2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #48

Posted on 2 December 2017 by John Hartz

Editor’s Pick

Climate Change Panel Talks ‘Hope and Despair’

David Wallace-Wells, Cam Webb, Nancy Knowlton, and Nikhil Advani speak Wednesday evening at a panel discussion hosted by the Harvard University Center for the Environment. AMY Y. LI

Climate change researchers, professors, and journalists debated how best to present the severity of climate change to the public Wednesday evening at an event hosted by the Harvard University Center for the Environment.

The discussion, titled “Hope and Despair: Communicating an Uncertain Future,” was held in the Geological Lecture Hall. Elizabeth M. Wolkovich, an assistant professor in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, moderated a discussion about how to best motivate the public to take action on climate change.

David Wallace-Wells, who is the deputy editor of the New York Magazine and wrote the article “The Uninhabitable Earth” this year, advocated the use of fear about the planet’s future as a way to inspire more people to become “climate agents.”

“I think that there is real value in scaring people,” Wallace-Wells said. “When I talk to colleagues it just seems so obvious to me that when you think about the relatively well-off Western world, that complacency about climate is just a much bigger problem than fatalism about climate.”/em>

Nancy Knowlton, chair for Marine Science at the Smithsonian Institution, said she thinks it is more effective to be optimistic about humanity’s ability to stave off disaster.

“I’ve had many, many students come up to me after talks about optimism or the Earth Optimism Summit that we ran in Washington saying ‘you know, this was incredibly empowering, I now really want to go out and work on solving this problem. I almost left the field of conservation because I thought there was nothing I could do,’” Knowlton said. “I do feel that it is absolutely essential to talk about what’s working, why it’s working, in addition to providing this very scary context.”

Climate Change Panel Talks ‘Hope and Despair’ by Yasmin Luthra & Aidan F Ryan, The Harvard Crimson, Nov 30, 2017 

Links posted on Facebook

Sun Nov 26, 2017

• As the lobbying gets louder, coal power stations may not go quietly by Adam Vaughn, Guardian, Nov 25, 2017
• Global Warming Might Cause Increased Volcanic Activity in Iceland by Geir Finnsson, Iceland Review, Nov 21, 2017
• Some bad actors’: Coal burning found to release possibly toxic nanoparticles by Peter Hannam, Sydney Morning Herald, Nov 26, 2017
• Global hot spot: Exceptional heat pushes up ocean temperatures off Australia by Peter Hannam, Sydney Morning Herald, Nov 26, 2017
• Community Solar Heads for Rooftops of NYC’s Public Housing Projects by Lindsey Gilpin, InsideClimate News, Nov 22, 2017
• In Peru’s Deserts, Melting Glaciers Are a Godsend (Until They’re Gone) by Nicholas Casey, New York Times, Nov 26, 2017
• Transportation is the Biggest Source of U.S. Emissions, Climate Central, Nov 21, 2017
• Great Barrier Reef coral-breeding program offers ‘glimmer of hope’, Australian AP/Guardian, Nov 25, 2017

Mon Nov 27, 2017

• New research, Nov 13-19, 2017 by Ari Jokimäki, Skeptical Science, Nov 24, 2017
• COP23 Is Over. What Did It Really Mean for Indigenous People? by Suzanne Dhaliwal and Jade Begay, Novara Media, Nov 26, 2017
• Why climate change is creating a new generation of child brides by Gethin Chamberlain, Observer/Guardian, Nov 26, 2017
• Investing in resilience can reduce borderless climate risks, Opinion by Magnus Benzie, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Nov 22, 2017
• What’s the net cost of using renewables to hit Australia’s climate target? Nothing by Andrew Blakers, Bin Lu & Matthew Stocks 
• A huge investment firm is urging companies to disclose climate risks by Diana Madson, Yale Climate Connection, Nov 27, 2017
• American leaders should read their official climate science report by John Abraham, Climate Consensus – the 97%, Guardian, Nov 27, 2017
• Changes to the Ocean’s Micro Creatures Could Have Macro Effects by Amorina Kingdon, Hakai, Nov 27, 2017

Tue Nov 28, 2017

• The article that changed my view of humanity’s impact on the planet, Matt Bowden, as told to Sophie Zeldin-O’Neill, Nov 25, 2017
• Climate change deniers are plotting Trump’s path to the holy grail of deregulation by Tom DiChristopher, CNBC, Nov 22, 2017
• All the risks of climate change, in a single graph by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Nov 25, 2017
• Analysis: How could the Agung volcano in Bali affect global temperatures? by Zeke Hausfather, Carbon Brief, Nov 25 2017
• In the Outer Banks, Officials and Property Owners Battle to Keep the Ocean at Bay by Nicholas Kusnetz, Weather Channel/Inside Climate News, Nov 28, 2017

