Quote of the Week: “The problem isn’t that Johnny can’t read. The problem isn’t even that Johnny can’t think. The problem is that Johnny doesn’t know what thinking is; he confuses it with feeling.” ― Thomas Sowell [H/t Jim Buell]
Number of the Week: 0.086ºC/decade (0.155ºF/decade)
THIS WEEK:
By Ken Haapala, President, Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP)
Oversimplified-Part II: Last week, TWTW focused on part of a new paper by MIT Professor emeritus in Atmospheric Physics Richard Lindzen titled: “An oversimplified picture of the climate behavior based on a single process can lead to distorted conclusions.” It presented the generally accepted physical characteristics of the climate system, which is extraordinarily complex and ever changing. As Lindzen asserts, even if the solar forcing were constant, which it is not, the climate would vary. With the massive size of the oceans, and their ability to absorb heat, such variations can involve timescales of a thousand years or more.
This week, TWTW will focus on the balance of Lindzen’s paper, emphasizing some of the points he makes. But first it is useful to repeat what Lindzen states as the ‘consensus’ view:
“The ‘consensus’ assessment of this system is today the following:
“In this complex multifactor system, the climate (which, itself, consists in many variables – especially the temperature difference between the equator and the poles) is described by just one variable, the global averaged temperature change, and is controlled by the 1—2% perturbation in the energy budget due to a single variable (any single variable) among many variables of comparable importance. We go further and designate CO2 as the sole control. Although we are not sure of the budget for this variable, we know precisely what policies to implement in order to control it.
“How did such a naïve seeming picture come to be accepted, not just by the proponents of the issue, but also by most skeptics?” To which the paper adds: “After all, we spend much of our effort arguing about global temperature records, climate sensitivity, etc. In brief, we are guided by this line of thought.”
Lindzen goes on to give a brief overview of the history of climate science. Until the 1980s the greenhouse effect was well established but increasing carbon dioxide (CO2) was not considered important in changing climate. The main focus was the cyclical nature of glaciation.
However, things changed in 1988 when James Hansen gave his famous testimony to the Senate declaring dangerous global warming from human emissions of CO2.
Lindzen continues:
“Between 1988 and 1994, things changed radically. In the USA, funding for climate increased by about a factor of 15. This led to a great increase in the number of people interested in working as ‘climate scientists’, and the new climate scientists understood that the reason for the funding was the ‘global warming’ alarm.”
“In France, in the 60s, there was essentially one theoretical meteorologist, Queney. Today, there are hundreds involved with models if not theory, and it is largely due to ‘global warming.’ Is it unreasonable to wonder whether or not a political movement has succeeded in capturing a scientific field?
“What was the previous situation? For most of the twentieth century, climate was a small subset of the small fields of meteorology and oceanography with important contributions from a handful of geologists. Almost no major scientists working on aspects of climate referred to themselves as ‘climate scientists.’ Within meteorology, the dominant approach to climate was dynamic meteorology (though the greenhouse effect was well known).”
Lindzen then describes the status of the science prior to 1988, with a principal concern being Ice Ages, glaciation. He discusses advances in paleoclimatology by early 1980s:
“The data suggested that for both glacial periods and the warm periods, equatorial temperatures did not differ much from present values, but the temperature difference between the tropics and high latitudes varied greatly.”
Lindzen gives a table illustrating these differences. During the warm period called the Eocene, about 50 million years ago, the surface temperature difference between the tropics and the high latitudes (polar regions) was about 20ºC (about 35ºF). During the last glacial maximum surface temperature difference between the tropics and the high latitudes was about 60ºC (about 110ºF). Today, the surface temperature difference between the tropics and the high latitudes is about 40ºC (about 70ºF). Lindzen accepts the Milankovitch cycle as the explanation for the cycles in glaciation. Today, some researchers trying to amplify the role of CO2 in changing climate are claiming other explanations, which are beyond this TWTW.
Lindzen attributes the remarkable temperature stability of the tropical regions to the actions of high-level cirrus clouds, which are more prevalent in the tropics than elsewhere on earth. When they form, they have a warming effect by reducing outgoing longwave radiation. When they dissipate there is a cooling effect by more longwave radiation going to space.
The equator to pole surface temperature differences during different periods has been a puzzle for years. Lindzen presents a possible explanation by suggesting thermal inversions may explain such differences. During a thermal inversion temperature increases as altitude increase, quite the opposite of the lapse rate, which is an idealized concept. Based on research by others, Lindzen suggests that the temperature difference between the tropics to the pole be considered as depending on altitude:
“An isentrope [an idealized parcel of air at an idealized pressure, moisture and temperature] originating at the surface in the tropics will rise as one approaches the pole and will essentially determine the temperature at the tropopause over the pole. According to Jansen and Ferarri, this, in turn, determines the tropics-to-pole temperature difference at the height of the polar tropopause (ca 6 km), and that value is about 20C. When one looks at today’s climate, we see that the equator-pole temperature difference at the altitude of the polar tropopause is, in fact, approximately 20C. The existence of the arctic inversion causes the surface temperature differences between the tropics and the pole to be larger than they are at the tropopause.” [The references are not reproduced here.]
What is important for TWTW is that there are significant issues regarding the earth’s changing climate that have not been resolved and are largely ignored by advocates of the simplified approach that CO2 [with or without water vapor amplification] is the primary cause of climate change. This ignorance is highly disturbing and may result in destructive government policies. Lindzen concludes with:
“As noted in Sect. 2 [The climate system], it is implausible that a system as complex as the climate system with numerous degrees of freedom should be meaningfully summarized by a single variable (global mean temperature anomaly) and determined by a single factor (CO2 level in the atmosphere). As an example, we have shown in Sect. 4 [Earlier approach to climate versus current approach], that the different physics associated with tropical temperatures (i.e. radiative forcing including radiative feedbacks) and with the equator-to pole temperature difference (i.e. hydrodynamic transport via baroclinic instabilities) both lead to changes in global mean temperature. However, this does not imply that changes in global mean temperature cause changes in the equator-to-pole temperature difference. This brief paper focuses on a single example of where the assumption of single variable control can lead to a mistaken result. However, the issue of sensitivity even when restricted to radiation is still subject to numerous possibilities, and there is ample reason to suppose that the radiative component of the sensitivity is, itself, exaggerated in most current models. A separate discussion of this matter can be found in Lindzen, R.S. (2019)” [http://co2coalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Lindzen_On-Climate-Sensitivity.pdf]
“Interestingly, even those of us rejecting climate alarm (including me) have focused on the greenhouse picture despite the fact that this may not be the major factor in historic climate change (except, in the case of low sensitivity, to explain the stability of equatorial temperatures). That is to say, we have accepted the basic premise of the conventional picture: namely that all changes in global mean temperature are due to radiative forcing. Although capturing the narrative is a crucial element in a political battle, it should not be permitted to replace scientific reasoning.”
