Climate Science Glossary

Term Lookup

Enter a term in the search box to find its definition.

Settings

Use the controls in the far right panel to increase or decrease the number of terms automatically displayed (or to completely turn that feature off).

Term Lookup

Settings


All IPCC definitions taken from Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Working Group I Contribution to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Annex I, Glossary, pp. 941-954. Cambridge University Press.

Home Arguments Software Resources Comments The Consensus Project Translations About Support

Twitter Facebook YouTube Mastodon MeWe

RSS Posts RSS Comments Email Subscribe


Climate's changed before
It's the sun
It's not bad
There is no consensus
It's cooling
Models are unreliable
Temp record is unreliable
Animals and plants can adapt
It hasn't warmed since 1998
Antarctica is gaining ice
View All Arguments...



Username
Password
New? Register here
Forgot your password?

Latest Posts

Archives

Skeptical Science New Research for Week #49 2022

Posted on 8 December 2022 by Doug Bostrom, Marc Kodack

Open access notables:

Our increasing grip on understanding Earth systems reveals growing needs for operational instrumentation. By now it's safe to say that we understand: "a geochemically stable, suitable and uncontaminated atmosphere is not only nice but mandatory," and that we need data in order evaluate how -our- atmosphere is doing, especially in challenging times after we've belatedly noticed some major "oops" on our part. Vincent-Henri Puch and a (unsurprisingly) large team describe one of our best integrated, operational atmospheric observation systems, in  The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service: From Research to Operations. The total facility is a symphony of sorts.

Geoengineering— particularly in its "active measure" implementations— is proving to be enduringly controversial. It's no wonder; we have a deep track record of unintended consequences to ponder, built on hasty leaps and lack of circumspection. The Dangers of Mainstreaming Solar Geoengineering: A critique of the National Academies Report by Jennie Stephens et al. stirs the pot again, for fair reasons. One of several problems identified: "The report highlights the importance of inclusive global cooperation and coordination, recognizing the dangers of a single country advancing solar geoengineering research unilaterally. The report states that ‘there are political risks associated with research, especially if research is perceived as unilateral and self-interested based on actors’ past policy decisions’ (NASEM 2021) (p. 112, italics added for emphasis). Contrary to this cautionary note, however, the report nonetheless unconditionally recommends immediate investment of up to $200 million U.S. dollars to establish a United States solar geoengineering research program, even though a system of international research governance has not yet been developed."

In Scepticisms and beyond? A comprehensive portrait of climate change communication by the far right in the European Parliament Forchtner & Lubarda further cement our understanding that climate skepticism is very much not about science but rather what science hints we may to do in order to respect planetary boundaries. This paper offers a tantalizing payload: evidence that skepticism is shrinking from view, leaving policy responses to climate change as the next target. These possibilties are perhaps not surprising to folks familiar with denier behavior; as a matter of anecdote the mood seems to have changed a bit, with less "it's impossible" and more "we don't need to," or "we can't." Here's information on how and why that might be true.

Snowmaking in a warmer climate: an in-depth analysis of future water demands for the ski resort Andermatt-Sedrun-Disentis (Switzerland) in the twenty-first century. Really? This is a problem we need to be worrying over? Hold on. There's an entire culture built around the mineral form of water, in Switzerland. One of only many populations facing massive upheavals, likely for some existential. 

How is accountability for concertedly and knowingly lying to the public thereby causing untold damage going to be delivered? With a lot of skill and hopefully little luck, by making and executing plans for legal redress. In our government/NGO section, legal scholars with the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law show how this is done, in Liability for Public Deception: Linking Fossil Fuel Disinformation to Climate Damages.

All of the above open access and free to read. 

Saddest not-open-access: Changes in Antarctic ice sheet motion derived from satellite radar interferometry between 1995 and 2022. Rignot et al., from the abstract: "Speedup affects the entire drainage of the Amundsen Sea Embayment sector; the entire west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula down to GeorgeVI Ice Shelf; the east coast down to Larsen C Ice Shelf; Getz Ice Shelf, Hull and Land glaciers in West Antarctica; Matusevitch, Ninnis, Mertz and Denman glaciers, glaciers in Porpoise and Vincennes Bay; and Robert, Wilma and Rayner glaciers in Enderby Land, in East Antarctica. We attribute the observed glacier changes to increased melting by warmer ocean waters."

