Arguments
Skeptical Science New Research for Week #37 2024
Posted on 19 September 2024 by Doug Bostrom, Marc Kodack
Open access notables
A just world on a safe planet: a Lancet Planetary Health–Earth Commission report on Earth-system boundaries, translations, and transformations, Gupta et al., The Lancet Planetary Health:
The health of the planet and its people are at risk. The deterioration of the global commons—ie, the natural systems that support life on Earth—is exacerbating energy, food, and water insecurity, and increasing the risk of disease, disaster, displacement, and conflict. In this Commission, we quantify safe and just Earth-system boundaries (ESBs) and assess minimum access to natural resources required for human dignity and to enable escape from poverty. Collectively, these describe a safe and just corridor that is essential to ensuring sustainable and resilient human and planetary health and thriving in the Anthropocene. We then discuss the need for translation of ESBs across scales to inform science-based targets for action by key actors (and the challenges in doing so), and conclude by identifying the system transformations necessary to bring about a safe and just future.
Thermal tolerance traits of individual corals are widely distributed across the Great Barrier Reef, Denis et al., Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences:
Adaptation of reef-building corals to global warming depends upon standing heritable variation in tolerance traits upon which selection can act. Yet limited knowledge exists on heat-tolerance variation among conspecific individuals separated by metres to hundreds of kilometres. Here, we performed standardized acute heat-stress assays to quantify the thermal tolerance traits of 709 colonies of Acropora spathulata from 13 reefs spanning 1060 km (9.5° latitude) of the Great Barrier Reef. Thermal thresholds for photochemical efficiency and chlorophyll retention varied considerably among individual colonies both among reefs (approximately 6°C) and within reefs (approximately 3°C). Although tolerance rankings of colonies varied between traits, the most heat-tolerant corals (i.e. top 25% of each trait) were found at virtually all reefs, indicating widespread phenotypic variation. Reef-scale environmental predictors explained 12–62% of trait variation. Corals exposed to high thermal averages and recent thermal stress exhibited the greatest photochemical performance, probably reflecting local adaptation and stress pre-acclimatization, and the lowest chlorophyll retention suggesting stress pre-sensitization. Importantly, heat tolerance relative to local summer temperatures was the greatest on higher latitude reefs suggestive of higher adaptive potential. These results can be used to identify naturally tolerant coral populations and individuals for conservation and restoration applications.
Defeating cap-and-trade: How the fossil fuel industry and climate change counter movement obstruct U.S. Climate Change Legislation, Nanko & Coan, Global Environmental Change:
This study investigates the role of climate change contrarians in the defeat of the American Clean Energy and Security Act in 2010, a pivotal moment in U.S. climate policy that marked the end of extensive efforts to enact cap-and-trade climate legislation in the United States. Our research objectives are twofold: firstly, to determine the extent to which climate contrarians gained access to testify at congressional hearings in the years leading up to the bill’s ultimate defeat; and secondly, to examine the potential influence of fossil fuel industry (FFI) funds in facilitating this access. We compile a comprehensive new dataset encompassing all witnesses testifying at cap-and-trade and climate science hearings from 2003 to 2010. This information is cross-referenced with other pertinent data concerning interest groups, lobbying activities, and Congress. Our findings reveal a significant correlation between FFI lobbying expenditures and campaign contributions and the presence of contrarian witnesses at these hearings, suggesting a coordinated effort by the FFI to obstruct climate legislation. We find that contrarians were able to obtain disproportionate access to central hearings in key committees with jurisdiction over cap-and-trade bills, increasing their potential to obstruct legislation. Moreover, our analysis exposes a concerning over-representation of scientists known to deny the scientific consensus at these hearings, undermining the scientific consensus on climate change and perpetuating doubt about the urgency of climate action.