See links under Challenging the Orthodoxy.
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Science Fiction? As discussed in last week’s TWTW, Roy Spencer notes that the 13 new climate models (CMIP6), that are currently publicly available, and will be used by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its upcoming report, overestimate observed surface temperature trends since 1979 by over 50%. This appears to be part of an effort by the IPCC and its followers to frighten the public about CO2 even further. The IPCC’s chosen modelers no longer seem to be constrained by atmospheric observations or even by surface-air temperature observations that yield higher temperature trends; data do not seem to matter to them.
This week, Spencer compares the results of the new CMIP6 climate models run from 1970 to 2019 with NOAA summertime (June-August) observations over that period for the U.S. Midwest Corn Belt. According to the IPCC, during the past 50 years we should have seen significant surface warming. As Spencer shows there has been little warming, barely statistically significant. The old CMIP5 models project a warming trend 4 times as large, and the new, improved (?) CMIP6 models project a trend 6 times as large. Unfortunately, exaggeration has long been accepted in the environmental industry and by some scientists.
Often, science fiction writers exaggerate human abilities, such as strength, hearing, vision, to supernatural abilities. At what point will the public realize the climate modelers have exaggerated the ability of carbon dioxide to influence climate and life on this planet to supernatural proportions and that climate modelers are dealing with science fiction? See links under Challenging the Orthodoxy.
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A Contrarian: As stated in TWTW last week, although he was once an advocate of the orthodoxy, Michael Shellenberger has written a book challenging many of the accepted ideas of environmentalists by presenting informed, contrarian views: “Apocalypse Never: Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All.” The environmental industry is not amused.
Shellenberger has been a columnist, contributor, carried by Forbes online. Amusingly, Forbes published, then censored an article by Shellenberger apologizing for the climate scare. [The article appears in Environmental Progress.] As of this writing, Forbes continues to post a more recent article by Shellenberger criticizing the Democrats “Climate Crisis Action Plan” as killing endangered species (threatening whooping cranes in the Sand Hills, Nebraska, ecosystem) and anti-environmentalism. See links under Censorship, Challenging the Orthodoxy, and Questioning Green Elsewhere.
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South Pole Warming: The headlines claimed record warming of the South Pole, but the conclusions of the paper stated:
“These results, along with prior studies underscore the important role of natural circulation variability, particularly from the tropics, in driving extreme climate anomalies in interior Antarctica. While radiative forcing from greenhouse gas increases probably intensified the recent South Pole warming, the observed trend remains within the upper bounds of natural variability inferred from unforced, pre-industrial simulations and can be explained via a strong cyclonic anomaly in the Weddell Sea resulting from coupling of negative IPO and positive SAM during the twenty-first century…”
In short, we can make no firm conclusions about surface warming at the South Pole. Although it does not cover the South Pole itself, the bulk atmospheric data show no pronounced warming of the Antarctic for the past 40 years. See links under Communicating Better to the Public – Exaggerate or be Vague? and Measurement Issues: Atmosphere.
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Hydrogen – The Miracle Fuel? Much is being written about hydrogen replacing fossil fuels. On this planet, there are no natural reserves of hydrogen, so it must be obtained by breaking apart power chemical bonds such as separating hydrogen from oxygen in water or hydrogen from carbon in methane (natural gas, a fossil fuel). As Paul Homewood writes in his blog, first quoting from an essay by Roger Harrabin in BBC.
“’The process is wasteful because it involves turning electricity into a gas, then back into electricity – a two-step shuffle dismissed by Tesla car chief Elon Musk as ‘staggeringly dumb’. ‘Fool cells’, he calls them.
“But hydrogen-lovers believe the future electricity grid will produce so much cheap off-peak power that we’ll need to find other uses for it. And they hope to see the cost of fuel cells plummet following the example of offshore wind.’”
Homewood then writes:
“And, of course, that is the very real problem. Nobody has ever doubted that you can burn hydrogen or use it in fuel cells. It is the hugely inefficient and costly production methods, along with the problem of distribution and storage, which explains why it has never taken off.
“Harrabin hopes that we can take advantage of cheap off-peak power. But this shows up his lack of economic knowledge. He is plainly talking about wind and solar power here, as the electricity obviously needs to be zero carbon. But if power is given away at low prices when demand is slack or output high, it simply makes the unit cost higher the rest of the time.
“The economics of wind and solar power depend on all of the output being sold. Giving large amounts of it away would alter the business case, and electricity users would end up paying the bill. This would put paid to claims, propagated by Harrabin, that renewable power is now cheaper than conventional.
“And the economic downside does not end there. The unpredictable intermittency of wind and solar power would necessitate a huge overcapacity of electrolyser units, able to take all of the surplus power available at any particular time. These electrolysers would then not only run at well below capacity but would also have to ramp their outputs up and down on an hour by hour and day by day basis.
“I know of no production processes that can work efficiently on that basis.”
See link under Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Energy – Other.
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Quote of the Week: The author of the Quote of the Week is economist Thomas Sowell, who turned 90 this week. Sowell has written many essays and books, countering popular beliefs with evidence. He strongly believes in market economics because, though not perfect, the free market is the most efficient way to allocate scarce resources. Twenty years ago, his book: “Basic Economics: A Citizen’s Guide to the Economy” came out. It took him ten years to write and may have been the most difficult task in writing because it does not contain a single graph or equation and avoids jargon common to economics. All these interfere with an intelligent person understanding the subject, without specializing in it. One may add that all too often graphs, equations, and jargon often become a cover for the author’s failure to understand the concepts entailed.
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Vote for Aprils Fools Award: The voting for the SEPP’s April Fools Award will be continued until July 31. Due to changes in schedules, there are no conferences held before then to announce the results. So, get your votes in now.