142 articles in 57 journals by 1,011 contributing authors

Physical science of climate change, effects

Control of the air-sea oxygen to heat flux ratio during deep convection events
Sun et al., Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 10.1029/2021gb007063

Roles of Surface Forcing in the Southern Ocean Temperature and Salinity Changes under Increasing CO2: Perspectives from Model Perturbation Experiments and a Theoretical Framework
Lyu et al., Journal of Physical Oceanography, 10.1175/jpo-d-22-0095.1

Where does the link between atmospheric moisture transport and extreme precipitation matter?
Gimeno-Sotelo & Gimeno, Weather and Climate Extremes, Open Access 10.1016/j.wace.2022.100536

Observations of climate change, effects

An increase in marine heatwaves without significant changes in surface ocean temperature variability
Xu et al., Nature Communications, Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-022-34934-x

Changes in Antarctic ice sheet motion derived from satellite radar interferometry between 1995 and 2022
Rignot et al., Geophysical Research Letters, 10.1029/2022gl100141

Changes in permafrost spatial distribution and active layer thickness from 1980 to 2020 on the Tibet Plateau
Shen et al., Science of The Total Environment, 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.160381

Compound Heat Wave, Drought, and Dust Events in California
Pu et al., Journal of Climate, 10.1175/jcli-d-21-0889.1

Dominant role of Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation in the tipping point of maximum and minimum temperatures over inner East Asia
Guo et al., International Journal of Climatology, 10.1002/joc.7951

Shoreline sentinels of global change show the consequences of extreme events
Hawkins et al., Global Change Biology, 10.1111/gcb.16477

Temperature and urban heat island effect in Lublin city in Poland under changing climate
Sachindra et al., Theoretical and Applied Climatology, Open Access pdf 10.1007/s00704-022-04285-0

The contributions of different variables to elevation-dependent land surface temperature changes over the Tibetan Plateau and surrounding regions
Zhou et al., Global and Planetary Change, 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2022.104010

The key atmospheric drivers linking regional Arctic amplification with East Asian cold extremes
Zhuo et al., Atmospheric Research, 10.1016/j.atmosres.2022.106557

The summer 2022 drought: a taste of future climate for the Po valley (Italy)?
Bonaldo et al., Regional Environmental Change, 10.1007/s10113-022-02004-z

Trends in the indices of precipitation phases under current warming in Poland, 1966–2020
?UPIKASZA & MA?ARZEWSKI, Advances in Climate Change Research, Open Access 10.1016/j.accre.2022.11.012

Warming intensifies severe drought over China from 1980 to 2019
Huang et al., International Journal of Climatology, 10.1002/joc.7957

Instrumentation & observational methods of climate change, effects

A Bayesian Attribution Analysis of Extreme Temperature Changes at Global and Regional Scales
Seong et al., Journal of Climate, 10.1175/jcli-d-22-0104.1

A Comparison of Top-of-Atmosphere Radiative Fluxes from CERES and ARISE
Taylor et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Open Access 10.1029/2022jd037573

Evaluation of ERA5 reanalysis over the deserts in northern China
Hou et al., Theoretical and Applied Climatology, 10.1007/s00704-022-04306-y

Multi-angular polarimetric remote sensing to pinpoint global aerosol absorption and direct radiative forcing
Chen et al., Nature Communications, Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-022-35147-y

The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service: From Research to Operations
Peuch et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, Open Access pdf 10.1175/bams-d-21-0314.1

Modeling, simulation & projection of climate change, effects

Arctic Troposphere Warming Driven by External Radiative Forcing and Modulated by the Pacific and Atlantic
Suo et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 10.1029/2022jd036679

Assessment of 21st Century Changing Sea Surface Temperature, Rainfall, and Sea Surface Height Patterns in the Tropical Pacific Islands Using CMIP6 Greenhouse Warming Projections
Dhage & Widlansky, Earth's Future, 10.1029/2021ef002524

Assessment of 21st century changing sea surface temperature, rainfall, and sea surface height patterns in the tropical Pacific Islands using CMIP6 greenhouse warming projections
Dhage & Widlansky, Earth's Future, 10.1029/2021ef002524

Daily precipitation and temperature for 2021–2050 over China: multiple RCMs and emission scenarios corrected by a trend-preserving method
Zhang et al., International Journal of Climatology, 10.1002/joc.7955

Present-day warm pool constrains future tropical precipitation
Park et al., Communications Earth & Environment, Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-022-00620-5

Quantifying and Understanding Forced Changes to Unforced Modes of Atmospheric Circulation Variability over the North Pacific in a Coupled Model Large Ensemble
O’Brien & Deser, Journal of Climate, Open Access pdf 10.1175/jcli-d-22-0101.1

Secular changes of the decadal relationship between the Northern Hemisphere land monsoon rainfall and sea surface temperature over the past millennium in climate model simulations
Shen et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 10.1029/2022jd037065

Simulating the current and future northern limit of permafrost on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau
Zhao et al., The Cryosphere, Open Access pdf 10.5194/tc-16-4823-2022

Tropical Indian Ocean warming contributes to Arctic warming
Xu et al., Geophysical Research Letters, 10.1029/2022gl101339

Advancement of climate & climate effects modeling, simulation & projection

A case study of cumulus convection over land in cloud-resolving simulations with a coupled ray tracer
Veerman et al., Geophysical Research Letters, 10.1029/2022gl100808