Durably reducing conspiracy beliefs through dialogues with AI, Costello et al., Science:
Conspiracy theory beliefs are notoriously persistent. Influential hypotheses propose that they fulfill important psychological needs, thus resisting counterevidence. Yet previous failures in correcting conspiracy beliefs may be due to counterevidence being insufficiently compelling and tailored. To evaluate this possibility, we leveraged developments in generative artificial intelligence and engaged 2190 conspiracy believers in personalized evidence-based dialogues with GPT-4 Turbo. The intervention reduced conspiracy belief by ~20%. The effect remained 2 months later, generalized across a wide range of conspiracy theories, and occurred even among participants with deeply entrenched beliefs. Although the dialogues focused on a single conspiracy, they nonetheless diminished belief in unrelated conspiracies and shifted conspiracy-related behavioral intentions. These findings suggest that many conspiracy theory believers can revise their views if presented with sufficiently compelling evidence.
From this week's government and NGO section:
Big Oil in Court - The latest trends in climate litigation against fossil fuel companies, Oil Change International and Zero Carbon Analytics
The authors analyze the escalating wave of climate litigation aimed at fossil fuel companies, e.g., 86 climate lawsuits have been filed against the world’s largest oil, gas, and coal-producing corporations – including BP, Chevron, Eni, ExxonMobil, Shell, and TotalEnergies. The number of cases filed against fossil fuel companies each year has nearly tripled since the Paris Agreement was reached in 2015, highlighting a growing global movement to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for their role in the climate crisis.
Climate Change Adaptation in Areas Beyond Government Control: Opportunities and Limitations, Karen Meijer and Ann Sophie Böhle, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Areas beyond government control constitute a highly diverse subgroup of fragile and conflict-affected settings. As a result of conflict and weak governance, many of these areas have become more vulnerable to climate change and their communities have been left with limited capacity to respond to changing climatic conditions and extreme weather events. These settings pose unique challenges for external engagement and have, therefore, long been overlooked in adaptation efforts. The authors explore both opportunities for and the limitations of climate change adaptation in areas beyond government control. By highlighting the diversity of these settings and the range of possible adaptation measures, the authors propose a framework with four guiding questions designed to help identify context-appropriate adaptation options.
87 articles in 50 journals by 550 contributing authors
Physical science of climate change, effects
A Model-Based Investigation of the Recent Rebound of Shelf Water Salinity in the Ross Sea, ZHANG et al., Open Access pdf 10.22541/essoar.169755485.54197066/v1
Observations of climate change, effects
Amplified precipitation extremes since 21st century in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration, China, Wang et al., Atmospheric Research Open Access 10.1016/j.atmosres.2024.107695
China's Yangtze River basin is becoming the super heatwave centre in the East Asian monsoon regions, Wei et al., International Journal of Climatology 10.1002/joc.8621
Flash drought and heatwave compound events increased in strength and length from 1980 to 2022 in China, Fu et al., Weather and Climate Extremes Open Access 10.1016/j.wace.2024.100720
Local climate and trends in air mass-based weather types over the Arabian Peninsula, Alghamdi & Harrington, International Journal of Climatology 10.1002/joc.8631
Sketching the spatial disparities in heatwave trends by changing atmospheric teleconnections in the Northern Hemisphere, Cai et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-024-52254-0
Trends in the high-latitude mesosphere temperature and mesopause revealed by SABER, Liu et al., Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Open Access 10.5194/acp-24-10143-2024
Instrumentation & observational methods of climate change, effects
Consistency of climatic changes at different time scales in Central England and Greenland, Stepanov et al., Journal of Atmospheric and Solar 10.1016/j.jastp.2024.106343
Modeling, simulation & projection of climate change, effects
Advanced Peak Phase of ENSO under Global Warming, Zheng et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-24-0002.1
