Finding common ground amid climate controversy

Scientists have been researching human-caused climate change for more than 50 years, inexorably fitting together puzzle pieces of atmospheric composition, interactions between different parts of the Earth system, rates of change, and feedback mechanisms.

Their efforts have led to huge strides in understanding of the Earth. But one variable stands out as perhaps more stubborn than the rest; a factor that defies laws of physics: human behavior. A number of physical scientists have wandered into the unfamiliar territory of social science as they try to understand what leads people to accept or reject the findings of scientific endeavors. They’ve learned that to better grapple with the problems of human-driven climate change, they must also learn more about what makes humans “tick.”

That’s one of the motivations behind the recent Yale Climate Connections “Common Ground” series, the subject of a brief video made as part of a presentation in December 2017 at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union, AGU. The ideological stalemate around climate change in the U.S. by now is sadly familiar, with an intractable gulf separating the ranks of — by whatever terms seem adequate or inadequate — “believers” and “doubters.”

Read the Yale Climate Connections story by Karin Kirk - “Finding common ground amid climate controversy.”

Concurrent heat waves, air pollution exacerbate negative health effects of each

The combination of prolonged hot spells with poor air quality greatly compounds the negative effects of each and can pose a major risk to human health, according to new research from the University of California, Irvine.

A heat wave and pollution episode struck the
 eastern portion of the United States and Canada
 in late June of 2005. Observations show
 the concurrence of high surface ozone, an
abundance of fine particulate matter
and scorching temperatures.

"The weather factors that drive heat waves also contribute to intensified surface ozone and air pollution episodes," said UCI professor of Earth system science Michael J. Prather, co-author of the study, published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "These extreme, multiday events tend to cluster and overlap, worsening the health impacts beyond the sum of their individual effects.”

Heat waves cause widespread discomfort and can be deadly for vulnerable individuals, while surface ozone and air pollution are linked to premature death from heart disease, stroke and lung ailments.

Read the ScienceDaily story- “Concurrent heat waves, air pollution exacerbate negative health effects of each.”