2018 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #22

Story of the Week... Editorial of the Week... Toon of the Week... Quote of the Week... SkS in the News... Scholarly Paper of Note... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Reviews... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week...

Story of the Week...

Gov. Brown says fallout from Trump quitting Paris accord is 'far more serious than anyone is saying'

CA Gov Jerry Brown

California Gov. Jerry Brown addresses the University of California Carbon and Climate Neutrality Summit in San Diego. (Howard Lipin / San Diego Union-Tribune)

His promised coal renaissance sputtered. Rollbacks of environmental protections are tangled in court. Even automakers aren’t on board for his push toward heavier-polluting cars.

But even so, a year after President Trump pulled out of the landmark Paris accord on climate change, the struggle to contain global warming has grown considerably more complicated without the prodding and encouragement once provided by the U.S. government.

And though many in the climate movement hope progress toward cutting emissions can continue despite Trump’s retreat, there are growing doubts about reaching the Paris agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius, if Washington does not re-engage soon.

In an interview, Gov. Jerry Brown acknowledged the hope felt by many climate activists because of efforts from states like his and by private companies. But he also said the world is only just beginning to feel the environmental harm inflicted by the Trump administration. 

Gov. Brown says fallout from Trump quitting Paris accord is 'far more serious than anyone is saying' by Evan Halper, Los Angeles Times, June 1, 2018 

Editorial of the Week...

Hope in the Era of Trump’s Climate Foolishness

NY Times Editorial Graphic

Credit: Illustration by Matthieu Bourel; Photograph by Getty Images

Concluding paragraph...

In an ideal world, Americans would have a federal government that, as it has in the past, provides investment in new technologies, in research and development and in energy infrastructure. Instead, we are saddled with an administration that is preparing to force power companies to keep dirty and inefficient coal-burning power plants operating on the pretext that they are needed to protect national security. Until that changes, the voices of all those governors, mayors, corporate leaders and others who, after Mr. Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris agreement, proclaimed, “We AreStill In,” deserve praise and support. 

Hope in the Era of Trump’s Climate Foolishness, Editorial Board, New York Times, June 1, 2018 

Toon of the Week...

2018 Toon 22  

Quote of the Week...

“He has set in motion initiatives that will cause damage,” (CA Gov Jerry) Brown said, comparing the planet under Trump’s climate policies to a person who has just fallen from the top of the Empire State Building. “You are falling down four stories, but have 80 to go,” he said. “Maybe you are not damaged yet, but it is certain you will die.”

The governor said his overriding concern is that global progress has stalled. “This is real,” Brown said. “It is far more serious than anybody is saying.”

Gov. Brown says fallout from Trump quitting Paris accord is 'far more serious than anyone is saying' by Evan Halper, Los Angeles Times, June 1, 2018 

SkS in the News...

Michael Svoboda concludes his article, Truthsquading: Books and reports on the denial and obstruction of climate science (Yale Climate Connections, May 31, 2018) with the following:

Three Reports from Skeptical Science

A pivotal figure in the effort to counter global warming skepticism is John Cook, who started the Skeptical Science website in 2007, while still a student at the University of Queensland in Australia. Since then Cook has (co)authored reports to alert readers to the manufactured arguments they’re likely to encounter when discussing climate change in public. Two – The Scientific Guide to Global Warming Skepticsm (2010) and The Debunking Handbook (2011) – can be downloaded from the Skeptical Science website. The third, The Consensus Handbook (2018), is available from the Center for Climate Change Communication at George Mason University, where John Cook now works as a research assistant professor. 

Scholarly Paper of Note...

The underlying premise of this paper is that repetition of a narrow narrative that focuses exclusively on the impacts of climate change leaves the public with an overall sense of powerlessness. The paper focuses on five years of national media coverage of climate change in the U.S. Arctic, specifically stories about communities facing coastal erosion and relocation, to argue for journalism that provides a more representative view of the challenges posed by a warming climate. Such reporting would also include responses and innovations, and increase pressure on policymakers to act, rather than offering excuses for inaction.

Doom and Gloom: The Role of the Media in Public Disengagement on Climate Change by Elizabeth Arnold*, Harvard Kennedy School, May 29, 2018

*Joan Shorenstein Fellow, Spring 2018, and Associate Professor of Journalism, University of Alaska 

Coming Soon on SkS...

  • The attacks against solar power and EVs are ramping up (Dana)
  • New Video: Hot Ocean, Hurricanes, Houston, and Harvey (greenman)
  • Climate focused blogs around the world (BaerbelW)
  • Guest Post (John Abraham) 
  • New research this week (Ari)
  • 2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #23 (John Hartz)
  • 2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #23 (John Hartz)

Climate Feedback Reviews... 

In a Warming West, the Rio Grande Is Drying Up

2018 Climate Feedback 22

Climate Feedback asked a team of scientists to review the article, In a Warming West, the Rio Grande Is Drying Up by Henry Fountain, Climate, New York Times, May 24, 2018

Two scientists analyzed the article and estimate its overall scientific credibility to be 'high'.

A majority of reviewers tagged the article as: Sound reasoning

Review Summary 

This article in The New York Times discusses water supply issues along the Rio Grande in New Mexico, and the projected impacts of climate change.

Scientists who reviewed the article generally found it to be an accurate description of research on this topic. However, they note that it’s important to remember that precipitation in this region can naturally vary on timescales longer than just one year to the next. Even changes from one decade to the next should be considered carefully in the context of variability—and water supply risks depend on both human-caused trends and that natural variability.

New York Times story accurately describes Rio Grande’s climate context, Edited by Scott Johnson, Climate Feedback, May 31, 2018

SkS Week in Review... 

Poster of the Week...

 2018 Poster 22



from Skeptical Science https://ift.tt/2stCQXY

Story of the Week... Editorial of the Week... Toon of the Week... Quote of the Week... SkS in the News... Scholarly Paper of Note... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Reviews... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week...