Change of global land extreme temperature in the future, Zhang et al., Global and Planetary Change 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2024.104583
Changes in Four Decades of Near-CONUS Tropical Cyclones in an Ensemble of 12 km Thermodynamic Global Warming Simulations, Zarzycki et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2024gl110535
Deciphering the Variations and Mechanisms of Global Land Monsoons during Marine Isotope Stage 3, Zhang et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-23-0584.1
Exploring variability in climate change projections on the Nemunas River and Curonian Lagoon: coupled SWAT and SHYFEM modeling approach, ?erkasova et al., Ocean Science Open Access 10.5194/os-20-1123-2024
Future climate change implications in Bhutan from a downscaled and bias-adjusted CMIP6 multimodel ensemble, Lehner et al., International Journal of Climatology Open Access 10.1002/joc.8623
Impacts of Local and Remote SST Warming on Summer Circulation Changes in the Western North Pacific, Chen et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-23-0403.1
Advancement of climate & climate effects modeling, simulation & projection
A Comprehensive Evaluation of Mean and Extreme Climate for the Conformal Cubic Atmospheric Model (CCAM), Schroeter et al., Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology 10.1175/jamc-d-24-0004.1
An improved and extended parameterization of the CO2 15 µm cooling in the middle and upper atmosphere (CO2&cool&fort-1.0), López-Puertas et al., Geoscientific Model Development Open Access 10.5194/gmd-17-4401-2024
High-resolution urban climate simulations for heat and health applications in Philadelphia, Le Roy et al., Urban Climate 10.1016/j.uclim.2024.102114
Regionalization and its impact on global runoff simulations: A case study using the global hydrological model WaterGAP3 (v 1.0.0), Kupzig et al., Geoscientific Model Development Open Access 10.5194/gmd-17-6819-2024
The Shortwave Cloud-SST Feedback Amplifies Multi-Decadal Pacific Sea Surface Temperature Trends: Implications for Observed Cooling, Espinosa & Zelinka Zelinka, Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2024gl111039
Cryosphere & climate change
Climate and ablation observations from automatic ablation and weather stations at A. P. Olsen Ice Cap transect, NE Greenland, May 2008 through May 2022, Larsen et al., Open Access 10.5194/essd-2023-444
Inland Summer Speedup at Zachariæ Isstrøm, Northeast Greenland, Driven by Subglacial Hydrology, Khan et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2024gl110691
Lake ice quality in a warming world, Culpepper et al., Nature Reviews Earth & Environment 10.1038/s43017-024-00590-6
Paleoclimate & paleogeochemistry
Can we reliably reconstruct the mid-Pliocene Warm Period with sparse data and uncertain models?, Annan et al., Climate of the Past Open Access 10.5194/cp-20-1989-2024
Enhanced global dust counteracted greenhouse warming during the mid- to late-Holocene, Jiang et al., Earth 10.1016/j.earscirev.2024.104937
Biology & climate change, related geochemistry
Birds in arid regions have depauperate louse communities: Climate change implications?, Bush et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access 10.1002/ece3.70280
Chlorophyll Production in the Amundsen Sea Boosts Heat Flux to Atmosphere and Weakens Heat Flux to Ice Shelves, Twelves et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans Open Access 10.1029/2024jc021121
Chronic and acute thermal stressors have non-additive effects on fertility, Pilakouta et al., Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences Open Access 10.1098/rspb.2024.1086
Humid, Warm and Treed Ecosystems Show Longer Time-Lag of Vegetation Response to Climate, Gao et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2024gl111737
Ocean acidification does not prolong recovery of coral holobionts from natural thermal stress in two consecutive years, Dobson et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access 10.1038/s43247-024-01672-5
Predicted community consequences of spatially explicit global change-induced processes on plant–insect networks, Ho & Altermatt, Ecology and Evolution Open Access 10.1002/ece3.70272
The influence of habitat alteration is widespread, but the impact of climate cannot continue to be discounted, Dickie et al., Global Change Biology Open Access 10.1111/gcb.17497
The Role of Climate Change in the Proliferation of Freshwater Harmful Algal Blooms in Inland Water Bodies of the United States, Wiley & McPherson, Earth Interactions Open Access pdf 10.1175/ei-d-23-0008.1
Thermal tolerance traits of individual corals are widely distributed across the Great Barrier Reef, Denis et al., Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences Open Access 10.1098/rspb.2024.0587