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Number of the Week: 0.086ºC/decade (0.155ºF/decade) According to calculations by Roy Spencer this is the observed increase in summer temperatures in the US Midwest Corn Belt over the past 50 years (1970-2019). Although 2019 was a down year due to frozen ground, which caused flooding and made planting difficult, the US Corn Grain Yield grew from about 80 bushels per acre in 1970 to 170 bushels per acre in 2019, an increase of over 110%. In making predictions about US agriculture, the US Global Change Research Program demonstrated total ignorance about this subject. https://www.agry.purdue.edu/ext/corn/news/timeless/YieldTrends.html
NEWS YOU CAN USE:
Censorship
Down with eco-censorship
Forbes has censored Michael Shellenberger’s sensible critique of eco-alarmism.
By Staff, Spiked, June 30, 2020
https://www.spiked-online.com/2020/06/30/down-with-eco-censorship/
John Robson: Forbes falls to cancel culture as it erases environmentalist’s mea culpa
By John Robson, National Post, Canada. June 30, 2020
Mea culpa: Another leading environmentalist admits he got it wrong over climate change, but MSM tries to CENSOR him
By Rob Lyons, RT, June 29, 2020
https://www.rt.com/op-ed/493285-leading-environmentalist-climate-change-cenzored/
[SEPP Comment: Appearing in formerly Russia Today!]
Suppressing Scientific Inquiry
The agnotology of jailing deniers
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 1, 2020
Link to articles: Guest post: How climate change misinformation spreads online
The rapid rise of social media over the past two decades has brought with it a surge in misinformation.
By Treen, Williams, & O’Neil, Carbon Brief, June 26, 2020
But what is climate change misinformation? Who is involved? How does it spread and why does it matter?
Link to paper: Online misinformation about climate change
By Treen, Williams, & O’Neil, WIREs, Climate Change, June 18, 2020
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/wcc.665
[SEPP Comment: The US is seeing a display of misinformation in mob rule trying to tear down monuments of Abraham Lincoln.]
Challenging the Orthodoxy — NIPCC
Climate Change Reconsidered II: Physical Science
Idso, Carter, and Singer, Lead Authors/Editors, Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), 2013
https://www.heartland.org/media-library/pdfs/CCR-II/CCR-II-Full.pdf
Summary: https://www.heartland.org/_template-assets/documents/CCR/CCR-II/Summary-for-Policymakers.pdf
Climate Change Reconsidered II: Biological Impacts
Idso, Idso, Carter, and Singer, Lead Authors/Editors, Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), 2014
Summary: https://www.heartland.org/media-library/pdfs/CCR-IIb/Summary-for-Policymakers.pdf
Climate Change Reconsidered II: Fossil Fuels
By Multiple Authors, Bezdek, Idso, Legates, and Singer eds., Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change, April 2019
Download with no charge:
Why Scientists Disagree About Global Warming
The NIPCC Report on the Scientific Consensus
By Craig D. Idso, Robert M. Carter, and S. Fred Singer, Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), Nov 23, 2015
Download with no charge:
https://www.heartland.org/policy-documents/why-scientists-disagree-about-global-warming
Nature, Not Human Activity, Rules the Climate
S. Fred Singer, Editor, NIPCC, 2008
http://www.sepp.org/publications/nipcc_final.pdf
Global Sea-Level Rise: An Evaluation of the Data
By Craig D. Idso, David Legates, and S. Fred Singer, Heartland Policy Brief, May 20, 2019
https://www.heartland.org/_template-assets/documents/publications/SeaLevelRiseCCRII.pdf
Challenging the Orthodoxy
An oversimplified picture of the climate behavior based on a single process can lead to distorted conclusions
By Richard S. Lindzen, The European Physical Journal Plus, June 3, 2020
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1140/epjp/s13360-020-00471-z
On Climate Sensitivity
By Richard Lindzen, CO2 Coalition, 2019
http://co2coalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Lindzen_On-Climate-Sensitivity.pdf
Hot Summer Epic Fail: New Climate Models Exaggerate Midwest Warming by 6X
By Roy Spencer, His Blog, July 3, 2020
A Winning Trifecta for Climate Science and Rationality
By Charles Battig, American Thinker, June 27, 2020
On Behalf Of Environmentalists, I Apologize For The Climate Scare
By Michael Shellenberger, Environmental Progress, June 29, 2020 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
“But mostly I was scared. I remained quiet about the climate disinformation campaign because I was afraid of losing friends and funding. The few times I summoned the courage to defend climate science from those who misrepresent it I suffered harsh consequences. And so I mostly stood by and did next to nothing as my fellow environmentalists terrified the public.”
This just out
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 1, 2020
“Bottom line: The debate on climate is conducted in a climate of fear coming from the bullying guardians of orthodoxy.”
A MUST WATCH: Environmentalist Michael Shellenberger on rejecting climate alarmism
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, July 3, 3030
Book Review: “Apocalypse Never” by Michael Shellenberger
By Peter Murphy, CFACT, June 29, 2020 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
https://www.cfact.org/2020/06/29/book-review-apocalypse-never-by-michael-shellenberger/
Bjorn Lomborg’s ‘False Alarm’ Brings Reason to Climate Change Debate
By Richard Trzupek, The Epoch Times, June 30, 2020
Defending the Orthodoxy
House Democrats just put out the most detailed climate plan in US political history
A new select committee report is perfectly in tune with the growing climate policy alignment on the left around standards, investments, and justice.
By David Roberts, Vox, June 30, 2020 [H/t WUWT]
60% of fish species could be unable to survive in current areas by 2100 – study
Warming water temperatures lower water oxygen levels, putting embryos and pregnant fish at risk, researchers say
By Valerie Yurk, The Guardian, July 2, 2020 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/02/fish-species-survival-climate-warming-study
Link to paper: Thermal bottlenecks in the life cycle define climate vulnerability of fish
By Flemming T. Dahlke, et al. AAAS Science, July 3, 2020
https://science.sciencemag.org/content/369/6499/65
[SEPP Comment: Ignore that there is no strongly established physical relationship between CO2 and ocean temperatures. Just speculate.]
