For the first time, model calculations show a plausible way that fluctuations in solar activity could have a tangible impact on the climate. Studies funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation expect human-induced global warming to tail off slightly over the next few decades. A weaker sun could reduce temperatures by half a degree. —Swiss National Science Foundation, 27 March 2017
Prominent scientists operating outside the scientific consensus on climate change urged Congress on Wednesday to fund “red teams” to investigate “natural” causes of global warming and challenge the findings of the United Nations’ climate science panel. The suggestion for a counter-investigative science force ‚Äì or red team approach ‚Äì was presented in prepared testimony by scientists known for questioning the influence of human activity on global warming. It comes at a time when President Donald Trump and other members of the administration have expressed doubt about the accepted science of climate change, and are considering drastic cuts to federal funding for scientific research. –Chelsea Harvey, The Washington Post, 31 March 2017
The U.S House of Representatives today approved H.R. 1430, the Honest and Open New EPA Science Treatment Act of 2017 (HONEST Act), introduced by Science, Space, and Technology Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) and Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas). The bill passed by a vote of 228-194. The HONEST Act requires that Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations be based upon science that is publicly available. —U.S. Committee on Science, Space and Technology, 30 March 2017
After falling in six out of seven quarters since mid-2014, coal production rose in the third and fourth quarters of 2016. Among the coal supply regions, the Powder River Basin in Montana and Wyoming saw the largest increases in the second half of 2016. The increases in coal production were driven by an increase in coal-fired electricity generation, which occurred as natural gas prices increased. —U.S. Energy Information Administration, 29 March 2017
China’s coal-fired power generation as a percentage of the total energy mix is on the rise for the second year, despite the push towards renewable capacity additions in the country, Citi analysts said Friday. A 5% growth in China’s coal-fired power generation would mean an additional consumption of about 65 million mt of coal, with the size of the entire seaborne market at about 850 million mt, the analysts said. —Platts, 31 March 2017
At least 3,119 polluters have faked emissions data and even resisted checks from environmental inspectors, the ministry of environment said, summarizing its latest efforts to tackle the smog that often shrouds the north of the country. —South China Morning Post, 31 March 2017
The South African government has given the go-ahead for shale gas development in the Karoo region, Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane said on Thursday. “Based on the balance of available scientific evidence, government took a decision to proceed with the development of shale gas in the Karoo formation of South Africa,” he said in a speech. The department estimated that up to 50 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of shale gas was recoverable in the Karoo Basin, especially in the Eastern, Northern, and Western Cape provinces. He said it was in their interests to ensure all South Africans benefited socially and economically from the mineral wealth. —News24, 31 March 2017
In view of Australia’s decline from being one of the world’s cheap-energy economies into one of the most expensive — where power prices have doubled in a decade — governments in this country cannot afford to overlook important lessons from Donald Trump’s swift move to end Barack Obama’s war on coal and his predecessor’s other so-called “progressive” climate change preoccupations. Mr Trump’s realistic energy policy should encourage other nations to reassess. Worldwide, 1500 coal-fired generating plants are being built or are at the planning stage. At least the Turnbull government is on the right track in encouraging the construction of new clean-coal-fired power stations¬≠ in an effort to mitigate Australia’s energ¬≠y security and pricing crisis. –Editorial, The Australian, 31 March 2017
How do people arrive at their view of global warming / climate change? Seems to me that the denier camp is predominantly rural while the climate activists are urban. Urban heat effect is worth 2 to 5 Fahrenheit degrees. New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, they’re predominantly liberal. If it was possible to cool the cities during summer months would people worry so much about warming? Pollsters should be able to ask the right questions to find out if the fear of global warming is subjective or altruistic. And also ask if they believe that carbon taxes will bring ” better ” climate, just to weed out the crazies.
“Seems to me that the denier camp is predominantly rural while the climate activists are urban.”
How true. It seems that the people who live the furthest from the natural order of earth are the first to lecture the rest of us on subjects like farming, hunting, fishing, etc. The people responsible for true conservation and stewardship tend to have the highest order of true respect for the environment in which they live, and less tolerance for politics and driveling nonsense disguised as “environmentalism” by the urban elite.
TSI dropped from 1370 to 1360 W/m2 over 30 yrs. This drop is >770,000X more energy than total human consumption of energy!
I know what their answer is to that awkward fact. The sun’s output dropped but Earth’s temperature went up, so CO2 must be the “culprit” . I don’t trust them with the temperature data and their interpretation of historical proxy data. Record temperatures from the 30’s and 50’s still stand. Everyone knows that they’ve adjusted (downward) historical data from land based thermometers, to conform to and confirm their climate computer- models. If they predict a global increase of 1 or 2 Celsius degrees over the next century, why panic? Satellite data is still young but growing. There is no human surface activity adulteration of those readings. We have lots of time to watch and learn.