“Two zones and three centers” distribution and suitable areas shift of an evergreen oak in subtropical China under climate scenarios, Zhang et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access 10.1002/ece3.70300
GHG sources & sinks, flux, related geochemistry
Constructing a measurement-based spatially explicit inventory of US oil and gas methane emissions, Omara et al., Open Access 10.5194/essd-2024-72
Emerging multiscale insights on microbial carbon use efficiency in the land carbon cycle, He et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-024-52160-5
Estimation of Urban Greenhouse Gas Fluxes from Mole Fraction Measurements Using Monin–Obukhov Similarity Theory, Kenion et al., Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology 10.1175/jtech-d-23-0164.1
High-resolution atmospheric CO2 concentration data simulated in WRF-Chem over East Asia for 10 years, Seo et al., Geoscience Data Journal Open Access 10.1002/gdj3.273
Integrating State Data Assimilation and Innovative Model Parameterization Reduces Simulated Carbon Uptake in the Arctic and Boreal Region, Huo et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences 10.1029/2024jg008004
Minor carbon sequestration under nitrogen deposition due to downregulated nitrogen uptake and use efficiency, Wang et al., Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 10.1016/j.agrformet.2024.110220
Pacific Ocean–originated anthropogenic carbon and its long-term variations in the South China Sea, Wang et al., Science Advances Open Access 10.1126/sciadv.adn9171
Seamounts Enhance the Local Emission of CO2 in the Northern South China Sea, Zhang et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2023gl107264
Simultaneous Hot and Dry Extreme-Events Increase Wetland Methane Emissions: An Assessment of Compound Extreme-Event Impacts Using Ameriflux and FLUXNET-CH4 Site Data Sets, Lippmann et al., Global Biogeochemical Cycles Open Access 10.1029/2024gb008201
Spatial and temporal variations of gross primary production simulated by land surface model BCC&AVIM2.0, Li et al., Advances in Climate Change Research Open Access 10.1016/j.accre.2023.02.001
The Changing Biological Carbon Pump of the South Atlantic Ocean, Delaigue et al., Global Biogeochemical Cycles Open Access 10.1029/2024gb008202
The impacts of modelling prescribed vs. dynamic land cover in a high-CO2 future scenario – greening of the Arctic and Amazonian dieback, Kou-Giesbrecht et al., Open Access pdf 10.5194/egusphere-2023-2711
The Northeast Greenland Shelf as a potential late-summer CO2 source to the atmosphere, Willcox et al., Biogeosciences Open Access 10.5194/bg-21-4037-2024
CO2 capture, sequestration science & engineering
A holistic platform for accelerating sorbent-based carbon capture, Charalambous et al., Nature Open Access 10.1038/s41586-024-07683-8
Synergies of storing hydrogen at the crest of CO2${rm CO}&{2}$ or other gas storage, Zhang et al., Energies Open Access pdf 10.3390/en13153829
Decarbonization
Coproduction of Integrated Weather and Climate Services to Support Net-Zero Energy Transitions, Troccoli et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society Open Access pdf 10.1175/bams-d-23-0029.1
Diverse decarbonization pathways under near cost-optimal futures, Sinha et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-024-52433-z
Simulation of hydrogen transportation development path and carbon emission reduction path based on LEAP model - A case study of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region, Shi et al., Energy Policy 10.1016/j.enpol.2024.114337
Trends in port decarbonisation research: are we reinventing the wheel?, Alamoush, Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 10.1016/j.cosust.2024.101478
Black carbon
The politics of knowledge in black carbon mitigation: Policy entrepreneurship of Finnish actors and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, Aalto & Claydon, Environmental Science & Policy Open Access 10.1016/j.envsci.2024.103881
Aerosols
Combining Temperature and Precipitation to Constrain the Aerosol Contribution to Observed Climate Change, Roesch et al., Journal of Climate Open Access pdf 10.1175/jcli-d-23-0347.1
The Interaction Between Climate Forcing and Feedbacks, Gettelman et al., Open Access pdf 10.22541/essoar.170612437.79287996/v1
Climate change communications & cognition
Assessment of Textbook Content and Teachers’ Competence in Climate Change Education at the Primary Level, Batool & Behlol , Weather, Climate, and Society Open Access 10.1175/wcas-d-23-0143.1
Durably reducing conspiracy beliefs through dialogues with AI, Costello et al., Science Open Access pdf 10.1126/science.adq1814
