Week in review – science, technology, policy research

by Judith Curry
A few things that caught my eye this past week.

Science
Garbage isn’t destined to swirl in the ocean forever; new models show it eventually washes up on shore. [link]
Will climate change release abandoned hazardous waste in the Arctic?
#AGUnews from #AGUpubs [link]
Matt Briggs’ new book:  Uncertainty: The soul of modeling, probability and statistics [link]
#JClimate study demonstrates importance of correctly representing aerosols & #aerosol–#cloud feedbacks in ensembles. [link]
New wetlands are being created in weird ways—and that’s good for birds: [link]
Earlier snowmelt carries drastic consequences for forests. [link]
New NOAA technical memorandum on climatology of Arizona dust events. [link]
Observed and simulated full-depth ocean heat-content changes for 1970–2005 [link]
New paper finds a decrease of relative humidity with increased temperature in SW China [link]
Trop Pacific SSTs affect development & track of cyclones that form over Gulf Stream region. [link]
New paper finds increasing trend of winter snow cover extent in Northern Hemisphere 1982-2013 [link] …
Inland water carbon dioxide emissions ‘underestimated’, may emit 40% more than previously believed.  [link]
The lonely, thirsty, final days of the doomed Alaskan mammoths  [link]
Michael Mann: Global climate models do not easily downscale for regional predictions [link]
New paper finds increased CO2 increased water use efficiency for woody plants in US Southwest.[link]
New research from @MIT offers valuable climate adaptation insights for U.S. farmers [link]
“remarkable change is happening: tree cover on agricultural land has increased across the globe”  [link]
On the sensitivity of global warming experiments to the parametrisation of sub-grid scale ocean mixing [link]
Do You Know How #Hail Forms? Well, You’re Probably Wrong. [link]
Anthrax Outbreak Linked to Climate Change, Kills 12-Year-Old Boy, 71 Nomadic Herders Hospitalized [link]
All Natural… Four New Peer-reviewed Scientific Publications Show No Detectable Sea Level Rise Signal [link]
New #BulletinAMS article discusses database expected to improve understanding of subseasonal-to-seasonal time range. [link]
Earth’s ability to absorb CO2 reduced by global warming, arctic study finds  [link]
NASA: First map of thawed areas under Greenland ice sheet [link]
Technology
A breakthrough in blue energy? [link]
Floatovoltaics produce clean energy and prevent evaporation in major man-made reservoirs. [link]
An artificial leaf could convert carbon dioxide emissions [link]
How sun, salt and glass could help solve our energy needs [link]
Here’s the annual State of the Climate report from the American Meteorological Society. [link] …
Policy etc.
Forensics or Fauxrensics? Ascertaining Accuracy in the Forensic Sciences [link]
Paper’s authors conclude that if EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standards are completely met, greenhouse gases increase. [link]
How political idealism leads us astray.  pluralism & disagreement improve our odds of stumbling on the truth about the good society. [link]
Scientific curiosity changes minds; scientific knowledge doesn’t. Can we train for curiosity? [link]
Insight yields better solutions than analytical approach [link]
Ambiguity: A new way of thinking about responses to climate change [link]
Political affiliation affects adaptation to climate risks: Evidence from New York City [link]
California’s climate policy crisis [link]
National Climatic Data Center /NCEI director Tom Karl resigns [link] …
Academia and storytelling are not incompatible – how to reduce the risks and gain control of your research narrative. [link]
Activism – or how to turn people off and stall progress [link]
What to believe? Science is a red herring and a wild goose chase [link]
Quote of the week
Ryan Maue: Global warming reduces pole-equator T gradient. That’s a climate on laxatives — not steroids.Filed under: Week in review

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