Countering Climate Skepticism

After a probably unforgivable 6 month cliff-hanger, we finally get round to part 2 of the sixth and final level of the ziggurat. We're doomed! Or are we? or what does doomed mean? Who's saying we're doomed? So many questions! And are we sure this is even climate change denial in the first place? Oh yes, and currently the most in vogue! TIMESTAMPS AND SHOWNOTES TO COME

We asked for questions, we got them! Keep the coming! :) Today we look at 3 - How we know what the Dinosaur climate was like (@7.06) - What should governments be doing? (@17.35) - Which more important? Knowledge or behavioural change(29.53) SHOWNOTES! 3.33 - trump link 15.39 - link about zircons https://www.facebook.com/SkepticalScience/posts/pfbid0DEUQegbGwagMQuJUPyRGFDMdF6JZfkY82hr7o14DB76BN1A9xUoaEMWeqeDnSbuBl 16.37 - wikipedia link https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1240577 18.40 - climate action tracker https://climateactiontracker.org/ 23.30 - climate change performance index 24.50 - heatpumps link https://www.facebook.com/search/posts?q=pumps&filters=eyJycF9hdXRob3I6MCI6IntcIm5hbWVcIjpcImF1dGhvcl9tZVwiLFwiYXJnc1wiOlwiXCJ9In0%3D 29.12 - aviation stats https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/25/1-of-english-residents-take-one-fifth-of-overseas-flights-survey-shows https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/nov/17/people-cause-global-aviation-emissions-study-covid-19?CMP=twt_a-environment_b-gdneco

We've now reached the apex of the ziggurat (first of a two-parter!). Everything else the denialists have thrown at us hasn't worked and now the've resorted to fear-mongering. But do they have a point? Mark and John take a look. TIMESTAMPS: AVAILABLE SOON! SHOWNOTES: @10.30 - Dieter Helm on why coordinated action between nations is a must. "This is one of the reasons (domestic carbon tax without carbon border adjustments/tariffs) why despite everything that people in Europe and the UK have been doing, we haven't made an iota of difference to climate change....That's why we've had 30 wasted years in which the concentration of CO2 has gone up in the atmosphere every single year since ... 1990" - Dieter Helm https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000613h @1917 - 2406 @24.20 - How to terraform Mars https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpcTJW4ur54 @24.20 - How to terraform Venus https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-WO-z-QuWI

Being a techno optimist is no bad thing, but can we sit back and let the relentless march of technology save us from our selves? Listen and find out! TIMESTAMPS AVAILABLE SHOWNOTES:  14.24 - Technological invention has slowed down dramatically, scientists warn | The Independent https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/new-discoveries-breakthroughs-research-latest-b2256023.html 47.00 - waste heat from fusion on twitter https://twitter.com/rahmstorf/status/1605967891928596481?t=2uDM_fCZ8YT4qx1U-dk1eQ&s=08 51.34 - John good news story

This week we decided to look at some content of the famous culture warrior Jordan Peterson. With his high levels of verbal fluency it all sounds very impressive, but is it? Mark and John take a closer look. TIMESTAMPS - Available SHOWNOTES 36.35 - pie chart on various env problems  https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Julian-Mcalpine/publication/275966760/figure/fig13/AS:294488397369354@1447222914141/Safe-operating-space-is-proposed-by-Rockstrom-et-al-2009-as-within-the-green-shaded.png 54.00 - deaths from falling off roofs installing solar (scroll to bar chart) https://www.engineering.com/story/whats-the-death-toll-of-nuclear-vs-other-energy-sources 1.0750 - marble ocean https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Dxa8a7CaVKQUtH6YwVZ2hhBo5HLnbdcbVoVwnLoyE6A/edit 1.0830 - decoding the gurus on Peterson https://decoding-the-gurus.captivate.fm/episode/recoding-jordan-peterson-think-again-sunshine

