2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #40

Posted on 7 October 2017 by John Hartz

Editor’s Pick

International concern as US moves to end clean power plan 

US and Chinese presidents Barack Obama and Xi Jinping found common ground on climate change after the US announced the clean power plan (Pic: White House/Flickr) 

News that the Trump administration will move to repeal and replace the clean power plan (CPP) – a major initiative to cut emissions from the US electricity sector – has been met with concern overseas.

On Wednesday, the Reuters news agency reported on a document leaked from the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) outlining a plan to scrap the Obama-era measure.

It also called for input on a replacement policy that would reduce carbon emissions in fossil fuel power plants. Industry is reportedly lobbying for a weaker rule.

The policy underpinned the US commitment to the Paris Agreement, which Donald Trump says he wants to leave. It would also have had a real impact on the amount of carbon dioxide going into the atmosphere. By 2030, the clean power plan would have reduced power plant emissions in the world’s second biggest polluter by 32% below 2005 levels. 

International concern as US moves to end clean power plan by Karl Mathiesen, Climate Home,. Oct 4, 2017

Links posted on Facebook

Sun Oct 1, 2017

• Kashmir: Global Warming by Jalal Ud Din Baba, Kashmir Life, Sep 30, 2017
• Costs of Climate Change: Early Estimate for Hurricanes, Fires Reaches $300 Billion by Sabrina Shnkman, InsideClimate News, Sep 28, 2017
• Trump administration swaps ‘climate change’ for ‘resilience’ by Miranda Green, CNN, Sep 30, 2017
• Death by 1,000 Cuts: Why the Forest Carbon Sink Is Disappearing by Georgina Gustin, InsideClimate News, Sep 28, 2017
• Trump Push to Cut U.S. Aid Prompts EU Geopolitical-Risk Warning by Nikos Chrysoloras & Jonathan Stearns, Bloomberg News, Oct 1, 2017
• Ice Loss and the Polar Vortex: How a Warming Arctic Fuels Cold Snaps by Bob Berwyn, InsideClimate News, Sep 28, 2017
• Puerto Rico could become a public health catastrophe, Opinion by Tomás R. Guilarte, Miami Herald, Oct 1, 2017
• After 350 Million Piñons Die, Scientists Fear For This Forest’s Future by Jim O’Donnell, Ensia, Sep 26, 2017

Mon Oct 2, 2017

• Language matters more than ever when the conversation turns to climate change by Stephen Hunt, CBC News, Sep 30, 2017
• Majority of Americans now say climate change makes hurricanes more intense by Emily Guskin & Brady Dennis, Energy & Environment, Washington Post, Sep 28, 2017
• World can meet growing food demands and limit warming to 1.5C, study says by Daisy Dunne, Carbon Brief, Oct 2, 2017
• Poorly insulated homes may cost £1bn extra in energy bills by Adam Vaughan, Guardian, Oct 2, 2017
• Stark Evidence: A Warmer World Is Sparking More and Bigger Wildfires by Nicola Jones, Yale Environment 360, Oct 2, 2017
• Why the 97% climate consensus is important by Dana Nuccitelli, John Cook, Sander van der Linden, Tony Leiserowitz & Ed Maibach, Climate Consensus – the 97%, Guardian, Oct 2, 2017
• Forget the Paris agreement. The real solution to climate change is in the U.S. tax code. by Tim McDonnell, Wonkblog, Washington Post, Oct 2, 2017
• Rise of Distorted News Puts Climate Scientists on Their Guard by Gabriel Popkin, Eos Magazine, Oct 2, 2017

Tue Oct 3, 2017

• In a Warming World, Keeping the Planes Running by Mike Ives, New York Times, Sep 30, 2017
• Earth May Be Close to ‘Threshold of Catastrophe’ by Tia Ghose, Live Science, Oct 2, 2017
• Catholic church to make record divestment from fossil fuels by Arthur Neslen, Guardian, Oct 3, 2017
• The Most Powerful Evidence Climate Scientists Have of Global Warming by Sabrina Shankman & Paul Horn, InsideClimate News, Oct 3, 2017
• European countries spend billions a year on fossil fuel subsidies, survey shows by Fiona Harvey, Guardian, Sep 28, 2017
• Dirty Energy Dominance: Dependent on Denial – How the U.S. Fossil Fuel Industry Depends on Subsidies and Climate Denial by Janet Redman, Oil Change International, Oct 3, 2017
• High Oil Subsidies Ensure Profit for Nearly Half New U.S. Investments, Study Shows by Neela Banarjee, InsideClimate News, Oct 3, 2017

