Arguments
2016 SkS Weekly News Roundup #11
Posted on 12 March 2016 by John Hartz
A chronological listing of the news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook page during the past week.
Sun Mar 6
- Justice Department Refers Exxon Investigation Request to FBI by David Hasemyer, InsideClimate News, Mar 2, 2016
- Here’s How the EPA Can Achieve Paris Climate Goals — Without Involving Congress by Michael Burger, Sabin Center for Climate/Alternet, Mar 4, 2015
- Investor confidence in UK energy policy has ‘dipped’, warn MPs by Sopie Yeo, Carbon Brief, Mar 4, 2016
- Regional Climate Change and National Responsibilities by James Hansen & Makiko Sato Climate Science, Awareness & Solutions, Earth Institute, Columbia University, Feb 29, 2016
- Adjusted satellite data derails one of Cruz’s arguments against climate change by Elizabeth Koh, Dallas Morning Herald, Mar 6, 2016
- Risk level rises for North American forests by Tim Radford, Climate News Network, Mar 6, 2016
- UK needs a ‘smart power revolution’, says Infrastructure Commission, Carbon Brief, Mar 4, 2016
- Climate change could cause 500,000 more deaths by 2050 by Raveena Aulakh, Toronto Star, Mar 05 2016
Mon Mar 7
- Don't leave Indigenous Peoples out of climate change plan Op-ed by Matthew Coon Come, Ottawa Citizen, Mar 6, 2016
- Ed Miliband calls for law to make CO2 emissions target legally binding by Rajeev Syal, Guardian, Mar 6, 2016
- Alaska’s winter is so warm, the Iditarod is importing snow and shortening its start by Niraj Chokshi, Washington Post, Mar 4, 2016
- During the most important year for climate news, TV coverage fell by Dana Nuccitelli, Climate Consensus -the 97%, Guardian, Mar 7, 2016
- Germany, France, UK press for tougher emission targets after Paris deal by Alissa de Carbonnel & Barbara Lewis, Reuters, Mar 4, 2016
- China's carbon emissions may have peaked already, says Lord Stern by Fiona Harvey, Guardian, Mar 6, 2016
- How cheap oil is undermining Obama's fuel-economy rules by Brad Plumer, Vox, Mar 3, 2016
- Ted Cruz’s favorite argument about climate change just got weaker by Chris Mooney, Energy & Environment, Washington Post, Mar 7, 2016
Tue Mar 8
- These ancient shipwrecks hold a hidden message about climate change, scientists say by Chris Mooney, Energy & Environment, Washington Post, Mar 7, 2016
- Lamar Smith: Still Fishing With Dynamite by Phil Plait, Bad Astonomy, Mar 7, 2016
- After COP21: 7 Key Tasks to Implement the Paris Agreement by Eliza Northrop & Melisa Krnjaic, World Resources Institute, Mar 4, 2016
- Climate change threatens staple crops in Africa, study says by Robert McSweeney, Carbon Brief, Mar 7, 2016
- Cheap Oil Is Undermining the Success of Nearly Every Climate Cleanup Plan By David Biello, Scientific American, Mar 1, 2016
- Climate change to strike at the heart of Central America’s bean lands by Neil Palmer, International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Feb 8, 2016
- Highest ever annual rise in carbon dioxide levels recorded, by Michael Le Page, New Scientist, Mar 8, 2016
- Did Shell's Failure to Disclose Climate Risks Break the Law? by David Hasemyer, InsideClimate News, Mar 7, 2016
Wed Mar 9
- Why did Paris climate summit get less press coverage than Copenhagen? by Alex Pashley, Climate Home, Mar 8, 2016
- Central America Makes Uneven Progress in Clean Energy by Diego Arguedas Ortiz, Inter Press Service (IPS), Mar 1, 2016
- What's the Answer to Climate Change? by Robinson Meyer, The Atlantic, Mar 8, 2016
- Obama administration pays out $500m to climate change project by Suzanne Goldenberg, Guardian, Mar 7, 2016
- The constitutional right to a healthier climate, Op-ed by James E Hansen, Boston Globe, Mar 9, 2016
- Surprise! A third of Congress members are climate change deniers by Katie Herzog, Climate Progress, Mar 8, 2016
- The hidden driver of climate change that we too often ignore by Chris Mooney, Energy & Environment, Washington Post, Mar 7, 2016
- Climate Coalition Vows 'Peaceful, Escalated' Actions Until 'We Break Free from Fossil Fuels' by Nika Knight, Common Dreams, Mar 9, 2016
Thu Mar 10
- America’s year without a winter: The 2015-2016 season was the warmest on record by Jason Samenow, Capital Weather Gang, Washington Post, Mar 8, 2016
- Forest restoration: from Stone Age to drone age by Giovanni Ortolani, Mongabay, Mar 9, 2016
- Scientists Trace Climate-Heat Link Back to 1930s by John Upton, Climate Central, Mar 9, 2016
- Dangerous global warming will happen sooner than thought – study by Joshua Robertson, Guardian, Mar 9, 2016
- Obama and Justin Trudeau of Canada Unveil Efforts to Fight Climate Change by Michael Shear & Coral Davenport, New York Times, Mar 10, 2016
- This mind-boggling study shows just how massive sea level rise really is by Chris Mooney, Energy & Environment, Washington Post, Mar 10, 2016