Story of the Week...

Gov. Brown says fallout from Trump quitting Paris accord is 'far more serious than anyone is saying'

CA Gov Jerry Brown

California Gov. Jerry Brown addresses the University of California Carbon and Climate Neutrality Summit in San Diego. (Howard Lipin / San Diego Union-Tribune)

His promised coal renaissance sputtered. Rollbacks of environmental protections are tangled in court. Even automakers aren’t on board for his push toward heavier-polluting cars.

But even so, a year after President Trump pulled out of the landmark Paris accord on climate change, the struggle to contain global warming has grown considerably more complicated without the prodding and encouragement once provided by the U.S. government.

And though many in the climate movement hope progress toward cutting emissions can continue despite Trump’s retreat, there are growing doubts about reaching the Paris agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius, if Washington does not re-engage soon.

In an interview, Gov. Jerry Brown acknowledged the hope felt by many climate activists because of efforts from states like his and by private companies. But he also said the world is only just beginning to feel the environmental harm inflicted by the Trump administration. 

Gov. Brown says fallout from Trump quitting Paris accord is 'far more serious than anyone is saying' by Evan Halper, Los Angeles Times, June 1, 2018 

Editorial of the Week...

Hope in the Era of Trump’s Climate Foolishness

NY Times Editorial Graphic

Credit: Illustration by Matthieu Bourel; Photograph by Getty Images

Concluding paragraph...

In an ideal world, Americans would have a federal government that, as it has in the past, provides investment in new technologies, in research and development and in energy infrastructure. Instead, we are saddled with an administration that is preparing to force power companies to keep dirty and inefficient coal-burning power plants operating on the pretext that they are needed to protect national security. Until that changes, the voices of all those governors, mayors, corporate leaders and others who, after Mr. Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris agreement, proclaimed, “We AreStill In,” deserve praise and support. 

Hope in the Era of Trump’s Climate Foolishness, Editorial Board, New York Times, June 1, 2018 

Toon of the Week...

2018 Toon 22  

Quote of the Week...

“He has set in motion initiatives that will cause damage,” (CA Gov Jerry) Brown said, comparing the planet under Trump’s climate policies to a person who has just fallen from the top of the Empire State Building. “You are falling down four stories, but have 80 to go,” he said. “Maybe you are not damaged yet, but it is certain you will die.”

The governor said his overriding concern is that global progress has stalled. “This is real,” Brown said. “It is far more serious than anybody is saying.”

Gov. Brown says fallout from Trump quitting Paris accord is 'far more serious than anyone is saying' by Evan Halper, Los Angeles Times, June 1, 2018 

SkS in the News...

Michael Svoboda concludes his article, Truthsquading: Books and reports on the denial and obstruction of climate science (Yale Climate Connections, May 31, 2018) with the following:

Three Reports from Skeptical Science

A pivotal figure in the effort to counter global warming skepticism is John Cook, who started the Skeptical Science website in 2007, while still a student at the University of Queensland in Australia. Since then Cook has (co)authored reports to alert readers to the manufactured arguments they’re likely to encounter when discussing climate change in public. Two – The Scientific Guide to Global Warming Skepticsm (2010) and The Debunking Handbook (2011) – can be downloaded from the Skeptical Science website. The third, The Consensus Handbook (2018), is available from the Center for Climate Change Communication at George Mason University, where John Cook now works as a research assistant professor. 

Scholarly Paper of Note...

The underlying premise of this paper is that repetition of a narrow narrative that focuses exclusively on the impacts of climate change leaves the public with an overall sense of powerlessness. The paper focuses on five years of national media coverage of climate change in the U.S. Arctic, specifically stories about communities facing coastal erosion and relocation, to argue for journalism that provides a more representative view of the challenges posed by a warming climate. Such reporting would also include responses and innovations, and increase pressure on policymakers to act, rather than offering excuses for inaction.

Doom and Gloom: The Role of the Media in Public Disengagement on Climate Change by Elizabeth Arnold*, Harvard Kennedy School, May 29, 2018

*Joan Shorenstein Fellow, Spring 2018, and Associate Professor of Journalism, University of Alaska 

Coming Soon on SkS...

  • The attacks against solar power and EVs are ramping up (Dana)
  • New Video: Hot Ocean, Hurricanes, Houston, and Harvey (greenman)
  • Climate focused blogs around the world (BaerbelW)
  • Guest Post (John Abraham) 
  • New research this week (Ari)
  • 2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #23 (John Hartz)
  • 2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #23 (John Hartz)

Climate Feedback Reviews... 

In a Warming West, the Rio Grande Is Drying Up

2018 Climate Feedback 22

Climate Feedback asked a team of scientists to review the article, In a Warming West, the Rio Grande Is Drying Up by Henry Fountain, Climate, New York Times, May 24, 2018

Two scientists analyzed the article and estimate its overall scientific credibility to be 'high'.

A majority of reviewers tagged the article as: Sound reasoning

Review Summary 

This article in The New York Times discusses water supply issues along the Rio Grande in New Mexico, and the projected impacts of climate change.

Scientists who reviewed the article generally found it to be an accurate description of research on this topic. However, they note that it’s important to remember that precipitation in this region can naturally vary on timescales longer than just one year to the next. Even changes from one decade to the next should be considered carefully in the context of variability—and water supply risks depend on both human-caused trends and that natural variability.

New York Times story accurately describes Rio Grande’s climate context, Edited by Scott Johnson, Climate Feedback, May 31, 2018

SkS Week in Review... 

Poster of the Week...

 2018 Poster 22



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Small asteroid might have impacted Earth on Saturday

A small asteroid discovered on Saturday morning, June 2, 2018, surprised astronomers when its trajectory suggested it would pass very, very close to Earth just hours after being detected. The object has been given the temporary designation of ZLAF9B2. There are reports of sightings of a bright meteor, as well as a video that may be related to the event, from Barend Swanepoel in South Africa. He reports the video as being:

… taken near my dad’s farm between Ottosdal and Hartebeesfontein.