Wed Oct 4, 2017

• It’s not just Puerto Rico: 6 other Caribbean island nations are in crisis after the hurricanes by Julia Belluz, Science Health, Vox, Oct 3, 2017
• Volcanic Eruptions Can Cool the Planet, But They Won’t Save Us From Climate Change by Meghan Bartels, Newsweek, Oct 2, 2017
• Most Americans Want Climate Change Policies by Adam Aton, ClimateWire/Scientific American, Oct 3, 2017
• European Parliament: Say No to Fossil Fuel Lobbying at International Climate Talks by Mat Hope, DeSmog UK, Oct 4, 2017
• IEA: Renewable electricity set to grow 40% globally by 2022 by Jocelyn Timperley, Carbon Brief, Oct 4, 2017
• Three Years for Eternity: A Prayer for Climate Action and the Common Good by Don João Mamede Filho, Common Dreams, Oct 4, 2017
• Global climate impacts of a potential volcanic eruption of Mount Agung, Guest post by Flavio Lehner & John Fasullo, Skeptical Science, Oct 4. 2017
• Ex-FEMA Director: Rebuilding Puerto Rico Requires Acknowledging Climate Change by Rebecca Leber, Mother Jones, Oct 3, 2017

Thu Oct 5, 2017

• A lack of action on climate change is putting people’s lives at risk, Opinion by Mark Monaghan, Guardian, Oct 3, 2017
• Why people around the world fear climate change more than Americans do by Gregory J Carbone, The Conversation US, Oct 3, 2017 
• Scientists mapping Greenland have produced some surprising – and worrying – results by Chris Mooney, Energy & Environment, Washington Post, Oct 4, 2017
• If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the climate change debate, Comment by Judith Ireland, Sydney Morning Herald, Oct 5, 2017
• Trump Takes a First Step Toward Scrapping Obama’s Global Warming Policy by Lisa Friedman, New York Times, Oct 4, 2017
• One of the oldest climate change experiments has led to a troubling conclusion by Chris Mooney, Energy & Environment, Washington Post, Oct 5, 2017
• Vast animal-feed crops to satisfy our meat needs are destroying planet by Rebecca Smithers, Guardian, Oct 5, 2017
• Soil holds potential to slow global warming, Stanford researchers find by Rob Jordan, Stanford News, Oct 5, 2017

Fri Oct 6, 2017

• Science Says: Era of monster hurricanes roiling the Atlantic by Seth Borenstein, AP, Oct 5, 2017
• People of faith have duty to fight climate crisis: Indigenous Bishop, Opinion by Mark McDonald, National Observer, Oct 4, 2017
• Amazon forest fires pushing climate change ‘beyond human control’  by Fabiano Maisonnave, Climate Home, Oct 5, 2017
• Analysis: How well have climate models projected global warming? by Zeke Hausfather, Carbon Brief, Oct 5, 2017
• New research, September 25 – October 1, 2017 by Ari Jokimäki, Skeptical Scince, Sep 6, 2017
• Climate change in the Caribbean – learning lessons from Irma and Maria by Michael Taylor, Guardian, Oct 6, 2017
• Hurricane Warnings for U.S. Gulf Coast Ahead of Strengthening Nate by Jeff Masters, Category 6, Weather Underground, Oct 6, 2017
• Major Tar Sands Oil Pipeline Cancelled, Dealing Blow to Canada’s Export Hopes by Nicholas Kusnetz, InsideClimate News, Oct 5, 2017

Sat Oct 7, 2017

• Greenland’s Coasts Are Growing as Seas Rise by Chelsea Harvey, ClimateWire/Scientific American, Oct 5, 2017
• U.N. chief hopes storms will sway climate skeptics like Trump by Michelle Nichols, Reuters, Oct 4, 2017
• Solar Energy Boom Sets New Records, Shattering Expectations by Georgina Gustin, InsideClimate News, Oct 6, 2017
• We looked at 1,154 climate science results and found no evidence of ‘publication bias by Johan Hollander, The Converstion UK, Oct 5, 2017
• International concern as US moves to end clean power plan by Karl Mathiesen, Climate Home,. Oct 4, 2017
• Humans experimenting with climate’s ‘playing nice’, Video by Peter Sinclair, Yale Climate Connections, Oct 3, 2017