Agronomy, animal husbundry, food production & climate change
Carbon farming diffusion in Australia, Evans et al., Global Environmental Change Open Access 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2024.102921
Future changes in agrometeorological extremes in the southern Mediterranean region: When and where will they affect croplands and wheatlands?, Mirgol et al., Agricultural and Forest Meteorology Open Access 10.1016/j.agrformet.2024.110232
Modeling biochar effects on soil organic carbon on croplands in a microbial decomposition model (MIMICS-BC&v1.0), Han et al., Geoscientific Model Development Open Access 10.5194/gmd-17-4871-2024
Nexus among climate change, food systems, and human health: An interdisciplinary research framework in the Global South, Gomes et al., Environmental Science & Policy 10.1016/j.envsci.2024.103885
The changing geography of wine climates and its implications on adaptation in the Italian Alps, Tscholl & Egarter Vigl, Climate Resilience and Sustainability Open Access 10.1002/cli2.70000
Hydrology, hydrometeorology & climate change
Future Projection of Extreme Precipitation using a Pseudo-Global Warming Method: A Case Study of the 2013 Alberta Flooding Event, Zhao et al., Weather and Climate Extremes Open Access 10.1016/j.wace.2024.100721
Climate change economics
The ocean carbon sink enhances countries’ inclusive wealth and reduces the cost of national climate policies, Rickels et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access 10.1038/s43247-024-01674-3
Climate change mitigation public policy research
At scale adoption of Green Hydrogen in Indian Industry: Costs, subsidies and policies, Jindal et al., Energy for Sustainable Development 10.1016/j.esd.2024.101549
Carbon pricing acceptance – the role of revenue recycling among households and companies in Norway, Dugstad et al., Climate Policy Open Access 10.1080/14693062.2024.2401853
Characterizing ‘injustices’ in clean energy transitions in Africa, Akrofi et al., Energy for Sustainable Development Open Access 10.1016/j.esd.2024.101546
Defeating cap-and-trade: How the fossil fuel industry and climate change counter movement obstruct U.S. Climate Change Legislation, Nanko & Coan, Global Environmental Change Open Access 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2024.102919
Evaluating local climate policy: Municipal action plans through the lens of resilience and environmental justice, Diedrich, PLOS Climate Open Access 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000395
Mainstreaming decarbonization through local climate budgets in Norwegian municipalities, Baggio & Tozer, Climate Policy 10.1080/14693062.2024.2403563
Mapping forest-based natural climate solutions, Shanley et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access 10.1038/s43247-024-01678-z
The chicken or the egg? Spillover between private climate action and climate policy support, Siegel et al., Poultry Science Open Access 10.1093/ps/85.12.2050
The role of value, belief and norm in shaping intentions to use residential rooftop solar for environment sustainability, Farm et al., Energy Policy 10.1016/j.enpol.2024.114334
U.S. vertically integrated electric utility greenhouse gas emissions and carbon risk premiums around the Paris Accord, Michelfelder & Pilotte, Energy Policy 10.1016/j.enpol.2024.114346
Underestimation of personal carbon footprint inequality in four diverse countries, Nielsen et al., Open Access pdf 10.31234/osf.io/3agzk
Unveiling local climate action: a case study of mitigation efforts in Gauteng’s West Rand District Municipality, South Africa, Rasebechele et al., Climate Policy Open Access 10.1080/14693062.2024.2401851
Climate change adaptation & adaptation public policy research
Attending to the unattended: Why and how do local governments plan for access and functional needs in climate risk reduction?, Zhang & Xiang, Environmental Science & Policy 10.1016/j.envsci.2024.103892
Climate change impacts on human health
Bolstering community resilience through health-focused climate change adaptation: moving from talk to action in Western Canadian communities, Rose & Birchall, Climate Policy 10.1080/14693062.2024.2395920
Informed opinion, nudges & major initiatives
Collaboration can preserve the integrity of gold standard carbon data from forest inventories, Goeking et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Open Access 10.1073/pnas.2409263121
Do we have time for democracy? Climate action and the problem of time in the Anthropocene, Ejsing et al., The Anthropocene Review 10.1177/20530196241279564