Global warming has erased 6,500 years of cooling
By Brooks Hays, Washington DC (UPI) Jun 30, 2020
https://www.terradaily.com/reports/Global_warming_has_erased_6500_years_of_cooling_999.html
Link to paper: Holocene global mean surface temperature, a multi-method reconstruction approach
By Darrell Kaufman, et al. Nature Scientific Data, June 30, 2020
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-020-0530-7
Global warming will cause ecosystems to produce more methane than first predicted
Press Release, by Queen Mary, University of London, June 29, 2020 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
https://phys.org/news/2020-06-global-ecosystems-methane.html
Disproportionate increase in freshwater methane emissions induced by experimental warming
By Yizhu Zhu, et al. Nature Climate Change, June 29, 2020
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-020-0824-y
From the abstract: Our findings indicate that as Earth warms, natural ecosystems will emit disproportionately more methane in a positive feedback warming loop.
[SEPP Comment: The “positive feedback warming loop” didn’t stop the last glacial period, or the previous one, or the one before that, or ….]
Questioning the Orthodoxy
Extra £14bn needed a year for climate, report says
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, June 29, 2020
“As Rose noted, foundations who support the ECF, such as Esme Fairbairn and Tellus, also directly fund the Green Alliance, who also receive money from the likes of Greenpeace, FOE, Client Earth and WWF, who all also receive money from ECF. A money-go-round in other words!
“Other supporters of the Green Alliance include Orsted (formerly DONG), who make a fortune in subsidies for wind power, and the murky Network for Social Change.
“There is no doubt that this shadowy network is undermining UK democracy, in pursuit of its own objectives. It is shameful that the BBC should be facilitating this.”
Eco-Colonialism In Africa
GWPF TV, June 30, 2020
Dominic Lawson: David Attenborough’s Population Scare Is Unwarranted
By Dominic Lawson, The Sunday Times, Via GWPF, June 28, 2020
Cold water on warming hype
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 1, 2020
Link to article: New Climate Assessment Suggests No Dangerous Warming
By Vijay Jayaraj, WUWT, June 25, 2020
Link to report: “Assessment of Climate Change over the Indian Region,”
By Staff, The Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), Government of India, 2020
https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9789811543265
After Paris!
Japan Is Building Coal Fired Power Plants Despite Its Paris Accord Commitment
By Staff, Institute for Energy Research, Feb 18, 2020
Seeking a Common Ground
Chancellor Merkel Calls For Talks Between Representatives Of Different Opinions In Climate Debate!
By Die kalte Sonne, (Text translated by P. Gosselin) No Tricks Zone, June 28, 2020
Science, Policy, and Evidence
Geoff Hill: Heart Of Darkness
Be afraid of the dark
By Geoff Hill, GWPF, June 30, 2020
[SEPP Comment: Answering why bring electricity to Africa?]
The progress of the COVID-19 epidemic in Sweden: an analysis
By Nic Lewis, Climate Etc. June 28, 2020
Review of Recent Scientific Articles by CO2 Science
Fish Diversity is Unaffected by Ocean Acidification at a Natural CO2 Vent Site
Mirasole, A., Signa, G., Gianguzza, P., Bonaviri, C., Mazzola, A. and Vizzini, S. 2020. Fish assemblages cope with ocean acidification in a shallow volcanic CO2 vent benefiting from an adjacent recovery area. Marine Environmental Research 157: 104851, doi.org/10.1016/j.marenvres.2019.104851. July 3, 2020
http://www.co2science.org/articles/V23/jul/a2.php
A CO2-induced Herbivory Decline of the Corn Leaf Aphid on Barley
Chen, Y., Serteyn, L., Wang, Z., He, K. and Francis, F. 2019. Reduction of plant suitability for corn leaf aphid (Hemiptera: Aphididae) under elevated carbon dioxide condition. Plant-Insect Interactions 48: 935-944. July 1, 2020
http://www.co2science.org/articles/V23/jul/a1.php
“When all was said and done, Chen et al. report ‘R. maidis feeding on elevated CO2 barley seedlings showed significantly decreased body weight, fecundity, and intrinsic rate of population increase, which may result in decreased population abundance under elevated atmospheric CO2.’ And to this they add in the final sentence of their paper ‘further studies will be required to determine the defense mechanisms including epidermal integrity, defense proteins, and secondary metabolites of plants which might also hinder the penetration of [aphid] stylets.’”
Effects of Elevated CO2 and Heat Stress on Tomato Seedlings
Zhang, H., Pan, C., Gu, S., Ma, Q., Zhang, Y., Li, X. and Shi, K. 2019. Stomatal movements are involved in elevated CO2-mitigated high temperature stress in tomato. Physiologia Plantarum 165: 569-583. June 29, 2020
http://www.co2science.org/articles/V23/jun/a13.php
“Such welcomed findings bode well for plants experiencing heat stress as the air’s CO2 content rises in the years and decades ahead — and not just tomato plants — for Zhang et al. report their findings are ‘consistent with previous studies that describe how CO2 enrichment improves plant tolerance to various unfavorable conditions (Taub et al., 2000; Qaderi et al., 2006; Xu et al., 2013; Yu et al., 2014).’”
Model Issues
The Calamity of Models – Podcast with Willis Eschenbach
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, June 30, 2020
The Climate Model Muddle
Guest post by Ed Zuiderwijk, WUWT, July 1, 2020
Measurement Issues — Surface
Siberian Heatwave–Climate Or Weather?
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, June 27, 2020
https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2020/06/27/siberian-heatwave-climate-or-weather/
Arctic’s ‘Hottest Day’? Not So Fast
Guest post by Michael Kile, WUWT, July 2, 2020
Measurement Issues — Atmosphere
UAH Global Temperature Update for June 2020: +0.43 deg. C
By Roy Spencer, His Blog, July 2, 2020
Links to Maps and Graphs
By Staff, Earth System Science Center, UAH, June 2020
https://www.nsstc.uah.edu/climate/2020/june2020/202006_map.png
https://www.nsstc.uah.edu/climate/2020/june2020/202006_bar.png
Changing Weather
New Study: ‘The Most Suitable Place In The World For Temperature Reconstruction’ Shows Net Cooling Since The 1930s
By Kenneth Richard, No Tricks Zone, July 2, 2020
Link to one of the papers: Dendroclimatic potential of dendroanatomy in temperature-sensitive Pinus sylvestris [Scots pine]
By Jesper Björklund, et al., Dendrochronologia, April 2020
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1125786520300114
“A new 1876-present temperature reconstruction for Northern Finland shows the 1930s were the warmest period of the last 140 years. And there has been no net warming since.”