Impacts of Model Horizontal Resolution on Mean Sea-Surface Temperature Biases in the Community Earth System Model
Xu et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 10.1029/2022jc019065

Observed and CMIP6 modelled internal variability feedbacks and their relation to forced climate feedbacks
Uribe et al., Geophysical Research Letters, 10.1029/2022gl100075

Spatio-Temporal Variations in Carbon Isotope Discrimination Predicted by the JULES Land Surface Model
Palmer et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 10.1029/2022jg007041

Cryosphere & climate change

Changes in Antarctic ice sheet motion derived from satellite radar interferometry between 1995 and 2022
Rignot et al., Geophysical Research Letters, 10.1029/2022gl100141

Changes in the annual sea ice freeze–thaw cycle in the Arctic Ocean from 2001 to 2018
Lin et al., The Cryosphere, Open Access pdf 10.5194/tc-16-4779-2022

Opposite mass balance variations between glaciers in western Tibet and the western Tien Shan
Zhu et al., Global and Planetary Change, 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2022.103997

The impact of climate change on snowfall in Iran Basins using the satellite-derived snow products and CMIP6 Bias Corrected model
Ahmadi et al., Theoretical and Applied Climatology, 10.1007/s00704-022-04302-2

Paleoclimate

East Asian monsoonal climate sensitivity changed in the late Pliocene in response to Northern Hemisphere glaciations
Zhang et al., Geophysical Research Letters, 10.1029/2022gl101280

Indigenous fire management and cross-scale fire- climate relationships in the Southwest United States from 1500 to 1900 CE
Roos et al., Science Advances, 10.1126/sciadv.abq3221

On the climatic influence of CO2 forcing in the Pliocene
Burton et al., [journal not provided], 10.5194/egusphere-gc10-pliocene-60

Warm Soil, Westerly Wind, and Wet Feet: Feeling and Measuring Ecological Time in the Roman World
Tally?Schumacher, GeoHealth, 10.1029/2022gh000720

Biology & climate change, related geochemistry

A critical thermal transition driving spring phenology of Northern Hemisphere conifers
Huang et al., Global Change Biology, 10.1111/gcb.16543

Aridity determines the effects of warming on community stability in Inner Mongolian grassland
Liu et al., Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 10.1016/j.agrformet.2022.109274

Cryptic population structure at the northern range margin of the service tree Sorbus domestica
Armbruster et al., PeerJ, Open Access 10.7717/peerj.14397

Demographic effects of a megafire on a declining prairie grouse in the mixed-grass prairie
Parker et al., Ecology and Evolution, Open Access 10.1002/ece3.9544

Divergence in rates of phenotypic plasticity among ectotherms
Einum & Burton, Ecology Letters, Open Access 10.1111/ele.14147

Experimental temperatures shape host microbiome diversity and composition
Li et al., Global Change Biology, Open Access pdf 10.1111/gcb.16429

Global warming is increasing the discrepancy between green (actual) and thermal (potential) seasons of temperate trees
Fu et al., Global Change Biology, 10.1111/gcb.16545

Growth of alpine grassland will start and stop earlier under climate warming
Möhl et al., Nature Communications, Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-022-35194-5

Heat tolerance variation reveals vulnerability of tropical herbivore–parasitoid interactions to climate change
Wenda et al., Ecology Letters, 10.1111/ele.14150

High thermal tolerance in high-elevation species and laboratory-reared colonies of tropical bumble bees
Gonzalez et al., Ecology and Evolution, Open Access 10.1002/ece3.9560

Integrating demographic niches and black spruce range expansion at subarctic treelines
Goodwin & Brown, Oecologia, 10.1007/s00442-022-05293-7

Phenological response to climate variation in a northern red oak plantation: Links to survival and productivity
Knott et al., Ecology, 10.1002/ecy.3940

Populations adapt more to temperature in the ocean than on land
, Nature Climate Change, 10.1038/s41558-022-01535-x

Preserving the woody plant tree of life in China under future climate and land-cover changes
Peng et al., Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Open Access 10.1098/rspb.2022.1497

Substrate availability and not thermal-acclimation controls microbial temperature sensitivity response to long term warming
Domeignoz?Horta et al., Global Change Biology, Open Access 10.1111/gcb.16544

Younger trees in the upper canopy are more sensitive but also more resilient to drought
Au et al., Nature Climate Change, 10.1038/s41558-022-01528-w

GHG sources & sinks, flux, related geochemistry

Drivers of decadal carbon fluxes across temperate ecosystems
Desai et al., [journal not provided], Open Access 10.1002/essoar.10511485.1

Greenhouse gas fluxes in mangrove forest soil in an Amazon estuary
Castellón et al., Biogeosciences, Open Access pdf 10.5194/bg-19-5483-2022