• Serious rise in Irish greenhouse gas emissions, figures show by Kevin O’Sullivan, Irish Times, Nov 27, 2017
• Can China actually lead on climate change?, Opinion by Sam Geall, ABC News (Australia), Nov 29, 2017
• E.P.A. Heads to Coal Country to Hear Views on an Obama Climate Rule by John Schwartz, Climate, New York Times, Nov 28, 2017

Wed Nov 29, 2017

• Elon Musk bet that Tesla could build the world’s biggest battery in 100 days. He won. by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Nov 28, 2017
• Shell doubles up on green spending and vows to halve carbon footprint by Adam Vaughan, Guardian, Nov 28, 2017
• How to persuade people that climate change is real, Opinion by Alexander Maki, Monkey Cage, Washington Post, Nov 28, 2017
• One in Six New Cars in the World Will Be Electric By 2025 by Oliver Shacgau, Bloomberg News, Nov 28, 2017
• Norway’s wealth fund would take many years to sell energy shares by Gwladys Fouche, Reuters, Nov 28, 2017
• New study uncovers the ‘keystone domino’ strategy of climate denial by Dana Nuccitelli, Climate Consensus – the 97%, Guardian, Nov 27, 2017
• Climate Scientists Watch Their Words, Hoping To Stave Off Funding Cuts by Rebecca A Hersher, NPR News, Nov 29, 2017
• One of the country’s biggest oil fields just turned to an unexpected power source: Solar by Chris Mooney, Washington Post, Nov 29, 2017

Thu Nov 30, 2017

• Melting Ice Could Mess Up Deep Sea Chemistry by Chelsea Harvey, Climate Wire/Scientific American, Nov 28, 2017
• 300 Scientists Oppose Trump Nominee: ‘More Dangerous Than Climate Change is Lying’, InsideClimate News, Nov 29, 2017
• Moody’s Warns Cities to Address Climate Risks or Face Downgrades by Christopher Flavell, Bloomberg News, Nov 29, 2017
• Putting Politics Aside, Can We All Come Together to Fight Climate Change? by Natalie Brown, TrendinTech, Nov 28, 2017
• Venezuela’s last glacier is about to disappear. by Amand Evengaard, GlacierHub/World Economic Forum, Nov 24, 2017
• Climate Change Threatens To Destroy Over 20,000 Historical Sites, Archaeologists Say by Kistina Killgrove, Science, Forbes, Nov 29, 2017
• A third of Asia’s glaciers could be gone by 2100 by Miriam Nielsen, GlacierHub, Nov 28, 2017
• How Much CO₂ Will the World Need to Remove from the Air? by Chelsea Harvey, ClimateWire/Scientiic American, Nov 30, 2017

Fri Dec 1, 2017, 2017

• Revealing the Methods of Climate-Doubting Blogs by Gabriel Popkin, Inside Science, Nov 30, 2017
• Survey: Swiss believe in man-made climate change but most do little to help combat it, The Local, Nov 30, 2017
• Trump’s NOAA Pick Gets Climate Change, But Could Still Weaken Key Science Agency by Alexander C. Kaufman, HuffPost, Nov 29, 2017
• Tesla mega-battery in Australia activated, BBC News, Dec 1, 2017
• Arctic Sea Ice Hits Record Lows Off Alaska by Sabrina Shankman, InsideClimate News, Nov 30, 2017
• Only a third of Republican voters blame humans as main cause of climate change by Josh Gabbatiss, The Independent, Dec 1, 2017
• Winning Slowly Is the Same as Losing by Bill McKibben, Rolling Stone, Dec 1, 2017
• Scientists look to Bali volcano for clues to curb climate change by Alister Doyle, Reuters, Nov 30, 2017

Sat Dec 2, 2017, 2017

• New research, November 20-26, 2017 by Ari Jokimäki, Skeptical Science, Dec 1, 2017
• In Alaska’s Thawing Permafrost, Humanity’s ‘Library Is on Fire’ by Sabrina Shankman, The Weather Channel/InsideClimate News, Dec 1, 2017
• ‘Keeping lights on’ is not just about increasing supply, Guest Post by Aidan Rhodes, Carbon Brief, Nov 28. 2017
• Climate Change Panel Talks ‘Hope and Despair’ by Yasmin Luthra & Aidan F Ryan, The Harvard Crimson, Nov 30, 2017
• El Niño Might Speed Up Climate Change by Tim Vernimmen, Scientific American, Dec 1, 2017
• Hurricane season 2017: what the hell just happened? by Brian Resnick, Energy & Environment, Vox, Nov 30, 2017