Anthropogenic influence on extreme rainfall
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 1, 2020
https://climatediscussionnexus.com/2020/07/01/anthropogenic-influence-on-extreme-rainfall/
Link to paper: Increasing heavy rainfall events in south India due to changing land use and land cover
By Alugula Boyaj, Hari P. Dasari, Ibrahim Hoteit, & Karumuri Ashok, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, May 18, 2020
https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/qj.3826
From Robson: “The important point is that when a heavy rainfall event happens and alarmists rush to blame greenhouse gases, they are jumping to a premature conclusion. Urbanization and land surface modification have the same meteorological effect, and can’t be ruled out as the cause.”
Facts are fun
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 1, 2020
https://climatediscussionnexus.com/2020/07/01/facts-are-fun/
Link to: State Climate Extremes Committee (SCEC), Records
By Staff, NOAA, Accessed July 2, 2020
https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/extremes/scec/records
1919 or 2019? London Ontario Edition
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 1, 2020
https://climatediscussionnexus.com/2020/07/01/1919-or-2019-london-ontario-edition/
Changing Climate
Asteroid impact, not volcanoes, made the Earth uninhabitable for dinosaurs
By Staff Writers, London, UK (SPX), Jun 30, 2020
By Asteroid impact, not volcanism, caused the end-Cretaceous dinosaur extinction
By Alfio Alessandro Chiarenza, et al. PNAS, June 29, 2020
https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/06/23/2006087117
From abstract: Asteroid impact models generate a prolonged cold winter that suppresses potential global dinosaur habitats. Conversely, long-term forcing from Deccan volcanism (carbon dioxide [CO2]-induced warming) leads to increased habitat suitability. Short-term (aerosol cooling) volcanism still allows equatorial habitability.
When the land [Greenland] really was green
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 1, 2020
https://climatediscussionnexus.com/2020/07/01/when-the-land-really-was-green/
Link to paper: Greenland was nearly ice-free for extended periods during the Pleistocene
By Joerg M. Schaefer, et al. December 7, 2016
https://www.nature.com/articles/nature20146
Changing Climate – Cultures & Civilizations
Claim: Alaska Okmok Eruption Volcanic Winter Caused Social Turmoil in Ancient Rome
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, July 3, 2020
Link to News Release, Eruption of Alaska’s Okmok volcano linked to period of extreme cold in ancient Rome
Ice core samples provide new evidence of a massive volcanic eruption in 43 BCE
By Staff, Desert Research Institute, June 22, 2020
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-06/dri-eoa061720.php
Link to paper: Extreme climate after massive eruption of Alaska’s Okmok volcano in 43 BCE and effects on the late Roman Republic and Ptolemaic Kingdom
By Joseph McConnell, et al. PNAS, June 22, 2020
https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/06/25/2002722117
Ancient Maya reservoirs contained toxic pollution
By Staff Writers, Cincinnati OH (SPX), Jun 26, 2020
https://www.terradaily.com/reports/Ancient_Maya_reservoirs_contained_toxic_pollution_999.html
Link to paper: Molecular genetic and geochemical assays reveal severe contamination of drinking water reservoirs at the ancient Maya city of Tikal
By David L. Lentz, Nature, Scientific Reports, June 25, 2020
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-67044-z
“Sediment from the reservoirs nearest Tikal’s central temple and palace showed evidence of toxic algae called cyanobacteria. Consuming this water, particularly during droughts, would have made people sick even if the water were boiled, Lentz said.”
Changing Seas
Scientists shed light on human causes of North Atlantic’s ‘cold blob’
By Robert McSweeney, Carbon Brief, June 29, 2020
Changing Cryosphere – Land / Sea Ice
Polar bear habitat in Canada and eastern Alaska compared at end of June 2012-2020
By Susan Crockford, Polar Bear Science, June 29, 2020
“Ice cover at the end of June shown in these charts since 2012 reinforces the fact, documented in the peer-reviewed literature, that there has been no continued declining trend in dates of sea ice breakup for Western and Southern Hudson Bay since 1998 at least (Castro de la Guardia et al. 2017; Lunn et al. 2016).”
Beavers gnawing away at the Arctic permafrost
News Release, by Alfred Wegener Institute, June 30, 2020 [H/t WUWT]
https://phys.org/news/2020-06-beavers-gnawing-arctic-permafrost.html
Link to paper: Increase in beaver dams controls surface water and thermokarst dynamics in an Arctic tundra region, Baldwin Peninsula, northwestern Alaska
By Benjamin Jones, Environmental Research Letters, June 30, 2020
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab80f1
Climate Scientist: “Anyone who wants to predict the future of the permafrost should be sure to keep the beaver in mind.”
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, July 1, 2020
See link immediately above
Antarctic penguins could experience a ‘population boom’ due to global warming as melting sea ice means they spend less time foraging for food
By Jonathan Chadwick, Daily Mail, June 24, 2020 [H/t GWPF]
Acidic Waters
When Exposed To Natural, Long-Term Extreme ‘Ocean Acidification’, Coral And Urchin ‘Persist’ And Even ‘Thrive’
By Kenneth Richard, No Tricks Zone, June 29, 2020
Link to newest paper: Coral persistence despite extreme periodic pH fluctuations at a volcanically acidified Caribbean reef
By I. C. Enochs, Coral Reefs, Apr 11, 2020
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00338-020-01927-5
“…Twice daily extremes in acidification [with pH levels as low as 6.540], in some cases leading to undersaturation of aragonite, are correlated with tidal fluctuations and are likely related to water flow. Corals persisting despite this periodic acidification can provide insights into mechanisms of resilience and the importance of natural pH variability on coral reefs.”
Un-Science or Non-Science?
Heatwaves have become longer in most of the world since 1950s – study
Frequency of heatwaves and cumulative intensity has risen through the decades, research finds
By Adam Morton, The Guardian, July 3, 2020 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/03/heatwaves-longer-since-1950s-study-frequency
Link to paper: Increasing trends in regional heatwaves
By S. E. Perkins-Kirkpatrick & S. C. Lewis, Nature Communications, July 3, 2020
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-16970-7
[SEPP Comment: Based on Berkley Earth numbers. Cumulative heat produces misleading numbers and does not get to cause, which is the issue. ARC Centre of Excellent in Climate Extremes?]
