Observations from the Little Bunker
A systematic observation of climate change, extreme weather events, and their cascading effects on society
🌍 Latest Environmental Observations
The effectiveness of heat prevention plans in reducing heat-related mortality across Europe
Heat-health warning systems and action plans, referred to as heat prevention plans (HPPs), are key public health interventions aimed at reducing heat-related mortality. Despite their...
Using energy-hungry AI to detect climate tipping points is a paradox
David Sathuluri is a Research Associate and Dr. Marco Tedesco is a Lamont Research Professor at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University. As climate...
‘We finally have a tool to at least shave some tenths of a degree off’: author Bill McKibben on the promise of renewable energy
The activist and author of Here Comes the Sun discusses rapid advances in solar and wind power and how the US ceded leadership in the...
Editorial essay: ERL focus issue on technology and global change
The ERL Focus Issue on Technology and Global Change brings together 19 research articles, 4 perspectives, and 2 topical reviews on wide-ranging topics including innovation,...
Indigenous Groups Fight to Save Rediscovered Settlement Site on an Industrial Waterfront in Texas
Flanked by a chemical plant and an oil rig construction yard, the site at Donnel Point may be the last of its kind on this...
Illinois Is Going All In on Battery Storage. What Will That Mean?
As power-guzzling data centers proliferate across the country and drive electricity prices up, batteries could be a part of the solution.By Alexia UnderwoodIllinois is lagging...
Mélange‐Driven Coupling Between the Central Pine Island Ice Shelf and the Piglet Glacier Reverses Recent Acceleration Trends
Abstract By analyzing velocity changes of the Pine Island Ice Shelf (PIIS) from October 2014 to August 2025 using Sentinel‐1A/B imagery, we find that the...
What happens when disaster recovery becomes a luxury good
Every year at the Oscars, attendees leave with gift bags so elaborate they have to be reported as income to the IRS. Luxury skincare, personal...
Increased Continental Exposure as a Driver of Carbon Drawdown and Initiation of the Late Paleozoic Ice Age
Abstract Earth experienced a long‐term cooling trend during the middle‐late Devonian, culminating in the Late Paleozoic Ice Age (LPIA)—the longest icehouse in Earth’s history. The...
The Role of Tidal Mixing in Regulating the Poleward Meridional Heat Transport
Abstract Based on an earth‐system climate model, a series of numerical experiments with different scaling factors of tidal mixing parameterization were conducted to study the...
Predictability of Compound Impacts From Hurricane Helene and Predecessor Rain Event in CFSv2 Operational Forecasts
Abstract In late September 2024, Hurricane Helene contributed to catastrophic flooding in the Southeastern United States. The impacts of the hurricane were compounded by a...
The country’s largest magnesium supplier shut down. Now what?
Only a few years ago, if you popped open a can of soda anywhere in the United States, the container you held more likely than...
The Bad River Band is suing to protect its wild rice from an oil pipeline
Around August of each year, when temperatures swell in the Great Lakes region, wild rice — or manoomin in the Ojibwe language — begins to...
This Netflix holiday rom-com is secretly an environmentalist fantasy
At first glance, A Merry Little Ex-Mas looks like yet another holiday rom-com — a comforting, predictable love story done up in a tidy bow....
Report: Climate is central to truth and reconciliation for the Sámi in Finland
Earlier this month, the Finnish government released its Truth and Reconciliation report, which documents years of harm done to the country’s Indigenous Sámi people. Truth...
Future Sea Surface Temperature as a Key Driver of Antarctic Warming
Abstract Polar amplification—the phenomenon whereby anthropogenic warming is accentuated relative to the global average—has emerged as a central focus of climate research. While Arctic amplification...
Surface‐Active Organics Increase CCN Activation Especially for Small Particles and Weak Updrafts
Abstract Atmospheric aerosols often contain surface‐active organics, which reduce surface tension and enhance cloud droplets activation. This effect is often neglected in the application of...
Forecasters say 2025 ‘more likely than not’ to be UK’s hottest year on record
Met Office says temperatures are tracking ahead of 2022 after year of heatwaves and drought, though late cold spell could yet interveneForecasters say 2025 is...
The best of the long read in 2025
Our 20 favourite pieces of in-depth reporting, essays and profiles from the yearVictor Pelevin made his name in 90s Russia with scathing satires of authoritarianism....
This fish seems to use its bizarre skull like a drum
The rockhead poacher’s unusual cranial anatomy may help it communicate
Kennedy ‘deeply committed to ending animal experimentation’
HHS secretary vows to end U.S. monkey imports, push for retirement of research primates
Watch these raindrops turn into rolling ‘sandballs’
Discovery suggests raindrops can be up to 100 times more erosive than once thought
Trump has always hated offshore wind. Now he’s moving to kill it.
The Department of Interior abruptly paused the leases for five of the nation’s largest proposed offshore wind projects on Monday. That effectively halts all ongoing...
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