2019 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #8
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, Feb 17 through Sat, Feb 23, 2019
Editor's Pick
The 3 Big Things That People Misunderstand About Climate Change
David Wallace-Wells, author of the new book The Uninhabitable Earth,describes why climate change might alter our sense of time.
A child sleeps on a couch in a flooded street in Chongqing, China, on July 20, 2010. REUTERS
The year is 2100. The United States has been devastated by climate change. Super-powerful hurricanes regularly ravage coastal cities. Wildfires have overrun Los Angeles several times over. And it is dangerous to go outside on some summer days—children and the elderly risk being broiled alive.
In such a world as that one, will we give up on the idea of historical progress? Should we even believe in it now? In his new book, The Uninhabitable Earth, the writer David Wallace-Wells considers how global warming will change not only the experience of human life but also our ideas and philosophies about it. It’s possible, he told me recently, that climate change will make us believe that history is “something that takes us backward rather than forward.”
“The 21st century will be dominated by climate change in the same way that … the 19th century in the West was dominated by modernity or industry,” he said. “There won’t be an area of human life that is untouched by it.”
I recently talked to Wallace-Wells about his new book, the difficulty of writing stories about climate change, and which science-fiction prophecy he believes came true. Our conversation has been edited for clarity and brevity.
The 3 Big Things That People Misunderstand About Climate Change by Robinson Meyer, Science, The Atlantic, Feb 22, 2019
Links posted on Facebook
Sun Feb 17, 2019
- Climate Change & Metaphors: A Primer by Michael Barnard, Clean Technica, Feb 16, 2019
- 16-Year-Old Greta Thunberg Cheers 'Beginning of Great Changes' as Climate Strike Goes Global by Andrea Germanos, Common Dreams, Feb 15, 2019
- My generation trashed the planet. So I salute the children striking back, Opinion by George Monbiot, Comment is Free, Guardian, Feb 15, 2019
- Why the Green New Deal makes me hopeful about climate change by Andrew Dressler, Gray Matters, Houston Chronicle, Feb 15, 2019
- The West’s Great River Hits Its Limits: Will the Colorado Run Dry? by Jim Robbins, Crisis on the Colorado: Part 1 of 5, Yale Environment 360, Jan 14, 2019
- A California coalition is tackling one of the hardest, unsexiest parts of climate policy by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Feb 15, 2019
- Time to Panic, Opinion by David Wallace-Wells, Sunday Review, New York Times, Feb 16, 2019
- No, the Green New Deal won’t threaten the grid by Umair Irrfan, Energy & Environment, Vox, Feb 15, 2019
Mon Feb 18, 2019
- Hindu climate activists take lead on combating climate change by Murali Balaji, Yale News, Feb 15, 2019
- Climate wars: The end of the beginning?, Perspective by David Titley, Capital Weather Gang, Washington Post, Feb 15, 2019
- Analysis: BP’s outlook for fossil fuels could be undermined by slowing energy demand by Simon Evans, Carbon Brief, Feb 15, 2019
- Climate change a threat to world order, Munich Security Conference hears by Ben Knight, Deutsche Welle (WE), Feb 17, 2019
- On the Water-Starved Colorado River, Drought Is the New Normal by Jim Robbins, Crisis on the Colorado: Part 2 of 5, Yale Environment 360, Jan 22, 2019
- Using Emergency Powers to Fight Climate Change by Dan Farber, Legal Planet, Jan 14, 2019
- Climate Change Isn’t Just Frying the Planet—It’s Fraying Our Nerves by Roiwan Walrath, Environment, Mother Jones, Feb 18, 2019
- Sharp rise in methane levels threatens world climate targets by Robin McKie, Environment, Observer/Guardian, Feb 17, 2019
Tue Feb 19, 2019
- Hurricanes to Slam Mediterranean as Global Warming Ramps Up by Ruth Schuster, Haaretz, Feb 18, 2019
- The school climate change strikes are inspiring – but they should shame us, Opinion by Jonathan Freedland, Comment is Free, Guardian, Feb 17, 2019
- States Are Introducing Bills That Could Prevent Teachers From Advocating For Climate Change by Kelly Czajka, Pacific Standard, Feb 18, 2019
- Global climate targets will be missed as deforestation rises, study says by Rob Picheta, CNN, Feb 18, 2019
- Arctic Bogs Hold Another Global Warming Risk That Could Spiral Out of Control by Phil McKenna, InsideClimate News, Feb 19, 2019
- Scientist who popularized term “global warming” dies at 87, AP News, Feb 18, 2019