Lowering Standards
Math am hard and so are economics
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 1, 2020
https://climatediscussionnexus.com/2020/07/01/math-am-hard-and-so-are-economics/
Link to – analysis? NGFS Climate Scenarios for central banks and supervisors
By Staff, The Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS), June 2020
https://www.ngfs.net/sites/default/files/medias/documents/ngfs_climate_scenarios_final.pdf
Climate alarmism versus integrity at National Academies of Science
By David Wojick, CFACT, June 28, 2020 [H/t WUWT]
https://www.cfact.org/2020/06/28/climate-alarmism-versus-integrity-at-national-academies-of-science/
Met Office’s “Record Rainfall” Claim Turns Out To Be Fake
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, June 29, 2020
“Incidents like this prove that the Met Office has now lost all right to be regarded as an objective, scientific organisation.”
MET Office: Climate Change will Force the UK to Endure French Holiday Weather
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, July 1, 2020
Communicating Better to the Public – Use Yellow (Green) Journalism?
The environmentalist’s apology: how Michael Shellenberger unsettled some of his prominent supporters
The American environment and energy commentator’s piece in the Australian has found praise in conservative media
By Graham Readfearn, The Guardian, July 3, 2020 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
“Ninety minutes after the deadline to respond to the questions had passed, Shellenberger emailed a letter to Guardian Australia entitled ‘Formal request for ethics investigation of Graham Redfearn [sic]’ and then shared the letter on social media.”
[SEPP Comment: Who established the deadline and how long was it – a New York minute?]
Communicating Better to the Public – Exaggerate, or be Vague?
How the Ugliest Climate Fairy Tale Won
By Donna Laframboise, Big Picture News, June 29, 2020
[SEPP Comment: Exposing the deceitful IPCC fairy tale.]
South pole warming three times faster than rest of the world, our research shows
Dramatic change in Antarctica’s interior in past three decades a result of effects from tropical variability working together with increasing greenhouse gases
By Kyle Clem, The Guardian, June 29, 2020 H/t Bernie Kepshire]
Link to paper: Record warming at the South Pole during the past three decades
By Kyle R. Clem, et al., June 29, 2020
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-020-0815-z
UK could hit 40C ‘regularly’ by end of this century–Says Flawed Met Office Study
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 1, 2020
Arctic plants may not provide predicted carbon sequestration potential
Press Release, University of Stirling, Via WUWT, July 3, 2020
Link to paper: Plant carbon allocation drives turnover of old soil organic matter in permafrost tundra soils
By Lorna Street, Global Change Biology, June 17, 2020
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/gcb.15134
[SEPP Comment: Whatever was predicted by whomever?]
Maryland offshore wind farm could become stop-over for migrating sturgeon, striped bass
By Staff Writers, Solomons MD (SPX), Jun 26, 2020
Comparative migration ecology of striped bass and Atlantic sturgeon in the US Southern mid-Atlantic bight flyway
By Ella R. Rothermel, et al. Plos One, June 17, 2020
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0234442
[SEPP Comment: When it was inactive, the Calvert Cliffs LNG plant was an excellent fishing ground in the Chesapeake Bay. But wind turbines providing a stop-over for birds?]
Communicating Better to the Public – Make things up.
Koalas extinct? Hardly. “Nearly everything you have read or heard about koalas is wrong”
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, July 3, 2020
Fooling Us With Climate Trickery
By Donna Laframboise, Big Picture News, July 1, 2020
https://nofrakkingconsensus.com/2020/07/01/fooling-us-with-climate-trickery/
Link to highly questionable report: The RCP greenhouse gas concentrations and their extensions from 1765 to 2300
By Malte Meinshausen, et al. Climate Change, Aug 9, 2011
http://edoc.gfz-potsdam.de/pik/get/5095/0/0ce498a63b150282a29b729de9615698/5095.pdf
Extinction Rebellion claims hoax about Swedish fund
By Staff Writers, Stockholm (AFP), June 30, 2020
https://www.terradaily.com/reports/Extinction_Rebellion_claims_hoax_about_Swedish_fund_999.html
Communicating Better to the Public – Go Personal.
Amazing Grace Saves A Wretch
By Jim Steele, WUWT, June 30, 2020
Communicating Better to the Public – Use Propaganda
How Badly Have Environmentalists Misled and Frightened the Public!
By Jennifer Marohasy, Her Blog, July 1, 2020
Communicating Better to the Public – Protest
Extinction Rebellion to BLOCKADE Parliament until Boris Johnson gives in to three demands
CLIMATE change activists are plotting to disrupt Parliament when it reopens after the summer recess.
By Simon Osborne, Express, July 3, 2020 [H/t Paul Homewood]
“Extinction Rebellion said its first demand was for the Government to declare a climate and ecological emergency and work with other institutions to communicate the urgency for change.
“The second demand is for the Government to act immediately to halt biodiversity loss and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025.
“And the group’s third demand is the creation of a ‘Citizens’ Assembly’ on climate and ecological justice.”
[SEPP Comment: It’s easy, start by turning off electricity, heat, and transportation.]
Questioning European Green
Ireland’s Most Expensive Suicide Letter
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, June 27, 2020
https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2020/06/27/irelands-most-expensive-suicide-letter/
“The bottom line is that Ireland does not have cat in hell’s chance of cutting its emissions in half by 2030, even if it cripples its economy in the attempt.
“In any normal world, its politicians would have chucked out these dopey green policies at first sight. Unfortunately, its citizens will now have to pay the cost of its rulers virtue signaling.”
Boris Johnson’s Chief Adviser Moves Away From Home Insulation Pledge
By Staff, GWPF & Financial Times, June 29, 2020
https://www.thegwpf.com/boris-johnsons-chief-adviser-moves-away-from-home-insulation-pledge/
Democrats’ New Climate Plan Will Kill Endangered Species, Environmentalists Fear
By Michael Shellenberger, Forbes, June 30, 2020
A Global Green New Deal: IEA’s “Great Reset” Plan
By Robert Bradley, Institute for Energy Research, June 30, 2020
“The United States should consider withdrawing its membership from the politicized IEA. This advocacy group, handmaiden to the Paris Climate Accord, does not need the U.S.’s money and imprimatur. The world, and particularly the U.S., needs a better energy voice.”