Another witness in South Africa described the meteor as very bright, and showing a yellow color.

This space rock had an estimated size of only 10-16 feet (3 to 5 meters) in diameter. If it struck (and sometimes they do, and meteorite pieces are found), it was too small to cause serious damages. In contrast, the impressive meteor seen over Chelyabinsk, Russia in February, 2013 was an estimated 60 feet wide (20 meters). It broke windows in six Russian cities and caused more than 1,500 people to seek medical attention, mostly due to injuries from flying glass. The June 2 asteroid wasn’t big enough to do anything like that, but it was big enough to produce a spectacular, very bright meteor.

The 60-inch (1.5-meter) telescope at Mt. Lemmon, which is part of the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona, was the first to detect asteroid ZLAF9B2 on Saturday morning, according to clocks in North America.

According to NASA/JPL, asteroid ZLAF9B2 approached Earth at 35,344 miles per hour (56,880 km per hour).

Models began suggesting that – in case of impact – the asteroid would enter Earth’s atmosphere somewhere between Indonesia, the Indian Ocean, or South Africa.

Trajectory models suggest small asteroid ZLAF9B2 impacted our atmosphere over South Africa on Saturday, and U.S. government sensors and satellites might confirm the event. Image via https://ift.tt/2LRI6g2

The reported observation of the color yellow in the sighted meteor is of interest because colors in a meteor provide a hint of its composition. Yellow suggest the rock contains sodium, as was also in the 2013 Chelyabinsk meteor.

Small asteroids are difficult to detect. Some space rocks might be dark, and may only reflect a small amount of sunlight as they may already be somewhat close to our planet.

However, as bigger asteroids reflect more light, they are usually detected weeks or months before closest approach.

Confirmation of the event is continuing to trickle in:

Bottom line: Trajectory models suggest small asteroid ZLAF9B2 impacted Earth’s atmosphere over South Africa on Saturday, June 2, 2018.



from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2JfIZ03

A small asteroid discovered on Saturday morning, June 2, 2018, surprised astronomers when its trajectory suggested it would pass very, very close to Earth just hours after being detected. The object has been given the temporary designation of ZLAF9B2. There are reports of sightings of a bright meteor, as well as a video that may be related to the event, from Barend Swanepoel in South Africa. He reports the video as being:

… taken near my dad’s farm between Ottosdal and Hartebeesfontein.

Another witness in South Africa described the meteor as very bright, and showing a yellow color.

This space rock had an estimated size of only 10-16 feet (3 to 5 meters) in diameter. If it struck (and sometimes they do, and meteorite pieces are found), it was too small to cause serious damages. In contrast, the impressive meteor seen over Chelyabinsk, Russia in February, 2013 was an estimated 60 feet wide (20 meters). It broke windows in six Russian cities and caused more than 1,500 people to seek medical attention, mostly due to injuries from flying glass. The June 2 asteroid wasn’t big enough to do anything like that, but it was big enough to produce a spectacular, very bright meteor.

The 60-inch (1.5-meter) telescope at Mt. Lemmon, which is part of the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona, was the first to detect asteroid ZLAF9B2 on Saturday morning, according to clocks in North America.

According to NASA/JPL, asteroid ZLAF9B2 approached Earth at 35,344 miles per hour (56,880 km per hour).

Models began suggesting that – in case of impact – the asteroid would enter Earth’s atmosphere somewhere between Indonesia, the Indian Ocean, or South Africa.

Trajectory models suggest small asteroid ZLAF9B2 impacted our atmosphere over South Africa on Saturday, and U.S. government sensors and satellites might confirm the event. Image via https://ift.tt/2LRI6g2

The reported observation of the color yellow in the sighted meteor is of interest because colors in a meteor provide a hint of its composition. Yellow suggest the rock contains sodium, as was also in the 2013 Chelyabinsk meteor.

Small asteroids are difficult to detect. Some space rocks might be dark, and may only reflect a small amount of sunlight as they may already be somewhat close to our planet.

However, as bigger asteroids reflect more light, they are usually detected weeks or months before closest approach.

Confirmation of the event is continuing to trickle in:

Bottom line: Trajectory models suggest small asteroid ZLAF9B2 impacted Earth’s atmosphere over South Africa on Saturday, June 2, 2018.



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Wildfire smoke messing with orangutans’ eating and sleep

Otto, an adult flanged male orangutan, avoiding fires and traveling through a smoke-filled forest in the Tuanan Orangutan Research Station in Indonesian Borneo. Image via Beth Barrow.

Help EarthSky keep going! Please donate what you can to our annual crowd-funding campaign.

Orangutans – already critically endangered due to habitat loss from logging and large-scale farming – might also face another threat from wildfire smoke. A new study, published May 15, 2018 in the peer-reviewed journal Scientific Reports, found that orangutans eat and rest more after fires, but don’t gain weight.

In 2015, researcher Wendy Erb, the Rutgers University Department of Anthropology, was studying male orangutans in the forests of Indonesian Borneo. A few weeks into the fire season – which happens annually, often due to smallholder farmers and plantations clearing forests to plant crops – Erb noticed a difference in the sound of the males’ “long call,” which scientists believe is used to attract females and warn other males. Erb said in a statement:

I thought they sounded raggedy, a little like humans who smoke a lot.

Erb decided to find out if the smoke the orangutans inhaled during the fires had affected their health. Erb studied four flanged male orangutans – males with large cheeks pads. The team analyzed the animals’ urine, as well as their behavior and discovered the big males traveled less, rested more and consumed more calories. They also produced more ketone bodies – molecules made by the liver from fatty acids during periods of low food intake – which was unexpected because the apes were eating more, not less. Why were these orangutans burning fat?

