Story of the week

This week we’ll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and eventually wrap them up into this weekly compilation. This all started as a manual process where members from our team – especially John Hartz – scoured the internet looking for worthwhile articles to share on our Facebook page. To share that load, we also created a Google form via which articles could be submitted for the publication queue. As the submissions end up in a Google sheet, it is easy enough to use some sheet functions to build the post content for Facebook and elsewhere. It is also possible to build the underlying HTML-code needed for bullet lists items.

Scouring the internet for articles and building this blog post was however still a more or less manual and somewhat time-consuming process. This is when Doug Bostrom had a few very good ideas:

Make use of publications’ RSS-feeds to help with identifying suitable articles to share
Run a script once per hour to generate an updated list of articles also indicating the ones already queued
Partially automate filling-out the Google form based on the RSS feed information
Use a script to build the below bullet list grouped by publication dates of the articles

Each of these steps leverages some aspect of the Google sheet, making everything fall into place nicely so that we can more efficiently identify and share articles we deem interesting. Obviously, there’s also still the option to manually add items missed by the already wide-ranging RSS feeds!

Stories we promoted this week, by publication date:

Before March 10

Rains Are Scarce in the Amazon. Instead, Megafires Are Raging., Climate, New York Times, Ana Ionova & Manuela Andreoni. “Hundreds of square miles of the rainforest have burned as countries in the region battle a record number of fires fueled by extreme weather.”
Skeptical Science New Research for Week #10 2024, Skeptical Science, Doug Bostrom & Marc Kodack. Our latest #ClimateResearch roundup, features 150 articles in 74 journals by 907 contributing authors
Does climate change trigger earthquakes?, Climate, Vox, Paige Vega. “This and more reader questions on climate change, explained.”
More solar shenanigans*, RealClimate, Gavin Schmidt.
U.S. has warmest winter on record – and no, that’s not a good thing, NPR Topics: Climate, Lauren Sommer. Warmer winters sound pleasant— until we add up negative impacts spanning parasite, agricultural disruption and water supplies.
The Obscene Energy Demands of A.I., Daily Comment, The New Yorker Magazine, Elizabeth Kolbert. How can the world reach net zero if it keeps inventing new ways to consume energy?
Are we stressing the wrong metrics for climate change?, Science & Health, Salon, Matthew Rosza. “Experts say rising temperatures due to burning fossil fuels only explains part of the ways we’re cooking our planet”

March 10

2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #10, Skeptical Science, Baerbel Winkler & Doug Bostrom. 35 articles we found of interest in the past week
Europe unprepared for rapidly growing climate risks, report finds, The Guardian, Ajit Niranjan. Dangers of wildfires, extreme weather and other factors outgrowing preparedness, European Environment Agency says
For Southern Illinois and the climate, Shawnee National Park is the `next logical step`, Yahoo News – Latest News , Katie Dangerfield . Canada’s changing parasite phenology: another measure of global warming
Brazil`s staggering dengue fever crisis is a warning to the world, Washington Post, Marina Dias, Terrence McCoy. Dengue rips through much of South America, and scientists say rising temperatures due to climate change are supercharging mosquito populations carrying the disease

March 11

Why more CO2 could be bad news for crops, Yale Climate Connections, YCC Team. Carbon dioxide can boost photosynthesis, but that benefit can be outweighed by an increased risk of damage from extreme weather.
There are growing fears of an alarming shift in Antarctic sea ice, New Scientist, James Dinneen. Antarctic sea ice cover remains far below average levels for the third year in a row, but researchers are uncertain whether this is a permanent shift driven by climate change or part of natural fluctuations
Heat Pumps Are Still A Good Investment Even If Your Grid Is Powered By Coal, CleanTechnica, Steve Hanley. Strong efficiency gains mean a significant reduction in CO2 footprint regardless of energy supply.
Top Fossil Fuel Ad Ban Critic Runs Group That Got $450K from Oil Company, DeSmog, Geoff Dembicki. Indigenous North American population continues to be victim of exploitation.
Is renewable energy cheaper than fossil fuels?, The Climate Brink, Andrew Dessler. In most cases, yes
Earth’s ice caps are in serious trouble. Three new studies reveal how bad the damage is, Science & Health, Salon, Matthew Sosza. “One study projects that the Arctic could see summer days without sea ice within the next decade”

March 12

Bananas to cost more as climate warms, says expert, BBC News, Matt McGrath. Bananas are set to get more expensive as climate change hits a much-loved fruit, one of the world’s top experts from the industry tells BBC News.
At a glance – The albedo effect and global warming, Skeptical Science, John Mason.
Climate change matters to more and more people – and could be a deciding factor in the 2024 election, The Conversation, Matt Burgess.
Volcanoes emit carbon dioxide, but not nearly as much as humans, Yale Climate Connections, YCC Team. Humanity produces an amount roughly equivalent to the eruption of Mount St. Helens every 2.5 hours.
Jerome Powell just revealed a hidden reason why inflation is staying high: The economy is increasingly uninsurable, Fortune, Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez. Troublesomely high inflation rates may have an overlooked metric at their source: soaring insurance costs.
Critical Thinking Revealed: Dr. John Cook, Cognitive Psychologist on Climate Misinformation, The Foundation for Critical Thinking on Youtube, Linda Elder. Podcast interview by Dr. Linda Elder with Dr. John Cook
Spring is here very early. That’s not good., Climate, Vox, Li Zhou. “Winter’s insanely early end, explained in one map.”

March 13

Are we breaking the Atlantic Ocean?, Climate, Vox, Brian Resnick. “The climate change scenario that could chill parts of the world, explained.”
Climate Change Is Bad for Your Health, Wherever You Are, Science Latest, Rob Reddick. Rising temperatures are a threat regardless of where you live on the planet—they’re just dangerous in different ways.

March 14

Sheep are living their best life at Susquehanna University, Yale Climate Connections, YCC Team. They’re eating the grass and weeds that grow around the Pennsylvania college’s solar array.
Shell changed its mind about how much it wants to fight climate change, Quartz, Melvin Backman. The company is softening its emission-reduction targets in the short term
Could the Amazon Rainforest Collapse?, ClimateAdam on Youtube, Adam Levy.
Biden Must Do Much More to Win Over Young Climate Voters, Common Dreams, Noa Greene-Houvras. “Biden must end the flow of public money to fossil fuels, sending a clear statement to voters that he is the candidate who will stand up to fossil fuels, and stand up for our future.”
As World Saw Hottest Year on Record, Corporate News Cut Coverage, Climate, Common Dreams, Jessica Corbett. ” ‘We need more climate journalism, not less,’ said one Media Matters for America writer.”

March 15

Talk Isn’t Cheap: The Power of Conversation, Climate One, Greg Dalton and Arian Brocious. As heat waves, storms, droughts and wildfires continue to worsen, talking can seem like a seriously insufficient climate solution. Are we just engaged in blah, blah, blah?
You flood it, you pay for it., The Crucial Years, Bill McKibben. States are considering ‘climate superfund’ laws to hold Big Oil accountable
Why Is the Sea So Hot?, The New Yorker, Elizabeth Kolbert. A startling rise in sea-surface temperatures suggests that we may not understand how fast the climate is changing.

March 16

Scientists divided over whether record heat is acceleration of climate crisis, The Guardian, Jonathan Watts and Tural Ahmedzade. Some believe global anomalies are in line with predictions but others are more concerned by speed of change

If you happen upon high quality climate-science and/or climate-myth busting articles from reliable sources while surfing the web, please feel free to submit them via this Google form so that we may share them widely. Thanks!