6 takeaways from the House Democrats’ climate blueprint
By Ben Geman, Axios June 30, 2020
https://www.axios.com/house-democrats-climate-change-plan-32595de8-0e8c-43a2-b913-ea0bb7ef5e8f.html
“1. George Floyd’s influence. The plan — which cites Floyd’s killing on the first page — strongly emphasizes the nexus between pollution and racial inequalities, something long on the policy radar but now receiving even greater attention.”
[SEPP Comment: Clear low-income neighborhoods for wind power?]
Funding Issues
‘COVID-19 brings the folly of political activism by big investors into light’
By Mark Perry, Carpe Diem, May 28, 2020
Subsidies and Mandates Forever
House approves $1.5T green infrastructure plan
By Rebecca Beitsch, The Hill, July 1, 2020
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/505397-house-approves-15t-green-infrastructure-plan
“It includes a large suite of tax breaks for renewables and other clean energy efforts, and offers grant funding for zero-emissions buses, electrifying the postal service fleet, and retrofitting schools and other large buildings while offering up weatherizing assistance for homeowners.”
[SEPP Comment: Unreliable wind and solar are as critical for infrastructure as unreliable steel is for bridges. The US has had over 40 years of weatherizing assistance.]
EPA and other Regulators on the March
FDA: Deregulating during the pandemic, and beyond
By Dvorah A. Richman, WUWT, July 1, 2020
Energy Issues – Non-US
Reliable, Cheap & Abundant Electricity For All – 24-7
By Staff, GWPF TV, July 2, 2020
https://www.thegwpf.com/reliable-cheap-abundant-electricity-for-all-24-7/
‘The Increasing Sustainability of Conventional Energy’ (1999 analysis for 2020)
By Robert Bradley Jr. Master Resource, June 30, 2020
https://www.masterresource.org/bradley/increasing-sustainability-conventional-energy-bradley-1999/
Kariba, Hwange coal plant, praised as example to world
Aid groups accused of colonial mentality
By Staff, The Zambabwean, June 30, 2020 [H/t GWPF]
https://www.thezimbabwean.co/2020/06/kariba-hwange-coal-plant-praised-as-example-to-world/
Spain closes half its coal-fired power stations
By Emmanuelle Michel, Madrid (AFP) June 30, 2020
https://www.energy-daily.com/reports/Spain_closes_half_its_coal-fired_power_stations_999.html
Energy Issues – Australia
New Liberty Mutual Climate Policy: Coal Mines Owned by Liberty are Still OK
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, June 30, 2020
Energy Issues — US
In New York, The Town Of Freedom Isn’t Free From Big Wind
By Robert Bryce, Forbes, June 25, 2020
Nuclear Energy and Fears
France pulls plug on country’s oldest nuclear plant
By Beatrice Roman Amat, Fessenheim, France (AFP,) June 28, 2020
[SEPP Comment: Fear of tidal waves hitting the plant near the French/German/Swiss border about 600 km (375 miles) from the North Sea and with an elevation of about 205 m (675 ft)]?
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Solar and Wind
Inertia and the Unintended Consequences of More Renewable Power Deployment
By Chris Kimmett, Real Clear Energy, June 29, 2020
“The ruling matters for several reasons. First among them: it provides another example of how renewable-energy projects are being forced onto low-income communities.”
[SEPP Comment: Yet the state forbids drilling for natural gas in many of New York’s poor counties!]
What Does the Future of Offshore Wind Energy Look Like?
By Emily Folk, Real Clear Energy, July 1, 2020
“With mass implementation, wind power can make entire countries sustainable.”
[SEPP Comment: No rigorous presentation of what can be done to make wind reliable. Thus, the author makes the foolish logical assertion that unreliable power is sustainable power.]
Weaknesses of solar and wind, Myths and Questions that require an answer
Guest post by Rob Jeffrey, WUWT, July 3, 2020
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Energy — Other
Harrabin’s Hydrogen Fantasy
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 1, 2020
https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2020/07/01/harrabins-hydrogen-fantasy/
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Vehicles
UN Warns Electric Automobile Rush is Causing Human Rights Abuses
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, July 3, 2020
“For example, Tesla has launched a line of cobalt free battery powered vehicles in China. The batteries replace Cobalt oxide with iron phosphate.”
Carbon Schemes
Fear of Climate Change is Bad for America
By Donn Dears, Power For USA, June 30, 2020
https://ddears.com/2020/06/30/fear-of-climate-change-is-bad-for-america/
California Dreaming
Waste-to-Hydrogen Project Set for California
By Darrell Proctor, Power Mag, June 30, 2020
Jean-Louis Kindler, CEO of Ways2H, “said the company is still deciding whether to focus the facility on ‘paper and plastic waste,’ or on the ‘usual municipal solid waste.’”
[SEPP Comment: No estimates of costs, the first plant, in Japan, is yet to operate.]
Health, Energy, and Climate
Viral Encore: Another Swine Flu Strain In China Reportedly Threatens To Become A Pandemic
By Charels Rotter, WUWT, July 1, 2020
Other Scientific News
But if not…
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 1, 2020
Link to: Climate Explainer: “If humans had not contributed to greenhouses gases in any way at all, what would the global temperature be today…”
By David Middleton, WUWT, June 25, 2020
Other News that May Be of Interest
Remembering Adam Smith this July 4th (Part 2)
By Richard Ebeling, Master Resource, July 2, 2020
Thomas Sowell at 90 Is More Relevant Than Ever
By Steve Hanke & Richard Ebeling, National Review, July 1, 2020
https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/07/thomas-sowell-90-indispensable-voice-more-relevant-than-ever/
BELOW THE BOTTOM LINE:
Open Democracy: “Why don’t we take climate change seriously? Racism is the answer”
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, July 2, 2020
Combating climate change: Why investors should keep their shares in fossil fuel companies
By Adrian R. Bell, Chris Brooks, The Conversation, Via Phys.org, June 29, 2020 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
https://phys.org/news/2020-06-combating-climate-changewhy-investors-fossil.html
[SEPP Comment: Photo of students carrying a great sign: “Fossil Free Universities.” Get rid of the old professors who expect students learn to think?]
ARTICLES
Capitalism After the Coronavirus
The pandemic provides an opportunity to build a resilient, healthy, fair and zero-carbon economy.