Erin Vogel, study co-author of the study and the Tuanan Research Station’s co-director, said:

It’s possible these males are burning fat because their energy is going to repairing tissue.

According to the study, the only new element in the orangutans’ lives was the three months of fire and smoke. The forests’ natural surface consists of peat, which is flammable, allowing the fires to burn underground for weeks. The fires were worse in 2015 because of a strong El Niño effect, which brought with it a severe drought.

A male orangutan at Tanjung Puting National Park in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. Image via Terry Sunderland/CIFOR/Flickr.

Soil analyses suggest that wildfires have occurred in Borneo for millennia, but have become increasingly frequent and intense in recent decades due to deforestation and draining of peatlands. In 2015, Indonesia experienced the most severe fire activity and smoke pollution on record since the disastrous wildfires during the 1997 El Niño droughts.

According to a statement from the researchers:

The unexpected loss of nearly 100,000 Bornean orangutans from intact forests in Kalimantan between 1999 and 2015 indicates that habitat loss alone is not driving this critically endangered species’ declines. Increasingly frequent exposure to toxic smoke could have severe consequences for orangutans, other animals and people, and this research highlights the urgent need to understand the long-term and indirect impacts of Indonesia’s peatland fires, beyond the immediate loss of forests and their inhabitants.

Bottom line: A new study suggests that wildfire smoke may be affecting orangutans’ health.

Read more from Rutgers University



from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2JfGT0x

Otto, an adult flanged male orangutan, avoiding fires and traveling through a smoke-filled forest in the Tuanan Orangutan Research Station in Indonesian Borneo. Image via Beth Barrow.

Help EarthSky keep going! Please donate what you can to our annual crowd-funding campaign.

Orangutans – already critically endangered due to habitat loss from logging and large-scale farming – might also face another threat from wildfire smoke. A new study, published May 15, 2018 in the peer-reviewed journal Scientific Reports, found that orangutans eat and rest more after fires, but don’t gain weight.

In 2015, researcher Wendy Erb, the Rutgers University Department of Anthropology, was studying male orangutans in the forests of Indonesian Borneo. A few weeks into the fire season – which happens annually, often due to smallholder farmers and plantations clearing forests to plant crops – Erb noticed a difference in the sound of the males’ “long call,” which scientists believe is used to attract females and warn other males. Erb said in a statement:

I thought they sounded raggedy, a little like humans who smoke a lot.

Erb decided to find out if the smoke the orangutans inhaled during the fires had affected their health. Erb studied four flanged male orangutans – males with large cheeks pads. The team analyzed the animals’ urine, as well as their behavior and discovered the big males traveled less, rested more and consumed more calories. They also produced more ketone bodies – molecules made by the liver from fatty acids during periods of low food intake – which was unexpected because the apes were eating more, not less. Why were these orangutans burning fat?

Erin Vogel, study co-author of the study and the Tuanan Research Station’s co-director, said:

It’s possible these males are burning fat because their energy is going to repairing tissue.

According to the study, the only new element in the orangutans’ lives was the three months of fire and smoke. The forests’ natural surface consists of peat, which is flammable, allowing the fires to burn underground for weeks. The fires were worse in 2015 because of a strong El Niño effect, which brought with it a severe drought.

A male orangutan at Tanjung Puting National Park in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. Image via Terry Sunderland/CIFOR/Flickr.

Soil analyses suggest that wildfires have occurred in Borneo for millennia, but have become increasingly frequent and intense in recent decades due to deforestation and draining of peatlands. In 2015, Indonesia experienced the most severe fire activity and smoke pollution on record since the disastrous wildfires during the 1997 El Niño droughts.

According to a statement from the researchers:

The unexpected loss of nearly 100,000 Bornean orangutans from intact forests in Kalimantan between 1999 and 2015 indicates that habitat loss alone is not driving this critically endangered species’ declines. Increasingly frequent exposure to toxic smoke could have severe consequences for orangutans, other animals and people, and this research highlights the urgent need to understand the long-term and indirect impacts of Indonesia’s peatland fires, beyond the immediate loss of forests and their inhabitants.

Bottom line: A new study suggests that wildfire smoke may be affecting orangutans’ health.

Read more from Rutgers University



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Mars starts to rise before midnight

View larger. | Chart via Guy Ottewell.

Originally published at Guy Ottewell’s blog; reprinted here with permission

Mars is beginning to rise before midnight according to our picture, above, which is of the middle of the night between Sunday and Monday. This chart, which is set for my location in England, shows Mars one degree above the eastern horizon at ten minutes past midnight. The situation is much the time across the globe, although Mars’ exact rising time depends on how far north or south you are on Earth, and on how far east or west you are in your own time zone.

Also, the midnight rising of Mars is according clocks now on the summer regime of daylight saving time. They are one hour fast, pretending that 11 o’clock is “12.”

Here is part of my rising-and-setting graph for 2018:

View larger. | A portion of 2018’s rising-and-setting graph – showing May, June and July – via Guy Ottewell.

The lavender vertical line near the right represents midnight; the slanting red curve labeled as Mars rises crossed it as long ago as May 12. If it were not for daylight saving time, Mars would have been rising before midnight for more than 10 days.

It has joined a late-evening-early-morning scene with Saturn and Jupiter, spread out over the zodiacal constellations of Capricornus, Sagittarius, Scorpius, and Libra, therefore enriched by Antares and the other starry features of the summer Milky Way.

Jupiter was at opposition on May 9; Saturn will be on June 27, Mars on July 27. The anti-sun point, sliding steadily eastward, meets each of these planets as it hovers on or near the ecliptic. The moon, too, rushed past the anti-sun point – that is, was full, or opposite the sun – on May 29. The moon is clearly dwindling as it passes 3 degrees north of Mars early Sunday morning (June 3 at 12 UTC).

During the night on Sunday, the moon rises about 20 minutes after Mars.