Offsets, carbon markets, and climate and economic justice, Pande, Science 10.1126/science.ads1902
Temporary mitigation off-ramps could help manage decarbonization headwinds, Uden & Greig, Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-024-52455-7
The future extent of the Anthropocene epoch: A synthesis, Summerhayes et al., Global and Planetary Change 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2024.104568
[The Lancet Planetary Health Commission] A just world on a safe planet: a Lancet Planetary Health–Earth Commission report on Earth-system boundaries, translations, and transformations, Gupta et al., The Lancet Planetary Health Open Access 10.1016/s2542-5196(24)00042-1
Articles/Reports from Agencies and Non-Governmental Organizations Addressing Aspects of Climate Change
The impact of climate change on the Australian tourism industry, Zurich Australia & New Zealand, and Mandala
Climate change is already impacting many of Australia's tourism sites. Even under modest climate scenarios, this impact is expected to worsen. The Zurich-Mandala Climate Risk Index has been used to analyze the risk of climate change to 178 tourism assets, including major airports. The index uses IPCC climate modelling along with proprietary climate impact assessments to understand the unique risks faced by individual sites. The analysis found that half of Australia’s tourism sites and airports currently fall into the highest three climate risk categories. Under the intermediate SSP2-4.5 scenario, assuming 2 degrees Celsius of warming by 2041-2060, this is set to rise to 55% of sites by 2050. Under a more extreme (3 degrees) scenario, 80% of tourism sites will experience an increase in risk between 2025 and 2050
SEIA Solar Energy Messaging National Survey, Solar Energy Industries Association
Solar continues to be the most popular source of energy. Similar to prior surveys conducted in 2018 and 2022, solar stands out as voters’ favorite energy source, beating out wind by about 10 points and continuing to be far more popular than gas, nuclear, or coal because voters are hearing positive things about solar. Encouragingly, voters who have heard more about solar in the past year are more supportive, largely because they are hearing good things about the cost of solar and because voters see widespread benefits. Voters overwhelmingly believe that solar is clean, safe for the environment, and a boon to the fight against climate change. They also believe solar will help make electricity more reliable and boost the economy.
Changes in U.S. voters’ top reasons to reduce global warming, Carman et al, Yale University and George Mason University
As part of the latest Climate Change in the American Mind survey (April 2024), the authors asked respondents to select up to three reasons to reduce global warming (from a list of 11) that are most important to them. They also asked the same question in May 2017. Here, they summarize results for U.S. registered voters overall and by political party/ideology and compare these results to those from May 2017. The three reasons to reduce global warming that voters selected most often were to provide a better life for our children and grandchildren (47%), to help prevent extreme weather events (37%), and to prevent the destruction of most life on the planet (37%).
Big Oil in Court - The latest trends in climate litigation against fossil fuel companies, Oil Change International and Zero Carbon Analytics
The authors analyze the escalating wave of climate litigation aimed at fossil fuel companies, e.g., 86 climate lawsuits have been filed against the world’s largest oil, gas, and coal-producing corporations – including BP, Chevron, Eni, ExxonMobil, Shell, and TotalEnergies. The number of cases filed against fossil fuel companies each year has nearly tripled since the Paris Agreement was reached in 2015, highlighting a growing global movement to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for their role in the climate crisis.
2024 List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor, US Department of Labor
The list provides a variety of stakeholders with a roadmap to effective action and serves as a critical resource for creating a future where workers’ rights are respected and upheld. This year’s update reveals the unsettling geographic span of labor exploitation, highlighting new additions from every region in the world. This year's additions span numerous industries, including consumer goods, electronics, garments, textiles, and manufacturing. The mining and metallurgical sectors are also areas of concern—12 additions are minerals, which are essential to our clean energy future and national security e.g., Figure 2.