Now you heard it here first folks! A warmer world may have some benefits, but if that's what your focusing on, then what the hell is wrong with you?! you Ziggurat Denier Level 4! TIMESTAMPS - Available SHOW NOTES - Available @2.57 - daybreak climate change board game https://www.daybreakgame.org/ @7.20 - 3 min video summarising 2023 global weather https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/av/67618623 @7.40 - ‘uninsurable planet' episode https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0h0r5kg @18.50 - Bjorn Lomborg debunking https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nqSnNhIQlI @? - Bjorn's tactical retreat over the years https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Bjorn_Lomborg#Shift_in_views_over_time @22.11 - Transcript of Roger Harrabin interview with Matt Ridley. https://www.carbonbrief.org/scientists-respond-to-matt-ridleys-climate-change-claims/  

So now our denier friends have convinced themselves that climate is changing and it is us that is changing it, but guess what? Impacts will be minimal! Err what? and they were doing so well! Strap in to learn about the impacts we have already seen, those we might well see and those we sure as hell hopefully won't end up seeing and hopefully we'll demonstrate to you that this breed of deniers/skeptics are just as detached from reality as those 'climate change isn't happening' more basic types! TIMESTAMPS: AVAILABLE SHOWNOTES:  @34.26 - What impacts are we likely to see with 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6°C of global warming? (~1600 words) https://docs.google.com/document/d/15mcbYoi1_-uBiAFb3G9VdivpjlWWFqSYb3FnhOboM2Q/edit

The world is imperilled, yet many are STILL questioning the science. Are you in a dream? No, reality appears to be stranger than fiction. Hence the question: Why so much denial/skepticism anyway? By the end of this episode, you should have some idea! Happy new year dear listeners! TIMESTAMPS: AVAILABLE SHOWNOTES:  @10.30 - Neil De Grass Tyson - Cosmos Episode 7. Clair Patterson vs Leaded petrol https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Clean_Room @20 - small oceans and atmospheres https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Dxa8a7CaVKQUtH6YwVZ2hhBo5HLnbdcbVoVwnLoyE6A/edit?usp=sharing @26.33 - Climate change: ‘You almost couldn't design a problem that is a worse fit with our underlying psychology' essay (by Mike Berners-Lee) https://docs.google.com/document/d/17bA4GNW8biaZ7TQPgt4FSyoxKZah9gDNJRImEfQAGOk/edit?usp=sharing

Rounding off our recent 3 part series on why it is (unfortunately) us. Skeptics/denialists have a problems with the CO2 explanation, if they even admit it's increasing then they think it's insignificant. Or if it's significant then its increase is natural. There is much shifting of the goalposts, but no matter, here we explain why they're wrong, wrong and wrong again! TIMESTAMPS AVAILABLE SHOWNOTES @10.07 (click through for Methane, N20, temp and sea-level) https://www.co2levels.org/ @12.40 (global network of measurements) https://gml.noaa.gov/dv/iadv/index.php @25.05 (CO2 lags temperature graph) https://skepticalscience.com/co2-lags-temperature-intermediate.htm @36.00 (ocean acidification graph) https://skepticalscience.com/ocean-acidification-global-warming.htm

You can't go very far in the world of climate denial without hearing that 'It's the sun!' or 'maybe it's volcanoes!' After today's episode you should be able to pulverise any denial arguments (arguments not the people making them!) of these sort that come your way. How very satisfying! Enjoy! TIMESTAMPS available SHOWNOTES - COMING BEFORE THE END OF TODAY @10.20 Bloomberg article What's warming the world. https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Mpw1E4uXoTmh9EDBG51EN1hFAoxGc0A__-Xm7Lj3E3o/edit?usp=sharing @15.05 - Graph of stratospheric cooling (slide 29) https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1mDpMWQoZORHaJC-qyy41zGyUn1SXCSC7UYlfOE89zJI/edit#slide=id.g275cfd8b43a_0_33 @49.50 - dilution of carbon 13 https://skepticalscience.com/anthrocarbon-brief.html#c13 @53:43 - dilution of carbon 14 https://skepticalscience.com/anthrocarbon-brief.html#c14 @56.35 - Oxygen dropping https://skepticalscience.com/anthrocarbon-brief.html#oxygen @01:01:00 - The Clean Kilo www.thecleankilo.co.uk