Mars was near the Beehive star cluster – aka M44, or Praesepe (The Manger) – in mid-April 2010. It is the bright reddish object in the upper left of this beautiful image by Peter Wienerroither. Used with permission.

Bottom line: Mars is now rising in the middle of the night. Its July 27 opposition will mark its brightest appearance in our sky since 2003. Mars is due to brighten dramatically before then … watch for it!

Read more: Mars brighter in 2018 than since 2003



from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2sqGvWy

View larger. | Chart via Guy Ottewell.

Originally published at Guy Ottewell’s blog; reprinted here with permission

Mars is beginning to rise before midnight according to our picture, above, which is of the middle of the night between Sunday and Monday. This chart, which is set for my location in England, shows Mars one degree above the eastern horizon at ten minutes past midnight. The situation is much the time across the globe, although Mars’ exact rising time depends on how far north or south you are on Earth, and on how far east or west you are in your own time zone.

Also, the midnight rising of Mars is according clocks now on the summer regime of daylight saving time. They are one hour fast, pretending that 11 o’clock is “12.”

Here is part of my rising-and-setting graph for 2018:

View larger. | A portion of 2018’s rising-and-setting graph – showing May, June and July – via Guy Ottewell.

The lavender vertical line near the right represents midnight; the slanting red curve labeled as Mars rises crossed it as long ago as May 12. If it were not for daylight saving time, Mars would have been rising before midnight for more than 10 days.

It has joined a late-evening-early-morning scene with Saturn and Jupiter, spread out over the zodiacal constellations of Capricornus, Sagittarius, Scorpius, and Libra, therefore enriched by Antares and the other starry features of the summer Milky Way.

Jupiter was at opposition on May 9; Saturn will be on June 27, Mars on July 27. The anti-sun point, sliding steadily eastward, meets each of these planets as it hovers on or near the ecliptic. The moon, too, rushed past the anti-sun point – that is, was full, or opposite the sun – on May 29. The moon is clearly dwindling as it passes 3 degrees north of Mars early Sunday morning (June 3 at 12 UTC).

During the night on Sunday, the moon rises about 20 minutes after Mars.

Mars was near the Beehive star cluster – aka M44, or Praesepe (The Manger) – in mid-April 2010. It is the bright reddish object in the upper left of this beautiful image by Peter Wienerroither. Used with permission.

Bottom line: Mars is now rising in the middle of the night. Its July 27 opposition will mark its brightest appearance in our sky since 2003. Mars is due to brighten dramatically before then … watch for it!

Read more: Mars brighter in 2018 than since 2003



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2018 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #22

A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week.

Editor's Pick

It’s time to think seriously about cutting off the supply of fossil fuels

A new paper makes the case for supply-side climate policy.

Oil Platforms 

There is a bias in climate policy shared by analysts, politicians, and pundits across the political spectrum so common it is rarely remarked upon. To put it bluntly: Nobody, at least nobody in power, wants to restrict the supply of fossil fuels.

Policies that choke off fossil fuels at their origin — shutting down mines and wells; banning new ones; opting against new pipelines, refineries, and export terminals — have been embraced by climate activists, picking up steam with the Keystone pipeline protests and the recent direct action of the Valve Turners.

But they are looked upon with some disdain by the climate intelligentsia, who are united in their belief that such strategies are economically suboptimal and politically counterproductive.

Now a pair of economists has offered a cogent argument that the activists are onto something — that restrictive supply-side (RSS) climate policies have unique economic and political benefits and deserve a place alongside carbon prices and renewable energy supports in the climate policy toolkit.

“In our experience,” the authors write, “the climate policy community has for too long been excessively narrow in its preference for certain kinds of policy instruments (carbon taxes, cap-and trade), largely ignoring the characteristics of such instruments that affect their political feasibility and feedback effects.” I have written the same thing many times, so I think a climate policy argument that takes politics seriously deserves a close look.

To understand it, it helps to have a framework for classifying climate policies.

It’s time to think seriously about cutting off the supply of fossil fuels by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, May 31, 2018

Links posted on Facebook

Sun May 27, 2018

Mon May 28, 2018

Tue May 29, 2018

Wed May 30, 2018

Thu May 31, 2018

Fri June 1, 2018

Sat June 2, 2018



from Skeptical Science https://ift.tt/2J8tTtn
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week.

Editor's Pick

It’s time to think seriously about cutting off the supply of fossil fuels

A new paper makes the case for supply-side climate policy.

Oil Platforms 

There is a bias in climate policy shared by analysts, politicians, and pundits across the political spectrum so common it is rarely remarked upon. To put it bluntly: Nobody, at least nobody in power, wants to restrict the supply of fossil fuels.

Policies that choke off fossil fuels at their origin — shutting down mines and wells; banning new ones; opting against new pipelines, refineries, and export terminals — have been embraced by climate activists, picking up steam with the Keystone pipeline protests and the recent direct action of the Valve Turners.

But they are looked upon with some disdain by the climate intelligentsia, who are united in their belief that such strategies are economically suboptimal and politically counterproductive.

Now a pair of economists has offered a cogent argument that the activists are onto something — that restrictive supply-side (RSS) climate policies have unique economic and political benefits and deserve a place alongside carbon prices and renewable energy supports in the climate policy toolkit.

“In our experience,” the authors write, “the climate policy community has for too long been excessively narrow in its preference for certain kinds of policy instruments (carbon taxes, cap-and trade), largely ignoring the characteristics of such instruments that affect their political feasibility and feedback effects.” I have written the same thing many times, so I think a climate policy argument that takes politics seriously deserves a close look.

To understand it, it helps to have a framework for classifying climate policies.

It’s time to think seriously about cutting off the supply of fossil fuels by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, May 31, 2018

Links posted on Facebook

Sun May 27, 2018

Mon May 28, 2018

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What makes a halo around the sun or moon?

Robert Green of London caught this glorious solar halo on August 12, 2017 from Suðuroy, Faroe Islands. His daughter Mia is standing beneath!

