2018 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #49

Editor's Pick

Can 2018’s extreme weather persuade skeptics that the climate is changing?&

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A firefighter is silhouetted by a burning home along Pacific Coast Highway (Highway 1) during the Woolsey Fire in Malibu, Calif., on Nov. 9. (Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images)

Monstrous weather events have crowded 2018. While many coastal residents in the East were still recovering from Hurricanes Florence and Michael raging fires in California killed a record number of people and destroyed thousands of structures.Climate change has worsened the dry and hot climate in the West, directly contributing to more frequent and severe wildfires. The Fourth National Climate Assessment, which the U.S. government recently released, ;states that extreme weather events will intensify and become more frequent.

How& do these disasters affect people’s perceptions of climate change?

To those already convinced by climate change science, extreme weather events are evidence that it’s already changing our world. Climate skeptics, however, do not always see the link, as when& President Trump insisted that the California wildfires resulted from poor forest management, not climate change.

Can 2018’s extreme weather persuade skeptics that the climate is changing?, Analysis by Wanyun Shao, Monkey Cage, Washington Post, Dec 7, 2018

Links posted on Facebook

Sun Dec 2, 2018

• Clean energy technologies threaten to overwhelm the grid. Here’s how it can adapt.& by David Robert, Energy & Environment, Vox, Dec 1, 2018
• New research, November 19 - 25, 2018& by Ari Jokimäki, Skeptical Science, Nov 29, 2018
• Cyclone threat amid Queensland fires: ‘We’ve never seen this in our state’& by Megan Palin, News.com.au, Dec 2, 2018
• COP24: UN climate change conference, what’s at stake and what you need to know, UN News, Nov 29, 2018
• 467 ways to die on a warming globe, Opinion by Clive Hamilton, Comment is Free, Guardian, Nov 26, 2018
• G20 told crucial COP24 climate change conference 'must succeed': Guterres, UN News, Nov 30, 2018
• Portrait of a planet on the verge of climate catastrophe& by Robin McKie, Observer/Guardian, Dec 2, 2018
• We are last generation that can stop climate change' &- UN summit& by Damian Carrington, Environment, Guardian, Dec 2, 2018

Mon Dec 3, 2018

• Pay now for climate action to keep costs down later, governments told& by Megan Rowling, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Nov 30, 2018
• Climate talks begin in Polish coal city Katowice& by Barbara Lewis & Anna Koper, Reuters, Dec 2, 2018
• A Rant About Weather And Climate Inspired By The Past Week& by Marshall Shepherd, Science, Forbes, Dec 2, 2018
• For Hanukkah, rabbi recommends 'Eight Days of Action' to protect the climate& by Diana Madson, Yale Climate Connections, Dec 3, 2018
• Greta Thunberg speaks in Katowice: ”Our leaders behave like children”, Kultur, Dagens Nyheter, Dec 3, 2018
• Climate change: Where we are in seven charts and what you can do to help& by& Nassos Stylianou, Clara Guibourg, Daniel Dunford & Lucy Rodgers, Science & Environment, BBC News, Dec 2, 2018
• David Attenborough: collapse of civilisation is on the horizon& by Damian Carrington, Environment, Guardian, Dec 3, 2018
• Four things the UN chief wants world leaders to know, at key COP24 climate conference opening, UN News, Dec 3, 2018

Tue Dec 4, 2018

• Poland’s Coal Habit Draws New Fire as UN Climate Talks Begin& by Isabella Kaminski, Climate Liability News, Dec 2, 2018
• Five myths about climate change, Opinion by Katharine Hayhoe, Outlook, Washington Post, Nov 30, 2018
• The psychology of climate change: Why people deny the evidence& by Nicole Mortillaro, Science & Technology, CBC News, Dec 2, 2018
• Climate Denial Was the Crucible for Trumpism, Opinion by Paul Krugman, New York Times, Dec 3, 2018
• The 'Trump effect' is slowing international progress on climate change, think tank warns& by Chloe Taylor, CNBC, Dec 3, 2018
• Explainer: Why some US Democrats want a ‘Green New Deal’ to tackle climate change& by Zeke Hausfather, Carbon Brief, Dec 3, 2018
• Progressive lawmakers call for climate change revolution& by Emily Holden, Environment, Guardian, Dec 4, 2018
• ‘A kind of dark realism’: Why the climate change problem is starting to look too big to solve by Steven Mufson, Health & Science, Washington Post, Dec 4, 2018