Landscape-variability of the carbon balance across managed boreal forests
Peichl et al., Global Change Biology, 10.1111/gcb.16534

Limited Potential for Mineralization of Permafrost Peatland Soil Carbon Following Thermokarst: Evidence From Anoxic Incubation and Priming Experiments
Estop?Aragonés et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 10.1029/2022jg006910

Methane emissions from agricultural ponds are underestimated in national greenhouse gas inventories
Malerba et al., Communications Earth & Environment, Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-022-00638-9

Seasonal climate impact on Brazilian pasture (Brachiaria brizantha cv Marandu): growth rate, CO2 efflux, and irrigation strategies
Pereira-Flores et al., Theoretical and Applied Climatology, 10.1007/s00704-022-04295-y

Secular changes of the decadal relationship between the Northern Hemisphere land monsoon rainfall and sea surface temperature over the past millennium in climate model simulations
Shen et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 10.1029/2022jd037065

The Transformation and Export of Organic Carbon Across an Arctic River-Delta-Ocean Continuum
Clark et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 10.1029/2022jg007139

CO2 capture, sequestration science & engineering

Toward economical application of carbon capture and utilization technology with near-zero carbon emission
Langie et al., Nature Communications, Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-022-35239-9

Decarbonization

Evaluation of sustainable energy action plan strategies with a SWOT/TWOS-based AHP/ANP approach: a case study
Yontar & Derse, Environment, Development and Sustainability, 10.1007/s10668-022-02804-7

Faradic Side Reactions at Novel Carbon Flow-Through Electrodes for Desalination Studied in a Static Supercapacitor Architecture
Molaei & Crispin, Advanced Energy and Sustainability Research, 10.1002/aesr.202200119

From influencing to engagement: a framing model for climate communication in polarised settings
Badullovich, Environmental Politics, Open Access pdf 10.1080/09644016.2022.2052648

Further Reflections on the National Academies Report on Solar Geoengineering: A Response to Stephens et al.
Lin & Hourdequin, Environmental Politics, 10.1080/09644016.2022.2035556

Getting to 30 GW by 2030: Visual preferences of coastal residents for offshore wind farms on the US East Coast
Cranmer et al., Energy Policy, 10.1016/j.enpol.2022.113366

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it: how the public’s economic confidence in the fossil fuel industry reduces support for a clean energy transition
Schimpf et al., Environmental Politics, Open Access 10.1080/09644016.2021.1978199

Impacts of wind power on air quality, premature mortality, and exposure disparities in the United States
Qiu et al., Science Advances, 10.1126/sciadv.abn8762

Indoor photovoltaics awaken the world’s first solar cells
Yan et al., Science Advances, 10.1126/sciadv.adc9923

Life cycle carbon emission and cost-effectiveness analysis of electric vehicles in China
Guo et al., Energy for Sustainable Development, Open Access 10.1016/j.esd.2022.11.008

Local energy transition in Russia: a multi-actor perspective?on the case of Yakutia
Gritsenko, Environmental Politics, 10.1080/09644016.2021.2020016

Multi-objective optimization of a multi-story hotel's energy demand and investing the money saved in energy supply with solar energy production
Nateghi et al., Energy for Sustainable Development, Open Access 10.1016/j.esd.2022.11.010

Overcoming the Intrinsic Limitations of Fast Charging Lithium-Ion Batteries Using Integrated Acoustic Streaming
Huang et al., Advanced Energy and Sustainability Research, 10.1002/aesr.202200112

Parked aeroelastic field rotor response for a 20% scaled demonstrator of a 13-MW downwind turbine
Kaminski et al., Wind Energy, 10.1002/we.2794

Potential of residential building integrated photovoltaic systems in different regions of China
Feng et al., Energy for Sustainable Development, Open Access 10.1016/j.esd.2022.11.006

Spontaneously Healing Buried Interfaces in n–i–p Halide Perovskite Photovoltaics
Huang et al., Advanced Energy and Sustainability Research, 10.1002/aesr.202200150

Understanding subjective and situational factors of wind turbine noise annoyance
Müller et al., Energy Policy, 10.1016/j.enpol.2022.113361

Geoengineering climate

Climate cooperation in the shadow of solar geoengineering: an experimental investigation of the moral hazard conjecture
Cherry et al., Environmental Politics, 10.1080/09644016.2022.2066285

Near-term climate risks and solar radiation modification: a roadmap approach for physical sciences research
Wanser et al., Climatic Change, Open Access pdf 10.1007/s10584-022-03456-2

The Dangers of Mainstreaming Solar Geoengineering: A critique of the National Academies Report
Stephens et al., Environmental Politics, Open Access pdf 10.1080/09644016.2021.1989214

Aerosols

Atmospheric particle abundance and sea salt aerosol observations in the springtime Arctic: a focus on blowing snow and leads
Chen et al., [journal not provided], Open Access pdf 10.5194/acp-2022-442

