, signaled the mounting urgency for governments to act quickly to reduce greenhouse gas emissions before locking in high risks. And it underscored, without saying so directly, how the Trump administration is moving in the opposite direction.
Climate Change Puts U.S. Economy and Lives at Risk, and Costs Are Rising, Federal Agencies Warn by Bob Berwyn, InsideClimate News, Nov 23, 2018
Links posted on Facebook
Sun Nov 18, 2018
- The Carbon Brief Interview: Sir John Armitt by Daisy Dunne, Carbon Brief, Nov 13, 2018
- Societies must take care of those 'menaced' by green shift - officials by Megan Rowling, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Nov 15, 2018
- Trump Says America Needs Coal For Grid Security. The Military Proves Otherwise. by Jeremy Deaton, Nexus Media, Nov 15, 2018
- Donald Trump tours town destroyed by Californian wildfire, says disaster hasn't changed his opinion on climate change, AP/ABC News (Australia), Nov 17, 2018
- Climate change on track to make world 'uninsurable': IAG by James Fernyhough, The Australian Financial Review, Nov 15, 2018
- California Wildfires: Where Is the Climate Change Outrage? by Bruce Melton, Environment & Health, Truthout, Nov 17, 2018
- Climate change and the oceans, Review by Michael Svoboda, Yale Climate Connections, Npv 14, 2018
- Ask a Scientist: How to Deal with a Climate-Change Skeptic by Carolyn Kormann, The New Yorker, Nov 17, 2018
- US could meet Paris emissions pledge with ‘natural climate solutions’, study says by Robert McSweeney, Carbon Brief, Nov 14, 2018
Mon Nov 19, 2018
- France’s climate change commitments trigger rising diesel prices and street protests by Jame McAuley, Europe, Washington Post, Nov 17, 2018
- Adapting to climate change won’t save Louisiana’s coast, Opinion by Bob Marshall, NOLA.com, Nov 18, 2018
- Quebec oil stats undermine Canada's denial brigade, Opinion by Chris Hatch, National Observer, Nov 14, 2018
- Donald Trump wants California to rake forests to prevent fires. Here's the backstory by Liam Butterworth, ABC News (Australia), Nov 19, 2018
- Trump plans to nominate Andrew Wheeler, former coal lobbyist, as EPA chief by Brady Dennis & Judy Eilperin, Energy & Environment, Washington Post, Nov 16, 2018
- Florida’s tight elections come at a crucial time for climate change action in the US: ‘This is catastrophic’ by Clark Mindock, The Independent (UK), Nov 18, 2018
Tue Nov 20, 2018
- Earth’s Biodiversity: A Pivotal Meeting at a Pivotal Time by Cristiana Pa?ca Palmer Anne Larigauderie, Inter Press Service (IPS), Nov 15, 2019
- The Rise and Fall of Trudeau’s ‘Grand Bargain’ on Climate by Donald Gutstein, The Tyee, Nov 14, 2018
- Will We Survive Climate Change? by John Schwartz, Science, New York Times, Nov 19, 2018
- Mind-blowing': Hazards to multiply and accumulate with climate change by Peter Hannam, Environment, Sydney Morning Herald, Nov 20, 2018
- Fuel to the Fire by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica & New York Times, Nov 20, 2018
- The New Politics of Climate Change by Robinson Meyer, Science, The Atlantic, Nov 16, 2018
- How to identify people open to evidence about climate change by Karin Kirk, Yale Climate Connections, Nov 19, 2018
- Climate & skiing by Michon Scott, NOAA's Climate.gov, Nov 19, 2018
Wed Nov 21, 2018
- The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change by Sarah Finnie Robinson, Institute for Sustainable Energy, Boston University, Nov 13, 2018
- CCC: Farming needs a ‘revolution’ for UK to meet climate goals by Jocelyn Timperley, Carbon Brief, Nov 15, 2018
- California’s wildfires are hardly “natural” — humans made them worse at every step by Umair Irfan, Energy & Environment, Vox, Nov 19, 2018
- Safe Topics to Discuss This Holiday Season, Opinion by Mary Cella, Sunday Review, New York Times, Nov 17, 2018
- Debunking Climate Change Myths: A Thanksgiving Conversation Guide by Staff, InsideClimate News, Nov 20, 2018
