Observations from the Little Bunker
A systematic observation of climate change, extreme weather events, and their cascading effects on society
🌍 Latest Environmental Observations
How Trump Derailed a NOAA Pioneer’s Move From Climate Impacts to Solutions
Libby Jewett founded the U.S. ocean acidification program and had begun work on offshore wind energy. But she joined the past year’s historic exodus from...
The Loosely Regulated Petrochemical Barge Industry Is Commandeering a Texas River
People who live on the San Jacinto fear chemical releases and explosions from the vessels. It’s unclear who’s policing the buildup.By Salina Arredondo, Public Health...
Why forcing people to go green can backfire
Combating climate change can feel particularly difficult these days. Countries, states and municipalities across the globe are missing greenhouse emission reduction targets and, in the...
Characterization of Crustal Deformation During the May 2021 Nyiragongo Eruption Using InSAR and GNSS Data
Abstract We analyze Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) data to characterize ground deformation and dike opening associated with the...
Statistical Estimate of the Magnetopause Reconnection Rate as a Function of the Interplanetary Magnetic Field Clock Angle
Abstract The magnetic reconnection rate at the magnetopause is crucial for solar wind and magnetosphere coupling. However, direct measurement is challenging due to inherent uncertainties...
EPA Funding Salvaged in US Congress Spending Bill
The EPA budget for 2026 rejects extreme cuts proposed by Republican representatives and the Trump administration. But advocates warn that significant cuts still jeopardize the...
Trump says he’ll unleash Venezuela’s oil. But who wants it?
Shortly after launching a dramatic raid in which U.S. forces abducted Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro on Saturday, President Donald Trump justified the action with a...
COP29 at the climate crossroads: achievements, gaps, and implications for a warming world
The 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29), held in Baku, Azerbaijan, in 2024, convened amidst escalating climate crises and unprecedented global warming, with 2024 recorded...
Congress set to reject Trump’s major budget cuts to NSF, NASA, and energy science
Appropriators agree instead to keep this year’s spending nearly level
A Greenland glacier is cracking open in real time
A meltwater lake that formed in the mid-1990s on Greenland’s 79°N Glacier has been draining in sudden, dramatic bursts through cracks and vertical ice shafts....
AI Data Centers
Climate Justice Alliance created seven educational resources for alliance members outlining AI and data center environmental justice impacts, including increased energy consumption, ratepayer hikes, land...
Deep-sea earthquakes fuel huge plankton blooms in Antarctica
Hydrothermal vents spurred by seismic activity feed vital nutrients to Antarctic microbes
A systematic review of human behavioral response to wildfire smoke
As climate conditions intensify fire seasons, human exposure to wildfire smoke becomes a more significant concern, posing health risks and disrupting emotional and social well-being....
Communicating the need for climate action
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 05 January 2026; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02503-xIt is essential to understand the best way to frame a persuasive message aimed at increasing concern...
A registered report megastudy on the persuasiveness of the most-cited climate messages
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 05 January 2026; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02536-2How to effectively communicate climate change to the public has long been studied and debated. Through a...
COP presidencies should focus less on climate policy, more on global politics
Ben Marshall is a teaching fellow at Harvard University and Aditya Bhayana is a climate fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School. The dust is settling...
Indirect nitrous oxide emission factors of shallow eutrophic lakes: the importance of dissolved organic carbon and nitrate
Lakes are an important source of nitrous oxide (N2O). However, the indirect N2O emission factor (EF) model, applied by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change...
A New Era of US Mineral Mining Must Put Communities First
The area around California’s Salton Sea is incredibly rich in lithium — enough to support over 375 million electric vehicle batteries. A new mine, dubbed...
‘A silent majority’: MPs underestimate support for green policies, study reveals
Exclusive: From solar subsidies to meat taxes, minority rightwing voices appear to drown out the consensus“There may have been a silent majority in favour of...
Arizona’s AG Is Clear-Eyed About the State’s Energy Costs and Water Scarcity—but Can It Help Her Win Reelection?
Kris Mayes, the only Arizona politician to win a statewide office as both a Republican and a Democrat, is fighting utilities, industrial ag, the mining...
Health Care Providers Are Dropping a Common Anesthesia Drug That’s Also a Climate Super Pollutant
Limiting use of desflurane helps hospitals reduce their greenhouse gas emissions; the European Union now prohibits its use during most procedures.By Phil McKennaDesflurane is a...
The biggest climate migration problem may be that there’s not enough of it
In Guatemala, outside the town of Jocotán, in a house hidden from the main road by a thin wall of vegetation, I met Elena, a...
Rising heavy precipitation amid decreasing typhoon contribution in Southeast Asia
Understanding long-term precipitation changes in Southeast Asia (SEA) is important because the region is highly vulnerable to precipitation-related disasters. This study examines typhoon and non-typhoon...
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