2019 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #40
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, Sep 29 through Sat, Oct 5, 2019
Editor's Pick
Greta Thunberg is right: It’s time to haul ass on climate change
Economically and politically, early ambition is better.
New York, NY - August 28, 2019: 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg arrives into New York City after crossing the Atlantic in a sailboat and attend press conference at North Cove Marina - Shutterstock
When Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg addressed the elites assembled at the World Economic Forum in Davos, she concluded with a simple message: “I want you to act as if our house is on fire.”
For those elites, it was unfamiliar language. They are accustomed to talking about climate change, but typically such talk amounts to ritual invocations of “urgency” coupled with promises about what might be achieved in 2030 or 2050.
When your house is on fire, though, you don’t promise results in a decade or a year or a week. You grab a bucket and find some water. Immediately.
When it comes to climate policy, Thunberg has it right. We are in a unique historical moment; we understand the danger of climate change and, for now, still have the resources and political space necessary to address it. But every second of delay makes the challenge more expensive, more difficult, and more dangerous.
It’s not just climate activists saying that. The policy community is moving in that direction as well, with similar arguments coming into clearer view from economists and political scientists. The common theme is risk, and what it means to take the mounting risks of the climate crisis seriously.
Greta Thunberg is right: It’s time to haul ass on climate change by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Oct 4, 2019
Articles Linked to on Facebook
Sun Sep 29, 2019
- The Energy 202: Oil lawyer says ‘inexperienced’ Trump team could jeopardize its own agenda by Dino Grandoni, Power Post, Washington Post, Sep 27, 2019
- How 'organized climate change denial' shapes public opinion on global warming by Kelly Crowe, Science & Technology, CBC News, Sep 27, 2019
- 200+ Groups Denounce UN-WEF Agreement That Entrenches Corporate Interests Driving Global 'Social and Environmental Crises' by Andrea Germanos, Common Dreams, Sep 27, 2019
- 'It's heartbreaking': a coastal community watches its beach wash away by Graham Readfearn, Environment, Guardian, Sep 28, 2019
- How the Climate Kids Are Short-Circuiting Right-Wing Media, Opinion by Charlie Warzel, New York Times, Sep 26, 2019
- SC shows ‘hot spot’ stresses of warming earth. Mosquitoes are telling us something. by Bo Peterson, Charleston Post & Courier, Sep 28, 2019
Mon Sep 30, 2019
- Why the right’s usual smears don’t work on Greta Thunberg by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Sep 26, 2019
- Dark skies: UN meeting reveals a world in a really bad mood by Ted Anthony, AP News, Sep 29, 2019
- Air travel is a huge contributor to climate change. A new global movement wants you to be ashamed to fly. by Umair Irfan, Energy & Environment, Vox, Sep 27, 2019
- Climate change is raising quite the stink in Florida by Jen Christensen, CNN, Sep 27, 2019
- Climate movement now 'too loud to handle' for Trump and critics, Greta Thunberg says by Allison Lampert & Esther Verkaik, Reuters, Sep 27, 2019
- The Blizzard In The Rockies Doesn’t Disprove Climate Change But People Will Say It Anyhow by Marshall Shepherd, Science, Forbes, Sep 29, 2019
- Leave 'em laughing instead of crying: Climate humor can break down barriers and find common ground by Maxwell Boykoff, Environment & Energy, The Conversation US, Sep 30, 2019
Tues Oct 1, 2019
- Giant iceberg breaks off east Antarctica by Lisa Cox, World, Guardian, Sep 30, 2019
- Why Vladimir Putin Suddenly Believes in Global Warming, Opinion by Julian Lee, Bloomberg News, Sep 29, 2019
- Kids around the world are striking again for the climate. They aren’t giving up. by Umair Irfan, Vox, Sep 27, 2019
- The atmosphere and Arctic sea ice: Who’s the dog, and who’s the tail? by Tom Di Liberto, NOAA's Climate.gov, Sep 26, 2019
- How to talk to your kids about climate change by Nsikan Akpan, Science, PBS News Hour, Sep 30, 2019
- Climate Change Threatens the World’s Fisheries, Food Billions of People Rely On by Georgina Gustin, InsideClimate News, Sep 29, 2019