- What made solar panels so cheap? Thank government policy. by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Nov 20, 2018
- Generation Climate: Can Young Evangelicals Change the Climate Debate? by Meera Subramania, InsideClimate News, Nov 22, 2018
- Ocean-study criticism shows benefits of scientific method, Commentary by David Suzuki, Georgia Straight (Vancouver, BC), Nov 20, 2018
Thu Nov 22, 2018
- Wildfire Smoke Could Shorten Californian Lifespans by Emily Atkin, New Republic, Nov 21, 2018
- Amazon indigenous groups propose Mexico-sized 'corridor of life' by Jonathan Watts, Environment, Guardian, Nov 21, 2018
- An Evacuation in North Carolina, and the Danger of Climate Disasters for an Aging Population by Charles Bethea, News Desk, The New Yorker, Nov 21, 2018
- Scientists Slam Trump’s Clueless Climate Change Tweet: ‘He’s A Clown’ by Nick Visser, HuffPost, Nov 21, 2018
- Protesters Take to the Streets to Demand Green New Deal From Democrats by Christopher D Cook, Common Dreams, Nov 22, 2018
- Federal Court Keeps Youth Climate Case on Hold Pending Government Appeal by Karen Savage, Climate Liability News, Nov 21, 2018
- Climate-heating greenhouse gases at record levels, says UN by Damian Carrington, Environment, Guardian, Nov 22, 2018
- Buried? Feds to release major climate report day after Thanksgiving by Doyle Rice, USA Today, Nov 21, 2018
Fri Nov 23, 2018
- Ten countries back EU 2050 net-zero emissions goal by Sam Morgan for EURACTIV, Climate Home, Nov 20, 2018
- U.S. report to detail costs of climate change as Trump downplays threat by Richard Valdmanis, Reuters, Nov 23, 2018
- The Energy 202: Trump administration eyes more of Alaskan Arctic for oil drilling by Dino Grandoni, Energy 202, Power Point, Washington Pot, Nov 23, 2018
- Climate change 'will inflict substantial damages on US lives' by Oliver Milman, Environment, Guardian, Nov 23, 2018
- Climate change will shrink US economy and kill thousands, government report warns by Jen Christensen & Michael Nedelman, CNN, Nov 23, 2018
- Ryan Zinke blamed environmentalists for California’s massive wildfires. Again. by Umair Irfan, Energy & Environment, Vox, Nov 21, 2018
Sat, Nov 24, 2018
- China-backed coal projects prompt climate change fears by David Shukman, Science & Environment, BBC News, Nov 22, 2018
- Tory MPs demand net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 by Adam Vaughan, Environment, Guardian, Nov 23, 2018
- It’s Cold Outside? Gather Around the Turkey and Argue About Climate Change. by John Schwartz, Climate, New York Times, Nov 21, 2018
- Climate Change Puts U.S. Economy and Lives at Risk, and Costs Are Rising, Federal Agencies Warn by Bob Berwyn, InsideClimate News, Nov 23, 2018
- Vanuatu says it may sue fossil fuel companies and other countries over climate change by Lisa Cox, Environment, Guardian, Nov 22, 2018
- As Trump questions global warming, UN says: US gov't won't, AP/Mainichi (Japan), Nov 23, 2018
- U.S. Climate Report Warns of Damaged Environment and Shrinking Economy by Coral Davenport & Kendra Pierre-Louis, Climate, New York Times, Nov 23, 2018
- What’s New in the Latest U.S. Climate Assessment by Brad Plumer & Henry Fountain, Climate, New York Times, Nov 14, 2018
Is Animal Agriculture flying below the radar when we look at sources of emissions? The Assessment focus is on fossil fuels, but when one adds deforestation, desertification, eutrophication, acidification of oceans, wild animal habitat loss, outsized water usage, health related problems and the transportation and medical infrastructure to handle Animal Ag, its product distribution and its suspected negative dietary impacts...not to mention freezers with their refrigerants are, for the most part, to store animal flesh...Animal Ag looks like the largest emitter...??? We know what is in our Animal Ag thread here at SkS. Does it need another look?