On to Level 2 of the ziggurat!  The skeptics admit the climate is warming (How very reasonable of them), but...It isn't humanity, no of course not. Episode 1 of 3. Enjoy! TIMESTAMPS available! SHOWNOTES! @14.21 - Skeptical science  https://skepticalscience.com/argument.php @26.44 - This episode uses slide 2 of the following to look at the near, middle and distant climate past: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yH83k5YuhU7sdq0adnZRRz0vsClK_izY/view @52.30, @54.33 @01.04.33 - Bloomberg article What's warming the world. https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Mpw1E4uXoTmh9EDBG51EN1hFAoxGc0A__-Xm7Lj3E3o/edit?usp=sharing

Surely no one's still arguing the world isn't warming, and even if they are, surely it can be covered in 1 podcast! Well sorry to have to break it to you but, they are, and it can't! :D :D TIMESTAMPS AVAILABLE! SHOWNOTES This episode continues to use the powerpoint: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yH83k5YuhU7sdq0adnZRRz0vsClK_izY/view @37.28 - Skeptical science https://skepticalscience.com/argument.php

Either a classic from the climate denial playbook or merely just the most boneheaded. Despite the enormous weight of evidence that the world is warming, the deniers seem to know better. Just what is it they know that the rest of us sheeple don't? EPISODE TIMESTAMPS AVAILABLE SHOWNOTES: (@35.00) IPCC data on climate https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yH83k5YuhU7sdq0adnZRRz0vsClK_izY/view?usp=sharing

Since we keep (or will keep) banging on about the climate denial ziggurat as a way of getting a bird's eye view on climate change denial, we thought it sensible to do a special episode on it, just so you know what we're on about. Enjoy! TIMESTAMPS AVAILABLE! SHOWNOTES! @4.00 - skeptical science https://skepticalscience.com/argument.php @5.24 - small oceans and atmospheres https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Dxa8a7CaVKQUtH6YwVZ2hhBo5HLnbdcbVoVwnLoyE6A/edit?usp=sharing @20.45 - What 1-5 degrees of warming means https://docs.google.com/document/d/15mcbYoi1_-uBiAFb3G9VdivpjlWWFqSYb3FnhOboM2Q/edit?usp=sharing @37 - Kurzgesagt fossil fuel doomism strategy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxgMdjyw8uw (Especially after 11 mins into the video)

Hello and welcome to our Countering Climate Skepticism podcast! We introduce ourselves, the podcast before discussing what the term 'climate', 'climate skeptic' means. We then discuss the 'climate denial ziggurat' as a way of understanding climate change denial before dealing with our 1st climate skeptic argument. Many thanks for joining us! TIMESTAMPS AVAILABLE! Shownotes: @37mins - Ziggurat 1: The climate may not be warming; 2: but if it is, this is probably due to natural variation; 3: but if that is not the case, the amount of warming is probably not significant; 4: but if it is, the benefits should outweigh the disadvantages; 5: but if they don't, technology should be able to solve problems as they arise; 6: but if it can't, we shouldn't wreck the economy to fix the problem @1hour2min2 - Kurzgesagt videos on climate change, your 1 stop shop for good quality knowledge on climate change and will only take about an hour of your life to watch these tremendously entertaining videos! 7 - 2022-04-05 - We WILL Fix Climate Change! - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxgMdjyw8uw 6 - 2021-11-30 - Is Meat Really that Bad? - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1Hq8eVOMHs 5 - 2021-09-22 - Can YOU Fix Climate Change? - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiw6_JakZFc 4 - 2021-04-13 - Do we Need Nuclear Energy to Stop Climate Change? - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhAemz1v7dQ 3 - 2020-10-27 - Geoengineering: A Horrible Idea We Might Have to Do - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSu5sXmsur4 2 - 2020-09-29 - Is It Too Late To Stop Climate Change? Well, it's Complicated. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbR-5mHI6bo 1 - 2020-06-21 - Who Is Responsible For Climate Change? – Who Needs To Fix It? - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipVxxxqwBQw

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