Observations from the Little Bunker
A systematic observation of climate change, extreme weather events, and their cascading effects on society
🌍 Latest Environmental Observations
Purdue blocks admission of many Chinese grad students in unwritten policy
Faculty members say university is overreacting to pressure from the Trump administration and Congress
Emergent constraints on future change projections of mean and extreme temperature and precipitation in the global maize harvesting area
Maize cultivation faces increasing risks from climate change, particularly because of increasing temperatures and extreme weather events. This study investigates whether the ‘hot’ Earth system...
DeBriefed 16 January 2026: Three years of record heat; China and India coal milestone; Beijing’s 2026 climate outlook
Welcome to Carbon Brief’s DeBriefed. An essential guide to the week’s key developments relating to climate change. This week Hottest hat-trick STATE OF THE CLIMATE:...
A coalition on compliance carbon markets to make climate clubs politically feasible
Nature Climate Change, Published online: 16 January 2026; doi:10.1038/s41558-025-02541-5Economists have spent a decade designing the perfect climate club, yet political reality has hitherto rendered these...
Roadmaps and Colombia conference aim to shift fossil fuel transition into higher gear
Two years after governments agreed to transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems, a series of conferences and consultations in 2026 will move the...
Brazil’s biodiversity pledge: Six key takeaways for nature and climate change
The world’s most biodiverse nation, Brazil, has belatedly published its UN plan for halting and reversing nature decline by the end of this decade. Brazil...
Experts: What to expect from China on energy and climate action in 2026
The year ahead in 2026 is an important period for China’s climate policy, amid hints that its emissions could peak and as the government publishes...
‘We’re in danger of extinction’: can Bolivia’s ‘water people’ survive a rising tide of salt and migration?
The Uru Chipaya, one of South America’s most ancient civilisations, are battling drought, salinity and an exodus of their people as the climate crisis wreaks...
Potentials and pitfalls around green claims of e-fuels: insights from an exploratory case study
EU and US regulations have recently introduced requirements for calling e-fuels ‘green’ or ‘renewable’, focusing on deliverability and additionality around renewable energy certificates (RECs) in...
A theoretical framework for critical canopy temperature and its application to improve remote-sensing-based estimation of evapotranspiration
Surface energy balance (SEB) models are widely employed for remote-sensing-based evapotranspiration estimation. A critical parameter in most SEB models is the surface temperature of wet...
At ‘Davos of mining’, Saudi Arabia shapes new narrative on minerals
As competition for natural resources fractures the global order, Saudi Arabia is cementing its position as the centre of gravity for international discussions to accelerate...
Trees outside forests and their carbon dynamics over Maryland, U.S.A
Carbon monitoring is needed to track the exchange of carbon between the land and atmosphere. However, comprehensive monitoring of terrestrial ecosystems is challenging, partially because...
Deforestation-free trade: the impact of border regulations on trade, production and land use in the forestry and agricultural sectors
Trade regulations on high-deforestation commodities are increasingly used to curb tropical deforestation. To evaluate their actual impact, this paper analyzes trade regulations on high-deforestation commodities...
Compounding of 100-year coastal floods by rainfall in an urban environment
Coastal and pluvial flooding are both becoming more prevalent and severe due to climate change and urbanization in floodplains. The co-occurrence of these flood drivers...
Breathe Providence: an integrated approach to siting a low-cost air monitoring network
Breathe Providence is a community-scale, low-cost air sensing network based in Providence, RI. The objectives of this project are to contribute towards a more comprehensive...
Will Trump’s Push to Drill on California Public Lands be More Successful This Time Around?
The BLM has revived its effort to open more of California’s public lands to oil extraction. But its strategy has changed little since the agency’s...
Cleaner Water a Hope, Not a Given, for Iowa in 2026
As the 2026 legislative session began in Des Moines, mixed signals suggest that the state’s approach to rampant water-quality issues may be more business as...
Trump’s EPA is taking itself out of the regulation game
In the 55 years since its founding under President Richard Nixon, the Environmental Protection Agency has been a regulatory pendulum, swinging between stringent and lax...
Trump is trying to kill clean energy. The market has other plans.
A year ago, Donald Trump assumed the presidency for a second time and immediately got to work dismantling the climate progress that Joe Biden’s administration...
Daria Egereva fought for Indigenous voices at the U.N. Now she’s in a Russian jail.
Russian authorities have detained an Indigenous climate advocate, accusing her of participating in a terrorist organization in what international observers are calling “retribution” for her...
Trump’s anti-climate agenda won’t just hurt the planet, but American incomes too
In this week’s newsletter: US earnings would be 12% higher without the climate crisis, a study reveals – and the hotter the world gets, the...
BP accused of ‘insidious’ influence on UK education through Science Museum links
Campaigners claim firm has bought sway over the teaching of science, technology, engineering and maths Campaigners have accused BP of having an insidious influence over...
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