We get many messages throughout each year from people who’ve just spotted a large ring or circle of light around the sun or moon. Scientists call them 22-degree halos. Why? Because the ring has a radius of approximately 22° around the sun or moon.

People always ask, what causes these gigantic rings?

There’s an old weather saying: ring around the moon means rain soon. There’s truth to this saying, because high cirrus clouds often come before a storm. Notice in these photos that the sky looks fairly clear. After all, you can see the sun or moon. And yet halos are a sign of high thin cirrus clouds drifting 20,000 feet or more above our heads.

Help EarthSky keep going! Please donate what you can to our annual crowd-funding campaign.

lunar halo emerges

Eliot Herman wrote on May 5, 2018: “This shows the change that occurred over 7 minutes as a lunar halo emerged. It then persisted for about 40 minutes and disappeared with increasing clouds. Although it appears the halo is forming from an odd shape what is actually illuminated is the edge of the clouds just before the halo formed as the clouds drifted in front of the moon. But it does have a nice illusion of an odd shaped halo then becoming round.”

These clouds contain millions of tiny ice crystals. The halos you see are caused by both refraction, or splitting of light, and also by reflection, or glints of light from these ice crystals. The crystals have to be oriented and positioned just so with respect to your eye, in order for the halo to appear.

That’s why, like rainbows, halos around the sun – or moon – are personal. Everyone sees their own particular halo, made by their own particular ice crystals, which are different from the ice crystals making the halo of the person standing next to you.

Sheryl R. Garrison in Idaho caught the November 14 supermoon. She wrote:

Sheryl R. Garrison in Idaho caught the November 14, 2016 supermoon. She wrote: “I’ve caught lunar halos before but tonight was a first for me to catch one with an arc … The arc didn’t last for long, just enough time for me to grab the tripod.” By the way, this is a special type of 22-degree lunar halo, called a circumscribed halo.

If you see a halo, notice this! Because moonlight isn’t very bright, lunar halos are mostly colorless, but you might notice more red on the inside and more blue on the outside of the halo. These colors are more noticeable in halos around the sun. If you do see a halo around the moon or sun, notice that the inner edge is sharp, while the outer edge is more diffuse. Also, notice that the sky surrounding the halo is darker than the rest of the sky.

A moon halo in Mandan, North Dakota by Marshall Lipp. February, 2015.

A moon halo in Mandan, North Dakota by Marshall Lipp. February, 2015.

Sun halo and sundogs. Captured 37,000 feet up, over Bhopal, India, on October 3, 2015. Photo by CB Devgun.

Sun halo and sundogs. Captured 37,000 feet up, over Bhopal, India, on October 3, 2015. Photo by CB Devgun.

Doug Waters in New Bern, North Carolina wrote:

Doug Waters in New Bern, North Carolina caught this photo on February 4, 2015. He wrote: “High cyrus clouds from an approaching weather system presented the perfect opportunity for a halo to form around the sun, which appeared to be pierced by the con trail of a passing airliner.” Thanks for sharing your photo with EarthSky, Doug.

Jupiter and full moon witin lunar halo on February 3, 2015. Seen from Estonia by EarthSky Facebook friend Jüri Voit. See more moon and Jupiter pics.

Halo around the sun, seen from Sweden on April 24, 2014 and captured by Fotograf Goran Strand.

Halo around the sun, seen from Sweden on April 24, 2014 and captured by Fotograf Goran Strand.

Moon halo captured by Aaron Robinson in Idaho Falls, Idaho on January 30, 2015.

Moon halo captured by Aaron Robinson in Idaho Falls, Idaho on January 30, 2015.

Abhinav Singhai captured this halo above wheat fields. Visit Abhinav Singhai's Flickr page

Abhinav Singhai captured this sun halo above wheat fields in November, 2014. Visit Abhinav Singhai’s Flickr page

EarthSky Facebook friend Jean Marie Andre Delaporte captured this image of a halo around the sun in Normandy, France on April 23, 2014.

Jean Marie Andre Delaporte captured this image of a halo around the sun in Normandy, France in April, 2014.

Solar halo seen May 14, 2013 in Monmouth, NJ, as captured by EarthSky Facebook friend Stacey Baker-Bruno. Thank you, Stacey! See more photos of May 14, 2013 photo here.

Solar halo seen May 14, 2013 in Monmouth, NJ, as captured by EarthSky Facebook friend Stacey Baker-Bruno. Thank you, Stacey! See more photos of May 14, 2013 halo here.

Halos around the sun and moon are associated with storms. On the night Superstorm Sandy made landfall in 2012, we received photos of lunar halos from across the U.S., and even as far west in the U.S. as the state of Washington. EarthSky Facebook friend Susan Jensen in Odessa, Washington saw and photographed this delicate halo, as Sandy was carving its path of destruction along the U.S. East Coast.

Lunar halo – with greenish northern lights on the left – as seen on the morning of October 8, 2012 by EarthSky Facebook friend Colin Chatfield in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

View larger. | Sun halo seen in Tucson, Arizona in September, 2012 by EarthSky Facebook friend Sean Parker Photography. Thank you, Sean! More from Sean here.

Bottom line: Halos around the sun or moon are caused by high, thin cirrus clouds drifting high above your head. Tiny ice crystals in Earth’s atmosphere create the halos. They do it by refracting and reflecting the light. Lunar halos are signs that storms are nearby.

Help EarthSky keep going! Please donate what you can to our annual crowd-funding campaign.



from EarthSky https://ift.tt/12uTQsL

Robert Green of London caught this glorious solar halo on August 12, 2017 from Suðuroy, Faroe Islands. His daughter Mia is standing beneath!

We get many messages throughout each year from people who’ve just spotted a large ring or circle of light around the sun or moon. Scientists call them 22-degree halos. Why? Because the ring has a radius of approximately 22° around the sun or moon.