Wed Dec 5, 2018

• Climate leadership collapse leaves UN chief with a daunting task& by Sara Stefanini, Climate Home, Dec 2, 2018
• Natural ocean fluctuations could help explain Antarctic sea ice changes& by Daisy Dunne, The Carbon Brief, Dec 3, 2018
• The “Trump effect” threatens the future of the Paris climate agreement& by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Dec 4, 2018
• The Role Harassment Plays in Climate Change Denial& by Rebecca Leber, Environment, Mother Jones, Dec 2, 2018
• Monumental Disaster at the Department of the Interior, Opinion by Joel Clement, Observations, Scientific American, Dec 4, 2018
• France protests: PM Philippe suspends fuel tax rises, BBC News, Dec 4, 2018
• Rightwing taskforce secretly approves anti-environment resolutions& by Emily Holden, Guardian, Dec 4, 2018
• The Paris Agreement rulebook explained& by Natalie Sauer, Climate Home News, Dec 5, 2018

Thu Dec 6, 2018

• Catholic groups lobby for climate action at COP24& by Ellen Teague, The Tablet, Dec 4, 2018
• Carbon emissions from rich nations set to rise in 2018 - IEA& by Nina Chestney, Reuters, Dec 4, 2018
• Paris Agreement fight could push US out permanently, warn top Obama officials& by Karl Mathiesen, Climate Home News, Dec 3, 2018
• Health benefits far outweigh the costs of meeting climate change goals, World Health Organization News Release (WHO), Dec 5, 2018
• Greenland's ice sheet melting rate is accelerating, scientists confirm& by Nick Kelvert, Science, ABC News (Australia), Dec 5, 2018&
• Global warming will happen faster than we think, Commentary by Yangyang Xu, Veerabhadran Ramanathan & David G. Victor, Nature, Dec 5, 2018
• Beef-eating 'must fall drastically' as world population grows& by Damian Carrington, Environment, Guardian, Dec 5, 2018
• 'Brutal news': global carbon emissions jump to all-time high in 2018& by Damian Carrington, Environment, Guardian, Dec 5, 2018

Fri Dec 7, 2018

• Heavy Rains and Hurricanes Clear a Path for Supercharged Mold& by Erik Vance, Environment, Scientific American, Dec 4, 2018
• The most important country for the global climate no one is talking about& by Nithin Coca, Energy & Environment, Vox, Dec 6, 2018
• UN climate finance rules ‘dragging’ amid fight over who reports what& by& Sara Stefanini, Climate Home, Dec 6, 2018
• Politicians who deny reality aren’t fit to lead, Commentary by David Suzuki, Georgia Straight (Vancouver, BC), Dec 4, 2018
• The EPA is lifting greenhouse gas limits on coal power plants& by Umar Irfan, Energy & Environment, Vox, Dec 6, 2018
• U.S.-China Friction Threatens to Undercut the Fight Against Climate Change& by Somini Sengupta, Climate, New York Times, Dec 7, 2018
• The World Still Isn’t Meeting Its Climate Goals& by Brad Plumer & Nadja Popovich, Climate, New York Times, Dec 7, 2018
• How to make a carbon tax popular? Give the proceeds to the people& by Leyland Cecco, World, Guardian, Dec 4, 2018

Sat Dec 8, 2018

• Global alignment of climate plans pushed to 2041 in UN draft& by Karl Mathiesen, Climate Home, Dec 7, 2018
• Cocoa companies fail on pledge to stop Africa deforestation - report& by Nellie Peyton, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Dec 7, 2018
• Analysis: Fossil-fuel emissions in 2018 increasing at fastest rate for seven years& by Zeke Hausfather, Carbon Brief, Dec 5, 2018
• The Democratic Party Wants to Make Climate Policy Exciting& by Robinson Meyer, Science, The Atlantic, Dec 5, 2018
• Trump's disbelief won't stop dangerous climate change& by Dana Nuccitelli, Environment, Guardian, Dec 5, 2018
• Can 2018’s extreme weather persuade skeptics that the climate is changing?, Analysis by Wanyun Shao, Monkey Cage, Washington Post, Dec 7, 2018
• Climate change: COP24 fails to adopt key scientific report& by Matt McGrath, Science & Environment, BBC News, Dec 8, 2018
• The Truth About These Climate Change Numbers& by Jeff Goodell, Politics, Rolling Stone, Dec 6, 2018