Climate Change, Disaster Risk, and Homeowner’s Insurance, Campbell et al., US Congressional Budget Office
The authors analyze recent changes in property insurance markets and consider alternative insurance products as well as policy approaches to increase the availability and affordability of insurance for homeowners and renters. The highlights of that analysis include higher land and ocean temperatures, drought, sea level rise, and excessive precipitation are all features of climate change that contribute to increasing the risks of natural disasters, including wildfires, hurricanes, and floods. With increased uncertainty attributable to climate change, insurers may limit coverage for risks that are difficult to quantify or where regulators constrain their ability to set prices reflecting risk. Households may underinsure for natural disasters for a variety of reasons, including a lack of information about the risks and the extent of any post-disaster government assistance.
Addressing the Critical Shortage of Power Transformers to Ensure Reliability of the U.S. Grid, Quiniones et al., US National Infrastructure Advisory Council
The authors outline the causes of supply chain-related delays in transformer production that have resulted in a transformer shortage and a steep increase in prices. They then offer seven recommendations to encourage more domestic production capacity e.g., the Federal government should craft policies and designate funding targeted at increasing domestic capacity, such as tax credits, grants, accelerated depreciation, funding for new working apprentice and/or training programs, and other incentives, using the CHIPS Act as a model.
Climate Change Adaptation in Areas Beyond Government Control: Opportunities and Limitations, Karen Meijer and Ann Sophie Böhle, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Areas beyond government control constitute a highly diverse subgroup of fragile and conflict-affected settings. As a result of conflict and weak governance, many of these areas have become more vulnerable to climate change and their communities have been left with limited capacity to respond to changing climatic conditions and extreme weather events. These settings pose unique challenges for external engagement and have, therefore, long been overlooked in adaptation efforts. The authors explore both opportunities for and the limitations of climate change adaptation in areas beyond government control. By highlighting the diversity of these settings and the range of possible adaptation measures, the authors propose a framework with four guiding questions designed to help identify context-appropriate adaptation options.
Evaluation of Nuclear Power Plant and Coal Power Plant Sites for New Nuclear Capacity, Omitaomu et al., US Department of Energy
The authors estimate the number of potential new sites having a capacity of 600 MWe or greater that could be situated on (1) currently operating and recently retired coal power plant (CPP) sites and (2) current nuclear power plant (NPP) sites. The evaluation of CPP sites with a minimum of 600 MWe transmission capacity indicates that 145 CPP sites may be suitable for building 128 GWe (with 1,117 MWe) reactors or 174 GWe with 600 Mwe generic advanced reactor technology.
Obtaining articles without journal subscriptions
We know it's frustrating that many articles we cite here are not free to read. One-off paid access fees are generally astronomically priced, suitable for such as "On a Heuristic Point of View Concerning the Production and Transformation of Light" but not as a gamble on unknowns. With a median world income of US$ 9,373, for most of us US$ 42 is significant money to wager on an article's relevance and importance.
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- The weekly New Research catch is checked against the Unpaywall database with accessible items being flagged. Especially for just-published articles this mechansim may fail. If you're interested in an article title and it is not listed here as "open access," be sure to check the link anyway.
How is New Research assembled?
Most articles appearing here are found via RSS feeds from journal publishers, filtered by search terms to produce raw output for assessment of relevance.
Relevant articles are then queried against the Unpaywall database, to identify open access articles and expose useful metadata for articles appearing in the database.
The objective of New Research isn't to cast a tinge on scientific results, to color readers' impressions. Hence candidate articles are assessed via two metrics only:
- Was an article deemed of sufficient merit by a team of journal editors and peer reviewers? The fact of journal RSS output assigns a "yes" to this automatically.
- Is an article relevant to the topic of anthropogenic climate change? Due to filter overlap with other publication topics of inquiry, of a typical week's 550 or so input articles about 1/4 of RSS output makes the cut.
A few journals offer public access to "preprint" versions of articles for which the review process is not yet complete. For some key journals this all the mention we'll see in RSS feeds, so we include such items in New Research. These are flagged as "preprint."
The section "Informed opinion, nudges & major initiatives" includes some items that are not scientific research per se but fall instead into the category of "perspectives," observations of implications of research findings, areas needing attention, etc.
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