- Running Dry: New Strategies for Conserving Water on the Colorado by Jim Robbins, Crisis on the Colorado: Part 3 of 5, Yale Environment 360, Jan 31, 2019
- Why Do We Fail When We Try to Tell the Story of Climate Change? by David Wallace-Wells, Slate, Feb 19, 2019
Wed Feb 20, 2019
- Adani's 'legal intimidation' tactics against community groups a 'threat to democracy' by Ben Smee, Business, Guardian, Feb 18, 2019
- Climate change threatens 2 of Ecuador's 7 glaciers by Nathalie Jimenez, Panama Today, Feb 18, 2019
- ‘The Uninhabitable Earth’ puts words to a future you don’t want to live in by Kate Yoder, Grist, Feb 19, 2019
- White House prepares to scrutinize intelligence agencies’ finding that climate change threatens national security by Juliet Eilperin & Missy Ryan, Health & Science, Washington Post, Feb 20, 2019
- Military and National Security Leaders Strongly Criticize Politicized “Presidential Climate Security Committee” by Caitlin Werrell & Francesco Femia, The Center for Climate & Security, Feb 20, 2019
- Climate change an 'imminent' security threat, risk experts say by Laurie Goering, Thompson Reuters Foundation, Feb 19, 2019
- In Era of Drought, Phoenix Prepares for a Future Without Colorado River Water by Jim Robbins, Crisis on the Colorado: Part 4 of 5, Yale Environment 360, Feb 7, 2019
- Do You Believe in Climate Change? Really? by Kevin Drum, Mother Jones, Feb 19, 2019
Thu Feb 21, 2019
- 100% Renewable Energy Needs Lots of Storage. This Polar Vortex Test Showed How Much. by Dan Gearino, InsideClimate News, Feb 20, 2019
- Border Wall Could Sap Military Funding for Climate Adaptation by Scott Waldman, E&E News/Scientific American, Feb 20, 2019
- Revealed: How the Tobacco and Fossil Fuel Industries Fund Disinformation Campaigns Around the World by Mat Hope, DeSmog UK, Feb 19, 2019
- Youth Climate Movement Gains Steam, and Signatures, to Support Landmark Case by Dana Drugmand, Climate Liability News, Feb 20, 2019
- Climate Change Is Scary—Not the Green New Deal, Opinion by Bill McKibben, Yes! Magazine, Feb 14, 2019
- Teachers to join climate protests to demand curriculum reform by Jonathan Watts, Environment, Guardian, Feb 21, 2019
- Restoring the Colorado: Bringing New Life to a Stressed River by Jim Robbins, Crisis on the Colorado: Part 5 of 5, Yale Environment 360, Feb 14, 2019
- It’s Possible to Face Climate Horrors and Still Find Hope by Margaret Klein Salamon, Truthout, Feb 20, 2019
Fri Feb 22, 2019
- The Real Price of a Chocolate Bar: West Africa’s Rainforests by Fred Pearce, Yale Environment 360, Feb 21, 2019
- UK homes ‘shockingly unprepared’ for climate change, says CCC by Jocelyn Timperley, Carbon Brief, Feb 21, 2019
- Land management ‘blind spots’ make 1.5C goal highly unlikely, Guest Post by Callum Brown, Carbon Brief, Feb 18, 2019
- Declaring A National Emergency Won't Solve The Climate Crisis by Kate Wheeling, Pacific Standard, Feb 19, 2019
- Carbon dioxide in our atmosphere may soar to levels not seen in 56 million years by Doyle Rice, USA Today, Feb 21, 2019
- Becoming Greta: ‘Invisible Girl’ to Global Climate Activist, With Bumps Along the Way by Somini Sengupta, Climate, New York Times, Feb 18, 2019
- Pay attention to the growing wave of climate change lawsuits by Umair Irfan, Energy & Environment, Vox, Feb 22, 2019
- World's food supply under 'severe threat' from loss of biodiversity by Jonathan Watts, Guardian, Feb 21, 2019
Sat Feb 23, 2019
- Why Aren't We Using Nature To Fight Climate Change? by Sophie Yeo, Pacific Standard, Feb 22, 2019
- Glencore, the world's biggest thermal coal exporter, is capping its output over climate concerns by Tom DiChristopher, CNBC, Feb 20, 2019
- Insurance not enough to offset financial risks of climate change, analysts say by Laurie Goering, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Feb 22, 2019
- The 3 Big Things That People Misunderstand About Climate Change by Robinson Meyer, Science, The Atlantic, Feb 22, 2019
- ‘No Way to Defend Ourselves Against the Onslaught of Climate Change’ by Desmond Brown, Caribbean Climate Wire, Inter Press Service (IPS), Feb 21, 2019
- EU committee shelves climate concerns to open US trade talks by Natalie Sauer, Climate Home News, Feb 20, 2019
- For whom the climate bell tolls, at two minutes to noon by Thomas Gaulkin, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Feb 20, 2019
- New research, February 11-17, 2019 by Ari Jokimäki, Skeptical Science, Feb 22, 2019
Posted by John Hartz on Saturday, 23 February, 2019