Current status of aerosol-cloud interactions and their impact over the Northern Indian Ocean: A comprehensive review
Tiwari et al., Atmospheric Research, 10.1016/j.atmosres.2022.106555

Multi-angular polarimetric remote sensing to pinpoint global aerosol absorption and direct radiative forcing
Chen et al., Nature Communications, Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-022-35147-y

Pollution slightly enhances atmospheric cooling by low-level clouds in tropical West Africa
Hahn et al., [journal not provided], Open Access pdf 10.5194/acp-2022-795

Climate change communications & cognition

Advancing the potential impact of future scenarios by integrating psychological principles
Richter et al., Environmental Science & Policy, Open Access 10.1016/j.envsci.2022.11.015

Advocating inaction: a historical analysis of the Global Climate Coalition
Brulle, Environmental Politics, 10.1080/09644016.2022.2058815

Assessing the impact of the securitization narrative on climate change adaptation in Nigeria
Oramah et al., Environmental Politics, Open Access pdf 10.1080/09644016.2021.1970456

Does personal climate change mitigation behavior influence collective behavior? Experimental evidence of no spillover in the United States
Lacroix et al., Energy Research & Social Science, Open Access pdf 10.1016/j.erss.2022.102875

From populism to climate scepticism: the role of institutional trust and attitudes towards science
Huber et al., Environmental Politics, Open Access pdf 10.1080/09644016.2021.1978200

Perceived environmental threats, place attachment, and natural resource employment: predicting willingness to move from a threatened coastline
Parks, Environmental Sociology, 10.1080/23251042.2022.2151397

Postapocalyptic narratives in climate activism: their place and impact in five European cities
de Moor, Environmental Politics, Open Access pdf 10.1080/09644016.2021.1959123

Role Perceptions in Climate Science Communication
Busch Nicolaisen, Environmental Communication, Open Access 10.1080/17524032.2022.2152848

Scepticisms and beyond? A comprehensive portrait of climate change communication by the far right in the European Parliament
Forchtner & Lubarda, Environmental Politics, Open Access pdf 10.1080/09644016.2022.2048556

The meaning of leadership in polycentric climate action
Benulic et al., Environmental Politics, Open Access pdf 10.1080/09644016.2021.1970087

‘The Green New Deal’ as partisan cue: Evidence from a survey experiment in the rural U.S.
McConnell, Environmental Politics, 10.1080/09644016.2022.2090655

Agronomy, animal husbundry, food production & climate change

Assessing the role of social networks in women’s access and use of climate services in Sub-Saharan Africa: evidence from literature
Sprout, Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 10.1016/j.cosust.2022.101232

Cropland intensification mediates the radiative balance of greenhouse gas emissions and soil carbon sequestration in maize systems of sub-Saharan Africa
Zheng et al., Global Change Biology, 10.1111/gcb.16550

Does ICTs-based farm advisory services improve farmers’ adaptation to climate change? Evidence from Pakistan
Khan et al., Climate and Development, 10.1080/17565529.2022.2143232

Growth of winter wheat adapting to climate warming may face more low-temperature damage
Song et al., International Journal of Climatology, 10.1002/joc.7956

Hydrology, hydrometeorology & climate change

Assessment of future changes in high-impact precipitation events for India using CMIP6 models
Shahi et al., Theoretical and Applied Climatology, 10.1007/s00704-022-04309-9

Bridging the gap between simple metrics and model simulations of climate change impacts on land hydrology
Berg, Earth's Future, 10.1029/2022ef003259

Evaluation and projection of northeast monsoon precipitation over India under higher warming scenario: a multimodel assessment of CMIP6
Tiwari et al., Theoretical and Applied Climatology, 10.1007/s00704-022-04299-8

Quantifying multivariate flood risk under nonstationary condition
Li et al., Natural Hazards, 10.1007/s11069-022-05716-x

Reconstruction of zonal precipitation from sparse historical observations using climate model information and statistical learning
Egli et al., [journal not provided], Open Access 10.5194/egusphere-egu22-4619

Seasonal variations in the dynamic and thermodynamic response of precipitation extremes in the Indian subcontinent
Sengupta et al., Climate Dynamics, 10.1007/s00382-022-06613-6

Warming intensifies severe drought over China from 1980 to 2019
Huang et al., International Journal of Climatology, 10.1002/joc.7957

Climate change economics

Cost-Potential Curves of Onshore Wind Energy: the Role of Disamenity Costs
Ruhnau et al., Environmental and Resource Economics, Open Access pdf 10.1007/s10640-022-00746-2

Emission reduction technology sharing with environmental tax under multiple oligopolies
Chen et al., Environment, Development and Sustainability, 10.1007/s10668-022-02782-w

Investor-state dispute settlement: obstructing a just energy transition
Tienhaara et al., Climate Policy, 10.1080/14693062.2022.2153102

