Observations from the Little Bunker
A systematic observation of climate change, extreme weather events, and their cascading effects on society
🌍 Latest Environmental Observations
When Elephants Trample Your Farm, Who Do You Call?
When Krithi Karanth walks into a forest village in the shadow of India’s Bandipur National Park, she is often greeted by farmers with cell phones...
Analysis: What are the causes of recent record-high global temperatures?
The past three years have been exceptionally warm globally. In 2023, global temperatures reached a new high, after they significantly exceeded expectations. This record was...
Scientists discover a new state of matter at Earth’s center
New research reveals that Earth’s solid inner core is actually in a superionic state, where carbon atoms flow freely through a solid iron lattice. This...
Greenpeace Scrutinizes the Environmental Record of the Company That Sued the Group
The nonprofit said in a new report that pipeline company Energy Transfer reported hundreds of oil spills to federal regulators in recent years, among other...
Scientists Say the Forever Chemical TFA Could Cause Irreversible Harm. In Eastern North Carolina, It’s Everywhere.
The discovery of TFA in blood and water samples raises questions about Chemours’ role in adding to the pollution burden.By Lisa SorgForever War, Part 2:...
Gas Stoves Account For More Than Half of Some Americans’ Exposure to a Known Toxin, New Research Concludes
The common kitchen appliance plays an outsized role in exposure to nitrogen dioxide, a toxic air pollutant.By Phil McKennaPollution from gas stoves accounts for more...
Wisconsin Tribes Have Helped the Lake Sturgeon Recover. Climate Change Is Stressing Its Ability to Adapt.
The ancient, enormous fish have lived on Earth for more than 150 million years but changing weather conditions have researchers questioning whether future generations will...
The Navajo Nation said no to a hydropower project. Trump officials want to ensure tribes can’t do that again.
Early last year, the hydropower company Nature and People First set its sights on Black Mesa, a mountainous region on the Navajo Nation in northern...
US set to push fossil fuels under its G20 presidency
As the United States takes the reins of the G20 and makes economic growth the top priority, the Trump administration is expected to use its...
Mysterious illnesses have supernatural and ritualistic cures: Evidence from 3,655 century-old Irish folk cures
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 122, Issue 49, December 2025. SignificanceClassical anthropological and cognitive theories propose that supernatural healing practices emerge when...
Just 0.001% hold three times the wealth of poorest half of humanity, report finds
Data from World Inequality Report also showed top 10% of income-earners earn more than the other 90%Fewer than 60,000 people – 0.001% of the world’s...
Lineage tracing of both quiescent G0 and active Hoxb5+ LT-HSCs that actively contribute to homeostatic mouse hematopoiesis
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 122, Issue 49, December 2025. SignificanceProspectively isolated HSCs regenerate long-term hematopoiesis via transplantation in irradiated hosts. Hoxb5...
Barrierless nucleation in glassy precursors drives zeolite formation
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 122, Issue 49, December 2025. SignificanceThe slow and complex formation of zeolites, microporous materials central to catalysis...
Synthetic chemicals in food system creating health burden of $2.2tn a year, report finds
Scientists issue urgent warning about chemicals, found to cause cancer and infertility as well as harming environmentScientists have issued an urgent warning that some of...
Rising temperatures are slowing early childhood development
Researchers discovered that unusually high temperatures can hinder early childhood development. Children living in hotter conditions were less likely to reach key learning milestones, especially...
Volcanic forcing of the Lomagundi–Jatuli carbon isotope excursion
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 122, Issue 49, December 2025. SignificanceThe Lomagundi–Jatuli Event (LJE), more than 2 billion years ago, marks a...
An Archean atmosphere rich in sulfur biomolecules
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 122, Issue 49, December 2025. SignificanceSulfur biomolecules, such as the amino acids cysteine and methionine, are ubiquitous...
Dynamic control of phase for tunable structural colors
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 122, Issue 49, December 2025. SignificanceColor is central to consumer products, textiles, displays, and sensors, yet today’s...
Cell envelope maintenance by PhoP is essential for Mycobacterium tuberculosis methylglyoxal resistance
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 122, Issue 49, December 2025. SignificanceMacrophage-produced methylglyoxal can restrict the growth of bacteria likeListeria monocytogenesbut notMycobacterium tuberculosis,...
‘Even the animals seem confused’: a retreating Kashmir glacier is creating an entire new world in its wake
Kolahoi is one of many glaciers whose decline is disrupting whole ecosystems – water, wildlife and human life that it has supported for centuriesFrom the...
Prebiotic organic compounds in samples of asteroid Bennu indicate heterogeneous aqueous alteration
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 122, Issue 49, December 2025. SignificanceSamples of asteroid Bennu obtained by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission preserve a record...
Integrating extensive functional annotations and multiomics of cattle enhances climate resilience prediction and mapping
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 122, Issue 49, December 2025. SignificanceOngoing work in functional annotations of genomes has generated rich datasets. We...
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