Motorists splash through the water along North Flagler Drive during king tide flooding in West Palm Beach, Florida on 30 September 2023. Photo: Greg Lovett / The Palm Beach Post

Florida, the state of denial, needs to eliminate “heat index” for climate change relief – “Suggestion for DeSantis: ‘Freedom flooding’” 

By Frank Cerabino 21 May 2024 (The Palm Beach Post) – It is time for Florida to ban the words “heat index.” It’s the next logical step to take for Gov. Ron DeSantis, who signed a new law that removes references to “climate change” in state statutes. Man-made pollution that helps to warm the planet […]

Meteorologist Steve MacLaughlin of Florida’s NBC 6 posted on Twitter / X on 18 May 2024: “Don’t Say Climate Change!” As Florida is on fire, under water and unaffordable, our state government is rolling back climate change legislation and language. Graphic: Steve MacLaughlin

TV meteorologist blasts Florida’s new “Don’t Say Climate Change” law amid oppressive heat

By Rachel Ramirez 21 May 2024 (CNN) – As vast parts of Florida sweltered in oppressive heat over the weekend, South Florida TV meteorologist Steve MacLaughlin criticized the state’s new legislation that deleted most references to climate change from state law, and urged his viewers to vote. “The entire world is looking to Florida to lead in […]

Researchers Peter Hotez (centre) and Tara Kirk Sell (right) at a congressional hearing in 2020. Photo: Sarah Silbiger / Bloomberg / Getty

Harassment of scientists is surging, and institutions aren’t sure how to help – “This is a very powerful adversarial force that is seeking to undermine science, and now it’s not only going after the science. It’s going after the scientists.”

By Bianca Nogrady 21 May 2024 (Nature) – As a vocal advocate of vaccinations for public health, Peter Hotez was no stranger to online harassment and threats. But then the abuse showed up on his doorstep. It was a Sunday during a brutal Texas heatwave in June 2023 when a man turned up at Hotez’s […]

Measles cases in the UK (top) and Russian Federation (bottom), Jan 2020 - Feb 2024. Graphic: WHO

Global measles cases nearly doubled in one year, researchers say – “A crisis among many crises”

By Katherine Dillinger 27 April 2024 (CNN) – The number of measles cases around the world nearly doubled from 2022 to 2023, researchers say, presenting a challenge to efforts to achieve and maintain elimination status in many countries. There were 171,153 cases globally in 2022, according to Dr. Patrick O’Connor of the World Health Organization, […]

Screenshot of a Twitter (X) post showing a photo of Gov. Ron DeSantis signing legislation that erases the words “climate change” from state statutes on 15 May 2024. Photo: Ron DeSantis / UPI

Gov. Ron DeSantis signs law erasing “climate change” from Florida policy – “This purposeful act of cognitive dissonance is proof that the governor and the state legislature are not acting in the best interests of Floridians, but rather to protect profits for the fossil fuel industry”

By Sheri Walsh 16 May 2024 (UPI) – With summer’s extreme heat and this year’s hurricane season rolling into Florida next month, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation Wednesday that will erase climate change from state policy effective 1 July 2024. The new law will erase the words “climate change” from state statutes and make energy […]

Effect of political contributions from oil and gas companies on U.S. legislators that vote against the environment. Coefficients and 95 percent CIs for tests of investment (Left) and influence (Right) hypotheses and their corresponding metaanalytic effects for the years 1992 to 2018. In 13 out of 14 analyses, lower LCV scores (i.e., more antienvironmental votes) in one election cycle predicted significantly increased contributions in the following election cycle. For example, the strongest result was observed for the 2016 election: For every additional 10 percent of congressional votes against the environment in 2014, a legislator would receive an additional $5,400 in campaign contributions from oil and gas companies in 2016 (b = −0.54, SE = 0.12; P < 0.001; 95 percent CI [−0.77, −0.31]). This is an especially strong relationship considering that many elected officials vote against environmental policies nearly 100 percent of the time, thereby compounding the cycle of antienvironmentalism and increasing rewards in the form of contributions. Graphic: Goldberg, et al., 2020 / PNAS

Big Oil spent decades sowing doubt about fossil fuel dangers, experts testify – “Big Oil had to evolve from denial to duplicity”

By Dharna Noor 1 May 2024 (The Guardian) – The fossil fuel industry spent decades sowing doubt about the dangers of burning oil and gas, experts and Democratic lawmakers testified on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. The Senate budget committee held a hearing to review a report published on Tuesday with the House oversight and accountability […]

In a victory for climate scientists, jurors in Professor Michael E. Mann’s defamation case against Rand Simberg and Mark Steyn awarded Mann $1 million in punitive damages for defamatory comments made in 2012. Prof. Mann’s lawyer called attacks on the scientist “vile”. Photo: Julian Meehan / Flickr

Jury awards climate scientist Michael Mann $1 million in defamation lawsuit – “I hope people think twice before they lie and defame scientists”

By Suman Naishadham 8 February 2024 WASHINGTON (AP) – A jury on Thursday awarded $1 million to climate scientist Michael Mann who sued a pair of conservative writers 12 years ago after they compared his depictions of global warming to a convicted child molester. Mann, a professor of climate science at the University of Pennsylvania, […]

Michael Mann is a professor of earth and environmental science at the University of Pennsylvania. He’s suing a right-wing author and a policy analyst for defamation. Photo: Slaven Vlasic / Getty Images for HBO

A famous climate scientist is in court with big stakes for attacks on science – “Young people, looking at future careers, looking at how scientists are attacked are going to say, ‘Well, why do I want to go into this profession?’”

By Julia Simon 6 February 2024 (NPR) – In a D.C. courtroom, a trial is wrapping up this week with big stakes for climate science. One of the world’s most prominent climate scientists is suing a right-wing author and a policy analyst for defamation. The case comes at a time when attacks on scientists are […]

Overview of the Congress Center ahead of the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, 7 December 2023. Photo: Denis Balibouse / REUTERS

Davos 2024: Extreme weather and misinformation top global risks – “The widespread use of misinformation and disinformation, and tools to disseminate it, may undermine the legitimacy of newly elected governments”

By Victoria Waldersee 11 January 2024 (Reuters) – Risk specialists see extreme weather and misinformation as most likely to trigger a global crisis in the next couple of years, a World Economic Forum (WEF) survey released on Wednesday said. While extreme weather was identified as the bigger risk in 2024, misinformation and disinformation came second […]

Haitham Al-Ghais, the secretary general of OPEC, warned member countries of “undue and disproportionate pressure against fossil fuels” at the COP28 summit In a letter dated 6 December 2023. Photo: Amr Abdallah Dalsh / Reuters

OPEC leader tells members to block any COP28 climate summit deal to curb fossil fuels – “Reject any text or formula that targets energy i.e. fossil fuels rather than emissions”

By Lisa Friedman 8 December 2023 (The New York Times) – The head of the OPEC oil cartel, alarmed that nations gathered at the United Nations climate summit in Dubai are considering an agreement to phase out fossil fuels, has directed the group’s members to scuttle any deal that would affect the continued production and […]

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