People always ask, what causes these gigantic rings?

There’s an old weather saying: ring around the moon means rain soon. There’s truth to this saying, because high cirrus clouds often come before a storm. Notice in these photos that the sky looks fairly clear. After all, you can see the sun or moon. And yet halos are a sign of high thin cirrus clouds drifting 20,000 feet or more above our heads.

Help EarthSky keep going! Please donate what you can to our annual crowd-funding campaign.

lunar halo emerges

Eliot Herman wrote on May 5, 2018: “This shows the change that occurred over 7 minutes as a lunar halo emerged. It then persisted for about 40 minutes and disappeared with increasing clouds. Although it appears the halo is forming from an odd shape what is actually illuminated is the edge of the clouds just before the halo formed as the clouds drifted in front of the moon. But it does have a nice illusion of an odd shaped halo then becoming round.”

These clouds contain millions of tiny ice crystals. The halos you see are caused by both refraction, or splitting of light, and also by reflection, or glints of light from these ice crystals. The crystals have to be oriented and positioned just so with respect to your eye, in order for the halo to appear.

That’s why, like rainbows, halos around the sun – or moon – are personal. Everyone sees their own particular halo, made by their own particular ice crystals, which are different from the ice crystals making the halo of the person standing next to you.

Sheryl R. Garrison in Idaho caught the November 14 supermoon. She wrote:

Sheryl R. Garrison in Idaho caught the November 14, 2016 supermoon. She wrote: “I’ve caught lunar halos before but tonight was a first for me to catch one with an arc … The arc didn’t last for long, just enough time for me to grab the tripod.” By the way, this is a special type of 22-degree lunar halo, called a circumscribed halo.

If you see a halo, notice this! Because moonlight isn’t very bright, lunar halos are mostly colorless, but you might notice more red on the inside and more blue on the outside of the halo. These colors are more noticeable in halos around the sun. If you do see a halo around the moon or sun, notice that the inner edge is sharp, while the outer edge is more diffuse. Also, notice that the sky surrounding the halo is darker than the rest of the sky.

A moon halo in Mandan, North Dakota by Marshall Lipp. February, 2015.

A moon halo in Mandan, North Dakota by Marshall Lipp. February, 2015.

Sun halo and sundogs. Captured 37,000 feet up, over Bhopal, India, on October 3, 2015. Photo by CB Devgun.

Sun halo and sundogs. Captured 37,000 feet up, over Bhopal, India, on October 3, 2015. Photo by CB Devgun.

Doug Waters in New Bern, North Carolina wrote:

Doug Waters in New Bern, North Carolina caught this photo on February 4, 2015. He wrote: “High cyrus clouds from an approaching weather system presented the perfect opportunity for a halo to form around the sun, which appeared to be pierced by the con trail of a passing airliner.” Thanks for sharing your photo with EarthSky, Doug.

Jupiter and full moon witin lunar halo on February 3, 2015. Seen from Estonia by EarthSky Facebook friend Jüri Voit. See more moon and Jupiter pics.

Halo around the sun, seen from Sweden on April 24, 2014 and captured by Fotograf Goran Strand.

Halo around the sun, seen from Sweden on April 24, 2014 and captured by Fotograf Goran Strand.

Moon halo captured by Aaron Robinson in Idaho Falls, Idaho on January 30, 2015.

Moon halo captured by Aaron Robinson in Idaho Falls, Idaho on January 30, 2015.

Abhinav Singhai captured this halo above wheat fields. Visit Abhinav Singhai's Flickr page

Abhinav Singhai captured this sun halo above wheat fields in November, 2014. Visit Abhinav Singhai’s Flickr page

EarthSky Facebook friend Jean Marie Andre Delaporte captured this image of a halo around the sun in Normandy, France on April 23, 2014.

Jean Marie Andre Delaporte captured this image of a halo around the sun in Normandy, France in April, 2014.

Solar halo seen May 14, 2013 in Monmouth, NJ, as captured by EarthSky Facebook friend Stacey Baker-Bruno. Thank you, Stacey! See more photos of May 14, 2013 photo here.

Solar halo seen May 14, 2013 in Monmouth, NJ, as captured by EarthSky Facebook friend Stacey Baker-Bruno. Thank you, Stacey! See more photos of May 14, 2013 halo here.

Halos around the sun and moon are associated with storms. On the night Superstorm Sandy made landfall in 2012, we received photos of lunar halos from across the U.S., and even as far west in the U.S. as the state of Washington. EarthSky Facebook friend Susan Jensen in Odessa, Washington saw and photographed this delicate halo, as Sandy was carving its path of destruction along the U.S. East Coast.

Lunar halo – with greenish northern lights on the left – as seen on the morning of October 8, 2012 by EarthSky Facebook friend Colin Chatfield in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

View larger. | Sun halo seen in Tucson, Arizona in September, 2012 by EarthSky Facebook friend Sean Parker Photography. Thank you, Sean! More from Sean here.

Bottom line: Halos around the sun or moon are caused by high, thin cirrus clouds drifting high above your head. Tiny ice crystals in Earth’s atmosphere create the halos. They do it by refracting and reflecting the light. Lunar halos are signs that storms are nearby.

Help EarthSky keep going! Please donate what you can to our annual crowd-funding campaign.



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News digest – cancer blood test, brain tumour vaccine, smoking, and how to predict a tumour’s future

‘Simple blood test’ still not the finished article

Blood tests to detect cancer regularly make the headlines, and an accurate test would be great news for patients. But, in reality, they’re rarely close to being widely used. The latest blood test story came from unpublished work presented at the large ASCO conference taking place in Chicago. Despite the headlines, the “holy grail” of cancer treatment is still some way off. The test was used on patients who had already been diagnosed. But didn’t pick up every cancer. And it was better at picking up some cancers types than others. Bigger studies are now needed to see if this blood test can pick up cancer before a person has symptoms, and ultimately if this can help save lives.