By Al Gore and David Blood, WSJ, June 29, 2020
https://www.wsj.com/articles/capitalism-after-the-coronavirus-11593470102?mod=hp_opin_pos_2
TWTW Summary: The former vice president of the United States is chairman and Mr. Blood is senior partner of Generation Investment Management. According to its web site:
“A sustainable company is: 1) one whose current earnings do not borrow from its future earnings; 2) one whose sustainability practices, products and services drive revenues, profitability and competitive positioning; and 3) one that provides goods and services consistent with a low-carbon, prosperous, equitable, healthy and safe society.”
The executives write:
“We wrote an op-ed for these pages in 2006 titled ‘For People and Planet,’ in which we argued for a long-term, sustainable, multi-stakeholder approach to business. We said America’s corporate leaders should put environmental, social and governance factors at the heart of their decision-making.
“Fourteen years later, the idea has become a proven model for business. The Business Roundtable and the British Academy have both strongly endorsed the multi-stakeholder approach in the past nine months. Why? Because sustainable capitalism is better suited than business as usual to the challenges we face.
“Voluminous research has shown conclusively that businesses properly integrating ESG factors into their plans are typically more successful and profitable. As the value of this paradigm becomes widely recognized, investors who fail to take it into account may be at risk of violating their fiduciary duty to their clients.
“As economies reopen around the country, it is essential that policy makers don’t default to pre-pandemic thinking. Covid-19 with all its unfolding tragedy presents a once-in-a-century obligation to rethink the relationships among business, markets, government and society. What is desperately needed, and what we must deliver, is a sustainable form of capitalism.
“Investors have a critical role to play. All investments made today must factor in long-term climate and societal implications. Indeed, the shift to a zero-carbon, inclusive business model is already well under way. Entire sectors are beginning to be transformed: energy, agriculture and food, fishing and ocean protection, forestry, architecture and construction, mobility and transport, and other carbon-intensive sectors such as chemicals and heavy manufacturing. We believe this transition will be the most significant change in economic history. The opportunities are ready now. We need to invest in them with the same sense of urgency that people have demanded in mitigating the pandemic.
“Already, the pandemic has revealed what companies are truly made of. Health-care firms have played vital and visible roles in sequencing the virus, testing, and delivering personal protective equipment. Companies in other sectors have also stepped up by helping restaurants pivot to digital ordering channels or directing small businesses to the financial support they need to get through the crisis.
Some companies have responded by adopting a responsible, long-term perspective on this challenge—absorbing costs where necessary to protect their employees. Major food retailers are sharing data, logistics infrastructure and even staff in a huge effort to maintain food security. This unprecedented cooperation is made possible by regulators waiving normal rules on competition.
“CEOs must put the welfare of their employees first. People shouldn’t have to worry about getting hurt or getting sick when they come to work, and those who are working from home need support too. It goes without saying that those who do get sick will need time to recover and those who lose family members or friends will need space to grieve.
“African-Americans are suffering from Covid-19 more than any other race, in part because their much higher exposure to air pollution increases the mortality rate from the virus. The mental-health challenges and financial pressures related to the pandemic are also affecting some populations more than others.
“Companies making cuts in pay or staff numbers should lead from the top. The C-suites should be taking the largest cuts to total compensation, and we are pleased that many companies have adopted this approach. We also ask CEOs to focus on their companies’ long-term strengths. It is far wiser to prioritize capital allocation in ways that will produce results in 2021 or even several years hence, instead of chasing the next quarter’s numbers. For some companies, there may be opportunities to bring forward a long-term project or make a strategic acquisition.
“Finally, we want CEOs to accelerate their efforts on climate action. For perspective, it is worth recalling the shocking wildfires that have struck Australia, California and the Amazon in recent years. There is an obvious, if uncomfortable, parallel between our still inadequate responses to the tragic suffering of Covid-19 and to the fast-growing consequences of the climate crisis. We ignored the warnings of respected epidemiologists and virologists about the likelihood of a deadly pandemic such as the one we are now struggling to vanquish. Similarly, climate scientists have warned us with ever greater urgency about the consequences of the climate crisis. There is still time to keep temperatures from rising to truly catastrophic levels, but a huge effort is needed to halve global emissions this decade. CEOs should set emissions reduction targets that are aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement and work closely with their suppliers, customers and peers to help move the dial.
“We believe the next decade will be the most important in our careers. Business and investors can and must do more. We must build back the economy better, together. That means a resilient, healthy, fair and zero-carbon economy. Our ability to meet the challenges of future pandemics, the climate crisis, and inequality depends on it.”
[TWTW Comment: No comment except see discussion about Lindzen’s paper above.]
What the heck is TWTW from the first paragraph?
TWTW stands for The Week That Was.
“Lindzen then describes the status of the science prior to 1988, with a principal concern being Ice Ages, glaciation”
This is not true. The first agw climate change paper was published in 1938 by Callendar. A few more followed in the next two decades. Revelle for example.
https://tambonthongchai.com/2019/05/13/greta2/
Capitalism After the Coronavirus article
“Voluminous research has shown conclusively that businesses properly integrating ESG factors into their plans are typically more successful and profitable.”
Hardly any research in the social sciences shows anything “conclusively.” However supposing for second that statement was actually true, so what? It’s just a post hoc ergo propter hoc conclusion. Big, well managed corporations understand they have to pay lip service to progressive propaganda, so they put up some window dressing at minimal cost. It’s just a business expense to hopefully get favorable publicity and preemptively defend against attacks.
I’ve been reading TWTW since 1997 and wanted to say that Ken Hapaala added his “newsletter” to the list of links and made it even better.
The pdf formatting is easier to read at SEPP.org so I don’t understand the reformatted version here rather than a simple link to SEPP.org
Concerning the Lindzen paper (that I read today) I didn’t think he said the ONLY concern prior to 1988 was ice ages. … We all knew about Revelle in the late 1950s thanks to Al Bore, but I didn’t know about Callendar in 1938 — thanks for the tip.
Number of the Week: 0.086ºC/decade (0.155ºF/decade) feeble CO2 warming?
So the idea that a single process — that of the action of atmospheric CO2 at about 0.04% of the total atmosphere by volume, governs this planet’s chaotic weather and climate –is losing it’s hold on weather/climate thinking. It’s about time.