Climate change and the circular economy

Are technology innovation and circular economy remedy for emissions? Evidence from the Netherlands
Khan & Khurshid, Environment, Development and Sustainability, 10.1007/s10668-022-02766-w

Climate change mitigation public policy research

A comparison of CO2 emissions, load capacity factor, and ecological footprint for Thailand’s environmental sustainability
Adebayo et al., Environment, Development and Sustainability, 10.1007/s10668-022-02810-9

Acceptance should not be assumed. How the dynamics of social acceptance changes over time, impacting onshore wind repowering
Windemer, Energy Policy, Open Access 10.1016/j.enpol.2022.113363

Bridging the divide in energy policy research: Empirical evidence from global collaborative networks
Ali et al., Energy Policy, Open Access 10.1016/j.enpol.2022.113380

Co-Benefits Through Coordination of Climate Action and Peacebuilding: A System Dynamics Model
Morales-Muñoz et al., Journal of Peacebuilding & Development, 10.1177/15423166221132149

Considering subnational support of climate change policy in the United States and the implications of symbolic policy acts
Hopper & Swift, Environmental Politics, 10.1080/09644016.2021.1964771

Demand-side flexibility in distribution grids: Voluntary versus mandatory contracting
Nouicer et al., Energy Policy, Open Access pdf 10.1016/j.enpol.2022.113342

Effects of corruption, technological innovation, globalisation, and renewable energy on carbon emissions in Asian countries
Rahman & Alam, Utilities Policy, 10.1016/j.jup.2022.101448

Establishing a climate target within the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework
Archer et al., PLOS Climate, Open Access pdf 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000106

Integrating low-carbon development issues into strategic environmental assessment: insights from Tanzania
Rweyendela et al., Climate and Development, 10.1080/17565529.2022.2149253

Making energy justice work for women in rural sub-Saharan Africa: A qualitative diagnostic from Benin, Senegal, and Togo
Mang-Benza et al., Energy Policy, 10.1016/j.enpol.2022.113345

Overcoming global inequality is critical for land-based mitigation in line with the Paris Agreement
Humpenöder et al., Nature Communications, Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-022-35114-7

Predicting European cities’ climate mitigation performance using machine learning
Hsu et al., Nature Communications, Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-022-35108-5

Responsibilities for just transition to low-carbon societies: a role-based framework
Kortetmäki & Huttunen, Environmental Politics, Open Access pdf 10.1080/09644016.2022.2064690

Understanding barriers to linking heterogeneous emissions trading schemes: evidence from and lessons for Northeast Asia
Dellatte & Rudolph , Environmental Politics, 10.1080/09644016.2022.2061776

What policies do homeowners prefer for building decarbonization and why? An exploration of climate policy support in Canada
Odland et al., Energy Policy, 10.1016/j.enpol.2022.113368

Whose policy is it anyway? Public support for clean energy policy depends on the message and the messenger
Diamond & Zhou, Environmental Politics, 10.1080/09644016.2021.1969844

Climate change adaptation & adaptation public policy research

Adaptation finance failing to reach the most vulnerable: A multi-level model of household political power in Madagascar
Browne & Razafiarimanana, PLOS Climate, Open Access pdf 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000050

Gender differences on the choices of a portfolio of climate change adaptation strategies in Ethiopia
Teklewold et al., Climate Risk Management, Open Access 10.1016/j.crm.2022.100467

Climate change impacts on human health

Climate change, mental health and wellbeing: privileging Pacific peoples’ perspectives – phase one
Tiatia et al., Climate and Development, 10.1080/17565529.2022.2145171

Perception of heat stress in cities and measures for health protection
Matzarakis & Nouri, PLOS Climate, Open Access pdf 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000104

Substantial increase in human-perceived heatwaves in eastern China in a warmer future
Zhang et al., Atmospheric Research, 10.1016/j.atmosres.2022.106554

The Geographic Distribution of Dimorphic Mycoses in the United States for the Modern Era
Mazi et al., Clinical Infectious Diseases, 10.1093/cid/ciac882

Climate change impacts on human culture

Snowmaking in a warmer climate: an in-depth analysis of future water demands for the ski resort Andermatt-Sedrun-Disentis (Switzerland) in the twenty-first century
Vorkauf et al., International Journal of Biometeorology, Open Access pdf 10.1007/s00484-022-02394-z

Informed opinion, nudges & major initiatives

Responding to warming in polar oceans: A commentary on Molina et al.
Peck, Global Change Biology, Open Access pdf 10.1111/gcb.16468

The Copernicus Climate Change Service: Climate Science in Action
Buontempo et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, Open Access pdf 10.1175/bams-d-21-0315.1

Through an ice sheet, darkly
Piecuch & Das , Earth's Future, Open Access 10.1029/2022ef003310


