Two Year Cooling Trend?

As Sandrine Dixson-Declève and Anders Wijkman call the lack of an emergency plan to deal with climate change a massive scandal, Berkeley Earth reports that 2018 ranks as the fourth warmest year on record--behind 2016, 2017, and 2015.

Update (January 30):  Jennifer Francis explains how climate change can bring extreme cold weather.

Because of rapid Arctic warming, the north/south temperature difference has diminished. This reduces pressure differences between the Arctic and mid-latitudes, weakening jet stream winds. And just as slow-moving rivers typically take a winding route, a slower-flowing jet stream tends to meander.

Large north/south undulations in the jet stream generate wave energy in the atmosphere. If they are wavy and persistent enough, the energy can travel upward and disrupt the stratospheric polar vortex. Sometimes this upper vortex becomes so distorted that it splits into two or more swirling eddies.

These “daughter” vortices tend to wander southward, bringing their very cold air with them and leaving behind a warmer-than-normal Arctic. One of these eddies will sit over North America this week, delivering bone-chilling temperatures to much of the nation.

Update (February 3):  Robert Hunziker points to a study from Hadley Centre that expects one of the largest increases in carbon dioxide concentration in 62 years due to weaker carbon sinks.

Update (February 6):  NASA and NOAA confirm 2018 as the fourth warmest year on record.

Update (February 26):  Robert Hunziker argues the Paris Agreement is failing. And Mel Gurtov draws several conclusions from recent climate reports.

First, planet-wide environmental deterioration is happening faster—much faster—than scientists had anticipated. Second, the kind of deterioration now taking place, involving oceans and glaciers in particular, tell us that life itself is already endangered in many parts of the globe. Third, some consequences of climate change, such as rising seas, are irreversible. Fourth, resistance to scientific findings and their implications for political, economic, and social changes constitutes nothing short of criminal negligence. Fifth, people are more aware of and concerned about climate change than ever before, if [a recent U.S. poll] is accurate. Sixth, solutions to the problem must be up to the scale of the problem. Tiny, personal steps to reduce carbon footprints feel good, but it’s panic time, folks.

Update (March 3):  Posted at Collapse of Industrial Civilization:

Humans recognized decades ago the threats they are now facing, yet nothing was done due to political inaction and industry malfeasance which continues to this very day. ... Anyone waiting for some sort of seminal climate change event that is going to galvanize the world’s leaders into action will be tragically disappointed. ... The time to act would have been before we were seeing all these environmental degradations and tipping points, not afterward.

Update (March 11):  Paul Street bemoans the round-the-clock coverage of practically anything but the looming climate catastrophe.

In a remotely decent and intelligent society, public and political "elites" and "leaders" and the dominant media and politics culture would be fervently focused first and foremost on this problem.

Update (March 25):  The International Energy Agency reports that global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions increased by 1.7 percent in 2018, the fastest growth in five years.

The United States’ CO2 emissions grew by 3.1 percent in 2018, reversing a decline a year earlier, while China’s emissions rose by 2.5 percent and India’s by 4.5 percent.

Europe’s emissions fell by 1.3 percent and Japan’s fell for the fifth year running.