2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #32

Posted on 12 August 2017 by John Hartz

Editor’s Pick

NOAA confirms 2016 as hottest year on record for the planet

The federal government confirmed 2016 as the planet’s warmest year on record, according to a report released Thursday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The combined influence of long-term global warming and a strong El Niño early in the year led to last year’s all-time record heat, NOAA said.

While El Niño is a natural warming of Pacific Ocean water, man-made global warming is caused by greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal. 

The amount of carbon dioxide, one of the main greenhouse gases, in the atmosphere climbed to its highest level in 800,000 years, the report found.

The report also noted other signs of a warming planet in 2016: 

• Greenhouse gases were the highest on record.
• Sea-surface temperatures were the highest on record.
• Global upper ocean heat content near-record high.
• Global sea level was the highest on record.
• Antarctic had a record low sea ice extent. 

Known as the State of the Climate, the annual report is prepared by more than 450 scientists from more than 60 countries around the world and published in conjunction with the American Meteorological Society. It’s the most comprehensive annual summary of Earth’s climate. 

NOAA confirms 2016 as hottest year on record for the planet by Doyle Rice, USA Today, Aug 10, 2017 

Links posted on Facebook

Sun Aug 6 2017

• “Rabbis should grow a spine” — Orthodox Jewish leaders call for response to climate change by Dan Drollette Jr, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Aug 4, 2017
• More Hot Days Are Coming With Climate Change. Our Choices Will Decide How Many, Research Report by Climate Central, Aug 3, 2017
• Keystone XL: Low Oil Prices, Tar Sands Pullout Could Kill Pipeline Plan by Phil McKenna, InsideClimate News, Aug 4, 2017
• Tactical retreat? As seas rise, Louisiana faces hard choices. by Henry Gass, Christian Science Monitor, Aug 2, 2017
• The battle over science in the Trump administration by Miranda Green, CNN, Aug 6, 2017
• Air Conditioning Is a Lifesaver. It’s Also a Potential Disaster by Rachel Kyte, Time Magazine, Aug 3, 2017
• ‘Flash drought’ could devastate half the High Plains wheat harvest by Eric Holthaus, Grist, Aug 1, 2017
• Al Gore thought Trump ‘might come to his senses’ on climate change. Nope. by Amy B Wang, Arts & Entertainment, Washington Post, Aug 5, 2017

Mon Aug 7 2017

• These youth of color are organizing to address climate change by Jenna Grey, PBS NewsHour, Aug 5, 2017
• Fears rise for US climate report as Trump officials take reins by Jeff Tollefson, Nature, Aug 1, 2017
• Dying gods: Mt Kenya’s disappearing glaciers spread violence below by Daniel Wesangula, Climate Home, Aug 2, 2017
• Fossil fuel subsidies are a staggering $5 tn per year by John Abraham, Climate Consensus – the 97%, New York Times, Aug 7, 2017
• Climate change to make Wellington as hot as Sydney: Niwa report by Frances Cook, New Zealand Herald, Aug 7, 2017
• Heat waves threaten city dwellers, especially minorities and the poor by Merrill Singer, The Conversation US, Aug 6, 2017
• Government Report Finds Drastic Impact of Climate Change on U.S. by Lisa Friedman, New York Times, Aug 7, 2017
• There’s a Wildfire Burning in West Greenland Right Now by Brian Kahn, Climate Central, Aug 7, 2017

Tue Aug 8 2017

• US federal department is censoring use of term ‘climate change’, emails reveal by Oliver Milman, Guardian, Aug 7, 2017
• Trump and the Paris Agreement: What Just Happened? by Robinson Meyer, The Atlantic, Aug 4, 2017
• Scrapping Climate Protections Would Erase $300 Billion in Benefits, Study Finds by Nicholas Kusnetz, InsideClimate News, Aug 7, 2017
• ‘Dodgy’ greenhouse gas data threatens Paris accord by Matt McGrath, BBC News, Aug 8, 2017
• To Stop Global Warming, Should Humanity Dim the Sky? by Robinsosn Meyer, The Atlantic, July 7, 2017
• A flood of problems by Nick Miroff, Washington Post, Aug 7, 2017
• German cities ready themselves for climate change by Janina Semenova, Deutsche Welle (DW), Aug 5, 2017
• EXCLUSIVE-U.S. envoys told to be coy on re-engaging in Paris climate deal -cable by Yeganeh Torbati and Valerie Volcovici, Reuters, Aug 8, 2017