Articles/Reports from Agencies and Non-Governmental Organizations Addressing Aspects of Climate Change

Climate Change and the Law of National Security Adaptation, Mark Nevitt, Emory University

The Department of Defense (DoD) is the largest employer in the world, owns and operates an enormous global real estate portfolio, and emits more greenhouse gases (GHGs) than many nations. Entrusted with the nation’s national security, the DoD is now threatened by a new enemy - climate change. Climate change imperils national security infrastructure while undermining the military’s capacity to respond to climate-driven disasters at home and abroad. Yet legal scholarship has yet to address “the law of national security adaptation” and related questions. For example, how do environmental and climate change laws apply to the U.S. military? What laws can be employed to safeguard military installations from rising seas, extreme weather, and other climate risks? The author addresses these questions, inspired by his experience as an environmental attorney in Norfolk, Virginia - home to the largest Navy base in the world. he describes and analyzes environmental law and property law’s applicability to climate adaptation efforts on military installations. The law of national security adaptation encompasses climate legislation designed to safeguard military infrastructure and an amalgamation of executive branch directives and regulations. He argues that insights for climate adaptation more generally can be gleaned from the military’s experience addressing climate change. Somewhat surprisingly, congressional action on national security adaptation has been a beacon of bipartisanship. It has kept the climate adaptation “flame” alive when climate action was being extinguished elsewhere. The law of national security adaptation thus offers broader, normative insights for adaptation efforts outside the military fence line.

Wildfires: Burning Through State Budgets, Bryant et al., The Pew Charitable Trusts

Wildfires in the United States have become more catastrophic and expensive in recent years, with the U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Forest Service nearly doubled their combined spending on wildfire management in the last decade.1 Wildfire management consists of preparing for, fighting, recovering from, and reducing the risk of fires. To execute these activities, states, localities, the federal government, and Tribes, as well as nongovernment entities such as nonprofit organizations and private property owners, participate in a complex system of responsibilities and funding dictated by land ownership and an interconnected set of cooperative agreements. A small body of research about the state role in paying for and budgeting for wildfire activities has emerged in recent years, but a lack of data and information persists. The authors undertook this study to improve the available data and understanding of the impact of wildfire spending on state fiscal policy. To do so, they examined the intergovernmental system involved in paying for wildfire management to bring the state role into focus. They then identified current state-level approaches to budgeting for the entire range of wildfire management activities, the pressures facing states as they face growing risks and spending on wildfires, and potentially promising practices for alleviating these pressures.

Carbon Dioxide Utilization Markets and Infrastructure, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Carbon materials pervade many aspects of modern life, from fuels and building materials to consumer goods and commodity chemicals. Reaching net-zero emissions will require replacing existing fossil-carbon-based systems with circular-carbon economies that transform wastes like CO2 into useful materials. The authors evaluate market opportunities and infrastructure needs to help decision-makers better understand how carbon dioxide use can contribute to a net-zero emissions future.

2022 Regional Resource Assessment, Midcontinent Independent System Operator

The Midcontinent Independent System Operator's Regional Resource Assessment (RRA) provides a collective view of how members’ resource plans are evolving, revealing insights and implications that can inform the work that members, states, and MISO are doing to balance reliability, affordability, and sustainability priorities. RRA modeling indicates a continued near-term capacity risk, highlighting the immediate importance of coordinated resource planning and additional investment. Reliably achieving the decarbonization targets set by many MISO members and states will require a shared understanding of how operational risks emerge and shift over time. The RRA improves that understanding and informs the proactive problem-solving that is needed to meet the region’s Reliability Imperative.

Electric Highways: Accelerating and Optimizing Fast-Charging Deployment for Carbon-Free Transportation, Mullaney et al., National Grid, CALSTART, Rocky Mountain Institute, Stable Auto, and Geotab

Electric vehicle (EV) adoption has reached a tipping point. It is now accelerating toward mass market adoption, particularly in states taking proactive measures to encourage transportation electrification. New York and Massachusetts have made transportation decarbonization a priority: in 2021, New York adopted legislation targeting 100% zero- emission vehicle sales for passenger vehicles by 2035, and both states have adopted the Advanced Clean Trucks regulation, which mandates an increasing number of zero- emission medium- and heavy-duty vehicle (MHDV) sales starting in 2025. Meeting such targets will require a robust and accessible network of highway stations that provides on-route fast charging to complement home, workplace, and depot charging. Paired with sales and manufacturing incentives such as those included in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, convenient access to fast charging will further encourage EV market development and consumer adoption. The electric grid will be critical to the rollout of fast -charging. Providing timely and sufficient electric service to energize this highway charging network will require data-driven and cross-sectoral planning. The authors characterize site-specific effects at likely highway charging locations. These results will support utility long-term capital planning, planning for charging deployment by government agencies and private station operators, and thoughtful public policy to not only accommodate but accelerate EV adoption.