- Thousands of ships fitted with ‘cheat devices’ to divert poisonous pollution into sea by Will Crisp, Environment, The Independent (UK), Sep 30, 2019
Wed Oct 2, 2019
- Australia’s vast carbon sink releasing millions of tonnes of CO2 back into atmosphere by Graham Readfearn, Environment, Guardian, Oct 1, 2019
- Scientists estimate Earth's total carbon store by Jonathan Amos, Science & Environment, BBC News, Oct 1, 2019
- Evangelicals see the light on climate change by James Osborne, Business, Houston Chronicle, Oct 1, 2019
- Climate change is really about prosperity, peace, public health and posterity – not saving the environment by Ezra Markowitz & Adam Corner, Science & Technology, The Conversation US, Sep 27, 2019
- More frequent and intense tropical storms mean less recovery time for the world’s coastlines by Hans Paerl, Environment & Energy, The Conversation US, Oct 1, 2019
- 4 Leaders—And Far Too Many Laggards—At the UN Climate Action Summit by Helen Mountford, David Waskow, Molly Bergen, Joe Thwaites & Rhys Gerholdt, World Resources Institute (WRI), Sep 25, 2019
- Climate change means wild weather. Does that include snowstorms? by Miyo McGinn, Grist, Oct 2, 2019
- Florida is in for more dead corals, sea rise and floods, says new UN climate report by Alex Harris, Environment, Miami Herald, Sep 27, 2019
Thu Oct 3, 2019
- Online haters are targeting Greta Thunberg with conspiracy theories and fake photos by Elizabeth Weise, Nation, USA Today, Oct 2, 2019
- Hurricane Lorenzo: Ireland braces itself for powerful storm by Rory Carroll, World, Guardian, Oct 2, 2019
- Pulling CO2 out of the air and using it could be a trillion-dollar business by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Sep 4, 2019
- Antarctica now has more than 65,000 ‘meltwater lakes’ as summer ice melts by Jennifer Arthur, Environment & Energy, The Conversation UK, Oct 2, 2019
- Shocked scientists find 400km of dead and damaged mangroves in Gulf of Carpentaria by Graham Readfearn, Environment, Guardian, Oct 3, 2019
- Why Women’s Climate Leadership Is Vital, Opinion by Sarah Myhre, Planet, YES! Magazine, Sep 27, 2019
- Why carbon taxes may need to be far higher than we’d planned by James Temple, MIT Review, Oct 2, 2019
- Um, where did fall go? 162 heat records could be broken across the US this week by AJ Willingham, CNN, Oct 2, 2019
Fri Oct 4, 2019
- Misogyny, male rage and the words men use to describe Greta Thunberg by Camilla Nelson & Meg Vertigan, The Conversation UK, Sep 30. 2019
- 5780: The Year Of Environmental Teshuva by Nigel Savage, Israel News, Jerusalem Post, Oct 2, 2019
- Could squeezing more oil out of the ground help fight climate change? by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Oct 2, 2019
- A Major Fossil Fuel State Is Joining RGGI, the Northeast's Carbon Market by Marianne Lavelle, InsideClimate News, Oct 3, 2019
- Trump administration's war on science has hit 'crisis point', experts warn by Oliver Milman, Science, Guardian, Oct 3, 2019
- Letter signed by “500 scientists” relies on inaccurate claims about climate science, Climate Feedback Review edited by Scott Johnson, Oct 4, 2019
- Bad ancestors: does the climate crisis violate the rights of those yet to be born? by Astra Taylor, Environment, Guardian, Oct 1, 2019
Sat Oct 5, 2019
- As Temperatures Rise, “Flash Drought” Takes Hold across South by Daniel Cusick, E&E News/Scientific American, Oct 4, 2019
- Greta Thunberg is traveling from Canada to Chile without leaving the ground by Umair Irfan, Energy & Environment, Vox, Oct 4, 2019
- Hurricane Dorian Was Worthy of a Category 6 Rating, Opinion by Jeff Masters, Eye of the Storm, Scientific American, Oct 3, 2019
- An October Heat Wave Bakes the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic. Is This Our Future? by Rachel Licker, Union of Concerned Scientists, Oct 2, 2019
- Greta Thunberg is right: It’s time to haul ass on climate change by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Oct 4, 2019
- World's largest banks lagging in sustainable finance: report by Valerie Volcovici, Reuters, Oct 3, 2019
- The Earth just had its hottest September on record by Doyle Rice, USA Today, Oct 4, 2019
- Flyers will pay more for carbon offsets but not tax, study finds by Elena Berton, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Oct 4, 2019
Posted by John Hartz on Saturday, 5 October, 2019