Wed Aug 9 2017

• Climate change is disrupting the birds and the bees by Claire Asher, Future, BBC, Aug 8, 2017
• Trump’s Summer Holiday Will Get A Lot Hotter Because Of Climate Change by Ken Silverstein, Forbes, Aug 8, 2017
• Australian bank sued over failure to disclose climate risks by Megan Darby, Climate Home, Aug 8, 2017
• Energy executives tell Turnbull they aren’t interested in prolonging life of coal plants by Katharine Murphy, Guardian, Aug 9, 2017
• Meet the Senior Federal Official Blowing the Whistle on Trump’s Suppression of Climate Science, Democracy Now, Aug 8, 2017
• How climate change became a question of faith by Harry Bruinius & Amanda Paulson, Christian Science Monitor, Aug 8, 2017
• No, city pledges to get 100% renewable energy are not misleading by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Aug 8, 2017

Thu Aug 10 2017

• Climate gloom and doom? Bring it on. But we need stories about taking action, too by Jon Christensen, The Coversation US, Aug 8, 2017
• Federal Climate Report Contradicts Trump Administration Stance by Zack Colman, ClimateWire/Scientific American, Aug 8, 2017
• Lawyers Take on Another Trumpian Task: Stopping Science Suppression by Dahlia Lithwick, Slate, Aug 8, 2017
• Ecosystems facing ‘double whammy’ due to increasing impacts of drought by Robert McSweeney, Carbon Brief, Aug 9, 2017
• The Sea Level Did, in Fact, Rise Faster in the Southeast U.S. by Justin Gillis, Climate, New York Time, Aug 9, 2017
• How Fossil Fuel Money Made Climate Change Denial the Word of God by Brendon O’Connor, Splinter, Aug 8, 2017
• Australia faces potentially disastrous consequences of climate change, inquiry told by Ben Doherty & Michael Slezak, Guardian. July 10, 2017
• 2016 Was Hot, Weird, and Unprecedented, Says NOAA by Robinson Meyer, The Atlantic, Aug 10, 2017

Fri Aug 11 2017

• The climate report scientists are afraid Trump will censor, explained by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Aug 9, 2017
• Many of Europe’s Rivers Are Flooding Earlier in Spring as Climate Changes by Bob Berwyn, InsideClimate News, Aug 10, 2017
• SkS Resources – Easy to remember Short URLs by BarbaraW, Skeptical Science, Aug 9, 2017
• INTERVIEW-U.S. states, business will step up to meet Paris climate pledge – Gore by Adela Suliman, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Aug 11, 2017
• Factcheck: Lord Lawson’s inaccurate claims about climate change on BBC Radio 4, Carbon Brief, Aug 10, 2017
• The year Trump was elected was so hot, it was one-in-a-million by Dana Nuccitelli, Climate Consensus – the 97%, Guardian, Aug 11, 2017
• Hot, Dry and Worrisome: 2016 Was a Record-Breaking Year for Climate by Georgina Gustin, InsideClimate News, Aug 11, 2017

Sat Aug 12 2017

• New Findings Show How Climate Change Is Influencing India’s Farmer Suicides by Brian Kahn, Climate Central, Aug 11, 2017
• The NY Times made a mistake in its big climate story, then things got really vicious by Joe Romm, Think Progress, Aug 11, 2017
• North Korea Aside, Guam Faces Another Threat: Climate Change by Mike Ives, New Yok Times, Aug 11, 2017
• Denier-in-Chief Trump Should Read NOAA’s Frightening New Climate Report by Jake Johnson, Common Dreams, Aug 10, 2017
• More Climate Change Stories, Less Graphs And Maps by Marshall Shepard, Forbes, Aug 11, 2017
• Climate Change Compounds Louisiana Flooding Threat a Year After Historic Floods by Julie Dermansky, DeSmog, Aug 11, 2017
• Trump officials begin review of Obama emissions standards for cars by Dino Grandoni, Energy & Environment, Washngton Post, Aug 10, 2017
• Scott Pruitt Is Carrying Out His E.P.A. Agenda in Secret, Critics Say by Coral Davenport & Eric Lipton, New York Times, Aug 11, 2017