Forging New Ground: Implementing a Climate Resilience Agenda Across the U.S. Federal Government, David Hayes, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment

The author presents a White House insider’s view of the architecture that the Biden Administration is putting in place to address climate change, noting that while the federal government has a centralized capability to respond quickly and effectively to disasters—primarily through the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA)—there is no single federal agency responsible for helping communities develop defensive strategies that will make them more resilient to future climate-related impacts. Nor is there an obvious candidate, given that climate-related risks that have burst on the scene in recent years range from severe droughts to epic floods, catastrophic wildfires, and extreme heat or coastal sea rise and storm surges—starkly different contexts that call for a wide variety of longer-term defensive strategies. The broad collection of potential resilience strategies implicates a multitude of different federal agencies and programs—many of which have yet to receive the type of front-line attention associated with classic disaster response operations.

Liability for Public Deception: Linking Fossil Fuel Disinformation to Climate Damages, Jessica Wentz and Benjamin Franca, Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

Over two dozen U.S. states and municipalities have filed lawsuits against fossil fuel companies, seeking abatement orders and compensation for climate damages based on theories such as public nuisance, negligence, and failure to warn, and alleging these companies knew about the dangers of their products, intentionally concealed those dangers, created doubt about climate science, and undermined public support for climate action. This Article examines how tort plaintiffs can establish a causal nexus between public deception and damages, drawing from past litigation, particularly claims filed against manufacturers for misleading the public about the risks of tobacco, lead paint, and opioids. A key finding is that courts may infer public reliance on false and misleading statements using multiple lines of evidence, including information about the scope and magnitude of the deceptive communications, defendants’ internal assessments of the efficacy of their disinformation campaigns, acknowledgements of intended reliance made by defendants, expert testimony on the effects of disinformation, public polling data, and more. The Article concludes with a discussion of these potential strategies and evidentiary sources.

Obtaining articles without journal subscriptions

We know it's frustrating that many articles we cite here are not free to read. One-off paid access fees are generally astronomically priced, suitable for such as "On a Heuristic Point of View Concerning the Production and Transformation of Light but not as a gamble on unknowns. With a median world income of US$ 9,373, for most of us US$ 42 is significant money to wager on an article's relevance and importance. 

  • Unpaywall offers a browser extension for Chrome and Firefox that automatically indicates when an article is freely accessible and provides immediate access without further trouble. Unpaywall is also unscammy, works well, is itself offered free to use. The organizers (a legitimate nonprofit) report about a 50% success rate
  • The weekly New Research catch is checked against the Unpaywall database with accessible items being flagged. Especially for just-published articles this mechansim may fail. If you're interested in an article title and it is not listed here as "open access," be sure to check the link anyway. 

How is New Research assembled?

Most articles appearing here are found via  RSS feeds from journal publishers, filtered by search terms to produce raw output for assessment of relevance. 

Relevant articles are then queried against the Unpaywall database, to identify open access articles and expose useful metadata for articles appearing in the database. 

The objective of New Research isn't to cast a tinge on scientific results, to color readers' impressions. Hence candidate articles are assessed via two metrics only:

  • Was an article deemed of sufficient merit by a team of journal editors and peer reviewers? The fact of journal RSS output assigns a "yes" to this automatically. 
  • Is an article relevant to the topic of anthropogenic climate change? Due to filter overlap with other publication topics of inquiry, of a typical week's 550 or so input articles about 1/4 of RSS output makes the cut.

The section "Informed opinion, nudges & major initiatives" includes some items that are not scientific research per se but fall instead into the category of "perspectives," observations of implications of research findings, areas needing attention, etc.

Suggestions

Please let us know if you're aware of an article you think may be of interest for Skeptical Science research news, or if we've missed something that may be important. Send your input to Skeptical Science via our contact form.

Journals covered

A list of journals we cover may be found here. We welcome pointers to omissions, new journals etc.

Previous edition

The previous edition of Skeptical Science New Research may be found here.

0 0

Printable Version  |  Link to this page

Comments

Comments 1 to 2:

  1. Don't be sad about Eric Rignot et al. "Changes in Antarctic ice sheet motion derived from satellite radar interferometry between 1995 and 2022" in GRL.  

    It is already Open Access.  In fact I recall seeing a email notice from AGU that GRL will be OA in future.  (I seem to recall it was to start OA 1 Jan 2023, but when I followed the doi to the article webpage it was already OA.  I'm  member of AGU, but not a former subscriber of GEL.)

    --An interestng, but not comforting, read!

     

    0 0
  2. Oops, a fat finger effect; Should be ".. not a former subscriber of GRl."

    0 0

You need to be logged in to post a comment. Login via the left margin or if you're new, register here.



The Consensus Project Website

THE ESCALATOR

(free to republish)


© Copyright 2024 John Cook
Home | Translations | About Us | Privacy | Contact Us