Recently in Climate change Category

Compared to the 1990 version, zone boundaries in this edition of the map have shifted in many areas. The new map is generally one 5-degree Fahrenheit half-zone warmer than the previous map throughout much of the United States. This is mostly a result of using temperature data from a longer and more recent time period; the new map uses data measured at weather stations during the 30-year period 1976-2005. In contrast, the 1990 map was based on temperature data from only a 13-year period of 1974-1986. (from the USDA announcement)

Defending the teaching of evolution & climate science (emphasis added).

Like evolution, climate change is accepted by the scientific community but controversial among the public. As a result, educators trying to teach climate change, like their counterparts trying to teach evolution, are often likewise pressured to compromise the scientific and pedagogical integrity of their instruction.

Meeting recently in South Africa, representatives from 194 countries agreed to the Durban Platform, the latest effort to put the world on a path to cut greenhouse gas emissions that scientists say are driving climate change.

One crucial question is whether the Durban conference was even addressing a real issue. For many conservatives, the answer is no. Global warming, it's said, is a (flawed) theory, not a fact. The idea that human activity is in any way responsible for higher temperatures is false. Advocates of global warming are relying on doctored data. Indeed, global warming is a manufactured crisis being used by environmentalists to impose their left-wing agenda on America. Or so the argument goes.

Having looked into this matter a bit, I've settled on several judgments which are open to refinement and amendment, including these: The world is getting warmer. The warming is almost certainly caused, at least in large part, by human activity. And rising temperatures could pose a future risk, though how significant of a risk is open to interpretation.

Here's what we do know. According to a report by the National Academy of Sciences, the average temperature of Earth's surface increased by about 0.8 degrees Celsius during the past 100 years, with more than half occurring during the past three decades. During one recent 12-year stretch (1995-2006), 11 of those years ranked among the 12 warmest years in the instrumental record of global surface temperature. Richard A. Muller, a professor of physics who once counted himself a skeptic about global warming, re-examined the data through the auspices of the Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature Project and came to this conclusion: "Global warming is real." And the preponderance of the scientific evidence points to human activity as the most likely cause for most of the global warming that has occurred over the last half-century. Gregg Easterbrook​, an environmental commentator who has a long record of opposing alarmism, put it this way: "All of the world's major science academies have said they are convinced climate change is happen[ing] and that human action plays a role." ("Conservatives and climate change - Part I", by Peter Wehner, Commentary, 19 December 2011)

When you're reading that, you're probably thinking to yourself, yet another commentary on climate change by a left-wing environmentalist. Or that's what you were thinking until you got to the end and noticed the source -- if you recognize the name Peter Wehner or the magazine in which the article appeared, Commentary. Commentary, by its own description, "emerged as the flagship of neoconservatism in the 1970s." Peter Wehner is a Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. He served in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations before becoming deputy director of speechwriting for President George W. Bush in 2001. In 2002, he was asked to head the Office of Strategic Initiatives. In short, Wehner is a strong conservative, and the magazine in which his piece is published is strongly conservative.

As Tom Smerling (from Skeptical Science) puts it:

Climate hawks will find plenty to argue with, but these caveats are worth considering because a) most have some merit, and b) they clarify exactly where many conservatives get stuck.  If we don't address conservative reservations and fears directly, we're failing to get at the roots from which science denial stems.

More importantly, Wehner explicitly separates the question "Is it happening?" from "What should we do?" -- in itself a major step forward -- and for the most part he accepts the science.

It's beyond time to accept the science. The earth is getting warmer because of carbon dioxide we are producing. It's time to talk about "What should we do?"

A physics graduate from the University of Queensland who majored in solar physics in his postgraduate honours year, Cook launched the Skeptical Science website in 2007 after becoming frustrated at lies and half-truths surrounding global warming. The site provides a scientifically accurate database of climate information and is the engine room of Cook's campaign to use the web, smartphone apps and social media tools to disseminate climate information.

Having received international acclaim within the science world, the Skeptical Science website receives more than 500,000 visits per month, while the iPhone app has been downloaded more than 72,000 times. (source)

Cook's work was recognized this year with the 2011 Eureka Prize for the Advancement of Climate Change Knowledge from the Australian Museum. The Eureka Prizes are the most prestigious awards in Australian science.

I bring this all up because just a few days ago Skeptical Science updated its Climate Big Picture, which provides a broad overview of what we know. You should follow that link and read the whole thing, but here's a quick summary:

• The earth is warming.
• Global warming continues.
• Humans are increasing atmospheric greenhouse gases.
• Human greenhouse gases are causing global warming.
• The warming will continue.
• The net result will be bad.
• Arguments to the contrary are superficial.
• There are legitimate unresolved questions.
• Smart risk management means taking action.
• We can solve the problem.

Zolani Mahola, lead singer of Freshlyground, and Leigh Wood, Producer of the youth program "It's Up to US" on 50/50, co-wrote a new version of "Doo Be Doo" called
"Doo Be Doo - Take a Stand" as a tribute to the youth and the environment for COP 17 - (The 17th Conference of the Parties) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The conference takes place 28 November to 9 December in Durban and will assess progress in dealing with climate change.

The song performed by Freshlyground also features a talented children's choir from Soweto. The message of the song is directed toward the World Leaders, asking them to consider the voice of the youth whose generation will be the most affected by decisions made at the Climate Change talks.

Zolani and Freshlyground are passionate ambassadors for the environment and conservation. The song also supports the "Consider US" campaign, which is a youth movement for children to voice their opinions on Climate Change in 20 words.

The 20 words that the kids write are put into a beautifully bound book and buried in a time capsule with an air and water sample for the next 30 years. The book will be buried on 8 December in the Durban Botanical Gardens just before the Freshlyground concert.

The massive increase of atmospheric CO₂ concentrations since pre-industrial times would, in fact, have caused substantially more surface warming were it not for the cooling effects of atmospheric aerosols such as black carbon (source)

Emissions rose 5.9 percent in 2010, according to an analysis released Sunday by the Global Carbon Project, an international collaboration of scientists tracking the numbers. Scientists with the group said the increase, a half-billion extra tons of carbon pumped into the air, was almost certainly the largest absolute jump in any year since the Industrial Revolution, and the largest percentage increase since 2003.

The increase solidified a trend of ever-rising emissions that scientists fear will make it difficult, if not impossible, to forestall severe climate change in coming decades. ("Carbon Emissions Show Biggest Jump Ever Recorded," by Justin Gillis, The New York Times, 4 December 2011)

A new analysis confirms that global warming actually shows no sign of slowing down. That's according to Stefan Rahmstorf of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany, and his colleague Grant Foster.

Focusing on 1979-2010, the pair compared the five most important databases of global temperature: three based on surface weather stations, and two based on satellite measurements of temperatures in the lower troposphere. All of them show warming of 0.014-0.018 °C per year. (source)

The world is getting warmer, and we're largely responsible for it. That's about as certain as anything we get in science. What we should focus on is what we're going to do about it.

The Handbook explores the surprising fact that debunking myths can sometimes reinforce the myth in peoples' minds. Communicators need to be aware of the various backfire effects and how to avoid them, such as:

• The Familiarity Backfire Effect
• The Overkill Backfire Effect
• The Worldview Backfire Effect

It also looks at a key element to successful debunking: providing an alternative explanation. The Handbook is designed to be useful to all communicators who have to deal with misinformation (eg - not just climate myths).