clair031

Representative Lamar Smith of Texas , in a speech in the U. S. House of Representatives, lamented the widespread press coverage of a scientific publication last year showing that global warming had not stopped since about 2000.   He then decried the lack of press coverage for a new article that he wrongly claims “refutes” the earlier work. In truth, both articles find that warming has continued during this period, contrary to Rep. Smith’s characterization of this period as a “halt” in global warming.   The new article finds that the warming during this period is a “slowdown” (compared to predictions from climate models), but not a “halt”, and thoroughly analyzes the reasons for the slowdown.   An important contribution comes from the decades-long cyclical operation of the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation. Representative Smith is wrong in saying that global warming has halted.   The newest global annual average temperatures for 2014 and 2015 have resumed increasing...

The annual World Communication Forum in Davos, or #WCFDavos, that took place on 8-9 March, 2016, once again united top PR & communications' executives from all around the world and engaged thousands on social media to discuss the Global Communications' Agenda for 2016. On March 8th 2016, the International Women's Day (such a special day!), I had the honour to moderate the panel entitled "PR Associations: the future of the profession". In the round-table, global PR gurus: Yogesh Joshi (President of ABCI, India), Stanislav Naumov (President of RPRA, Russia), Maxim Behar (President of ICCO, Bulgaria) and Andrea Corneli (President of PR-Hub, Italy), whom discussed the future of PR profession and how Associations will play a key role in the process. The event held annually in the Davos Congress Centre, Switzerland, is a global meeting point for like-minded PR & Communications leaders that believe our profession is not a service, but a mission. Once again, the F...

The public, when contemplating global warming, includes those who question whether warming underlies the occurrence of extreme weather and climate events.   The U.S. National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine recently issued a report, “Attribution of Extreme Weather Events in the Context of Climate Change”.   It emphasizes that the appropriate format for questions concerning this issue can be phrased in terms such as “Are events of this severity becoming more or less likely because of climate change?”   The report emphasizes that because of rapid advances in data analysis and climate modeling the severity of many extreme events can be attributed to contributing factors arising from warming.   It includes a schematic image, shown here, characterizing how the increasing degree of understanding of various types of events leads to increasing confidence in the degree to which we can attribute severity to contributions from global warming. This post conclud...

A Fable Paris is sparing no extravagance for the centennial celebration of the 2015 climate agreement, themed “ Paris 2115”.   The Eiffel Tower is decked out with the newest efficient lighting fixtures, highlighting the sky blue of the United Nations flag, intermingled with the Tricouleur, the red, white and blue of the French flag.   Laser light shows projecting these colors playfully pierce the air around its spire. The Étoile and Arc de Triomphe are adorned with exotic vegetation brought from far reaches of the planet, symbols of the preservation of the environment resulting from one hundred years of sustainable climate policies resulting from the agreement. The most striking aspect of the celebration is that several hundred thousand people from all around the world have descended on The City of Light, to mark the centennial of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) agreement limiting emissions of greenhouse gases.   The 2015 agreemen...