Vaccine against glioblastoma makes progress

Early results from a long-running study showed that brain tumour patients given a vaccine lived on average more than twice as long as those on standard treatment. The Guardian reports on the experimental vaccine that has been engineered to attack glioblastoma, an aggressive type of brain tumour.

Wales to ban smoking outside schools and hospitals

Wales has announced plans to become the first country in the UK to ban smoking outside schools and hospitals. The Express and The Sun report that the Welsh government hopes to extend the smoking ban by next summer, and will include playgrounds.

Smoking rates fall worldwide

More on smoking as The World Health Organisation released new figures showing the global pattern of smoking. The Telegraph points out that even though smoking rates declined globally overall, the number of smokers in poorer countries is rising.

MPs call for tax on unhealthy foods 

The Telegraph and The Sun report calls from MPs to tax unhealthy foods as another attempt to tackle the obesity crisis. They also suggested that the sugar tax should be extended to chocolate and puddings.

Tracking cancer’s past to predict its future

Our scientists have used computers and genetic data to piece together a cancer’s history. According to The Times (£), this could help researchers develop a way to predict the next steps that a tumour will take as it progresses. We talk to the scientists involved in the study in this blog post.

Can we teach an AI machine to recognise skin cancer?

Using more than 100,000 images, researchers have taught a computer how to recognise melanoma, an aggressive form of skin cancer, reports The Sun. The programme could one-day have the potential to help doctors diagnose skin cancer, but we need further studies to know if this technology could help accurately diagnose patients.

Antifungal treatment kills sleeping bowel cancer cells in mice

A common antifungal treatment for infected toenails has been shown to get rid of sleeping bowel cancer cells in the gut of mice, according to the Independent. Our researchers found that, as well as killing ‘active’ bowel cancer cells, it also hit those that lie in a dormant state. These cells can be responsible for the tumour coming back, and can be missed by some treatments. Read our press release for more.

Ovarian cancer drug approved for NHS use

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) has said the ovarian cancer drug niraparib can be made available to some women on the NHS in England and Wales. The Guardian reports that up to 850 women could benefit.

Everyday changes could avoid thousands of cancers a year

Around 500 cases of cancer in UK women could be prevented each week by keeping a healthy weight, eating more fibre and increasing exercise, reports The Sun and Mail Online. Our press release has the details.

And finally

One of the largest cancer conferences, the ASCO annual meeting, is taking place in Chicago. It’s where researchers gather to discuss their latest findings, with lots of stories making the papers. We’ll be covering the latest from the conference on our blog, and you can check out this post for a few tips to help you judge a story for yourself.

Gabi



from Cancer Research UK – Science blog https://ift.tt/2Jp3oDl

‘Simple blood test’ still not the finished article

Blood tests to detect cancer regularly make the headlines, and an accurate test would be great news for patients. But, in reality, they’re rarely close to being widely used. The latest blood test story came from unpublished work presented at the large ASCO conference taking place in Chicago. Despite the headlines, the “holy grail” of cancer treatment is still some way off. The test was used on patients who had already been diagnosed. But didn’t pick up every cancer. And it was better at picking up some cancers types than others. Bigger studies are now needed to see if this blood test can pick up cancer before a person has symptoms, and ultimately if this can help save lives.

Vaccine against glioblastoma makes progress

Early results from a long-running study showed that brain tumour patients given a vaccine lived on average more than twice as long as those on standard treatment. The Guardian reports on the experimental vaccine that has been engineered to attack glioblastoma, an aggressive type of brain tumour.

Wales to ban smoking outside schools and hospitals

Wales has announced plans to become the first country in the UK to ban smoking outside schools and hospitals. The Express and The Sun report that the Welsh government hopes to extend the smoking ban by next summer, and will include playgrounds.

Smoking rates fall worldwide

More on smoking as The World Health Organisation released new figures showing the global pattern of smoking. The Telegraph points out that even though smoking rates declined globally overall, the number of smokers in poorer countries is rising.

MPs call for tax on unhealthy foods 

The Telegraph and The Sun report calls from MPs to tax unhealthy foods as another attempt to tackle the obesity crisis. They also suggested that the sugar tax should be extended to chocolate and puddings.

Tracking cancer’s past to predict its future

Our scientists have used computers and genetic data to piece together a cancer’s history. According to The Times (£), this could help researchers develop a way to predict the next steps that a tumour will take as it progresses. We talk to the scientists involved in the study in this blog post.

Can we teach an AI machine to recognise skin cancer?

Using more than 100,000 images, researchers have taught a computer how to recognise melanoma, an aggressive form of skin cancer, reports The Sun. The programme could one-day have the potential to help doctors diagnose skin cancer, but we need further studies to know if this technology could help accurately diagnose patients.

Antifungal treatment kills sleeping bowel cancer cells in mice

A common antifungal treatment for infected toenails has been shown to get rid of sleeping bowel cancer cells in the gut of mice, according to the Independent. Our researchers found that, as well as killing ‘active’ bowel cancer cells, it also hit those that lie in a dormant state. These cells can be responsible for the tumour coming back, and can be missed by some treatments. Read our press release for more.

Ovarian cancer drug approved for NHS use

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) has said the ovarian cancer drug niraparib can be made available to some women on the NHS in England and Wales. The Guardian reports that up to 850 women could benefit.

Everyday changes could avoid thousands of cancers a year

Around 500 cases of cancer in UK women could be prevented each week by keeping a healthy weight, eating more fibre and increasing exercise, reports The Sun and Mail Online. Our press release has the details.

And finally

One of the largest cancer conferences, the ASCO annual meeting, is taking place in Chicago. It’s where researchers gather to discuss their latest findings, with lots of stories making the papers. We’ll be covering the latest from the conference on our blog, and you can check out this post for a few tips to help you judge a story for yourself.

Gabi



from Cancer Research UK – Science blog https://ift.tt/2Jp3oDl
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