[GWSG] Beyond COPs; subglacial hydrates; aerosol effects; on Europe; toolkit on skepticism; special on climate & behavior

[Tilley, Al]

1. The 27 COPs to date have failed to produce a reduction of emissions. Bill McGuire tells us what he thinks is going wrong and suggests that it is time to restructure, perhaps with focused groups who are in regular contact and liaise to produce agreements on such areas as agriculture, energy, and loss and damage. The 600 fossil fuel reps who attended COP 27 need not apply.  https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/nov/20/big-takeaway-cop27-climate-conferences-arent-working

2. In the past, methane hydrates formed under ice sheets in the Arctic. When those sheets melted 12,000 years ago, the hydrates released their methane in massive expulsions. Their craters are still leaking methane. When the West Antarctic ice sheets melt we can expect their hydrates to melt, giving up their methane in a similar fashion. A six-minute video features experts in the area observing that the rate of release from hydrates is moderated by their thermodynamics, and that methane release generally is under our control—we can avoid much of it by reducing our emissions. https://climatecrocks.com/2022/11/22/massive-methane-craters-on-ocean-floor-new-assessment/

3. Aerosols from soot and other pollutants will decrease quickly and markedly as we cease burning fossil fuels. They have been masking us from heat by reflecting some of the sun’s heat back into space. In highly polluting regions such as India and China, the short-term effect of reduced emissions will be increased heat and the bad weather that brings. Regional forecasts should reflect and prepare for aerosol reduction. https://phys.org/news/2022-11-climate-changing-aerosols-scientists.html

4. Decreasing aerosols over Europe as coal burning has lessened are a factor in a hotter and drier European climate. https://phys.org/news/2022-11-large-europe-fast-planet-average.html

5. “A Toolkit for understanding and addressing climate skepticism” (Nature Human Behavior, 16 Nov. 2022) holds some surprises. Conservatism correlated with climate concern in the US during the ‘90s, and still does in some countries. Skepticism generally correlates more positively with per capita carbon emissions. In the US, education and scientific sophistication correlate not with climate concern but with polarization. People tend to develop opinions through motivated reasoning, which begins with a position and seeks reasons to support it. The article ends with six suggestions for dealing with climate skepticism. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-022-01463-y

6. The article above is part of a joint special on Climate Change and Human Behavior by the journals Nature Human Behavior and Nature Climate Change. All articles in Nature Human Behavior and the editorial in Nature Climate Change have been made available to the general public. (You can read the abstracts in Nature Climate Change.) https://www.nature.com/collections/icdbhbbibg?utm_source=Nature+Briefing&utm_campaign=2547a8ae9f-briefing-dy-20221122&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c9dfd39373-2547a8ae9f-47505448

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.unf.edu/pipermail/gwsg/attachments/20221122/17049357/attachment.htm>