- Global Warming Basics: What Has Changed? by Tamino, Open Mind, Mar 4, 2016
- Teens challenge US government for not protecting them from climate change by Matthew O Berger, Guardian, Mar 9, 2016
Fri Mar 11
- Clash between countries stymies aviation emissions talks by Valerie Volcovici & Allison Lampert, Reuters, Mar 9, 2016
- Climate Whirlwind: Severe Tornado Outbreaks Are Increasing by Phil Plait, Bad Astronomy, Slate, Mar 9, 2016
- Understanding why nights are getting warmer faster than days, Phys.org, Mar 10, 2016
- The Unexpected Reaction Farmers Could Have To Climate Change by Natasha Geiling, Climate Progress, Mar 9, 2016
- Big solar is heading for boom times in the US by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Mar 10, 2015
- Climate change will flood Florida, but Marco Rubio thinks it isn't real by Emily Cahn, Mashable, Mar 10, 2016
- The Fuel Behind Louisiana’s Torrential Rains, Floods by Andrea Thompson, Climate Central, Mar 11, 2016
- What Weather Is the Fault of Climate Change?, Op-ed by Heidi Cullen, New York Times, Mar 11, 2016
Sat Mar 12
- February 2016 ocean temperatures across the tropical Pacific by Tom Di Liberto, Climate.gov, Mar 7, 2016
- The more we learn about Antarctica’s past, the scarier the present looks by Chris Mooney, Energy & Environment, Washington Post, Mar 7, 2016
- Republican candidates skirt surprise climate change question at debate by Tom McCarthy & Mona Chalabi, Guardian, March 10, 2016
- Sea level rise is accelerating; how much it costs is up to us by John Abraham, Climate Consensus - the 97%, Guardian, Mar 11, 2016
- Global food production threatens to overwhelm efforts to combat climate change by Pep Canadell & Hanqin Tian, The Conversation AU, Mar 10, 2016
- 3 Reasons the Historic U.S.-Canada Commitment to Curbing Methane Emissions Is Big by Ken Berlin, EcoWatch, Mar 11, 2016
- Environmental Policies Are Good For Business And Innovation, Study Says by Alejandro Davila Fragoso, Climate Progress, Mar 11, 2016
- In-depth: the scientific challenge of extreme weather attribution by Roz Pidcock, Carbon Brief, Mar 11, 2015
The prediction "Climate change cause 500,000 more deaths by 2050" is the worst case of optimism bias I have ever seen.
We should suspect the source. Everyone from the UN, to Oxfam to the Catholic Church is researching those numbers. Even the B&M Gates Foundation fought with the World Health Organization about what numbers are and how to evaluate death rate. It is a very difficult task . but a few years ago, when I scanned the ranges then - it was all over the ranges from 50,000 to 400,000 deaths per year (currently). The data reports take a little digging, but it is all search engine. (just ask "how many die from climate change")
Part of the problem is how to categorize. For instance, is Malaria deaths part of the increase? Famine from salt water inundation by sea level rise? Which floods are counted, only storms or some storms? Then Syrian climate refugees - all of them? Or some? Are the increase in wildfires all categorized as global warming associated?
For a newspaper to say 500,000 by the year 2050.. some 34 years hence seems dangerously misinformed. What are they trying to promote? I have no idea why they would post that.... it shows a very shallow understanding of climate impacts globally. I will be sure to write the publisher at http://www.thestar.com/about/contactus.html Perhaps they can publish a cursory overview of how to evauate future impacts. Their numbers of 500,000 may have been reached in 2015, Maybe this year. Certainly in the next few. Irresponsible publishing.
It was at Sunday section above
Climate change could cause 500,000 more deaths by 2050 by Raveena Aulakh, Toronto Star, Mar 05 2016
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2016/03/05/climate-change-could-cause-500000-more-deaths-in-2050.html
richardPauli: Your concerns about the article, Climate change could cause 500,000 more deaths by 2050 by Raveena Aulakh, Toronto Star, Mar 05 2016, seem a tad overblown and misdirected.
The teaser line (sub-headline) to the article is:
Over half a million more people could die in 2050 as climate change affects diet, says a new study in the medical journal the Lancet.
It should be quite obvious to anyone reading the the above sub-headline of the article that it is a summary of a new study published in the Medical Journal Lancet.
The text of the article includes a link to the Lancet article, Global and regional health effects of future food production under climate change: a modelling study.
If you want to know how the numbers reported in a newspaper article were derived, you need to carefully read and digest the study that generated those numbers.
The Skeptical Sience Facebook page link above is not working for me - it results in a Not Found message. Ditto with the one in the Weekly Roundup email.
[JH] Links are working properly.