Observations from the Little Bunker
A systematic observation of climate change, extreme weather events, and their cascading effects on society
🌍 Latest Environmental Observations
A Small Oil Company Polluted Midland’s Water Reserve. The Cleanup Has Dragged on for Years.
Cleaning up oilfield pollution in arid West Texas is costly and complicated. The bankruptcy process allows companies to move on while the public pays the...
How Trump’s Withdrawal From Climate Treaties May Ultimately Play Out
In addition to international stakes, states and cities face additionally challenges to acting autonomously this time around. Interview by Jenni Doering, Living on EarthFrom our...
The Reality of a Rapidly Warming World
Go behind the scenes with executive editor Vernon Loeb and science reporter Bob Berwyn as they discuss the latest reports on relentless human-caused global warming.By...
Hidden Bioavailable Dissolved Organic Matter in the Deep Northwestern Pacific Ocean
Abstract The deep ocean is widely viewed as a stable reservoir of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) that is highly resistant to microbial degradation. However, this...
The fate of the planet’s coastlines depends on how fast Antarctica’s ice sheets melt. We don’t know what’s coming
Some regions of the continent have enough ice to push up sea levels by 15 metres if they all melt, but researchers don’t yet fully...
Iran’s regime has survived war, sanctions, and uprising. Environmental crises may bring it down.
The anti‑government protests sweeping across Iran, from major cities to rural towns, are fueled by anger over economic collapse and political repression. But beneath the...
Lake Unloading Drives Fault Slip and Rift Asymmetry in Southern Tibet
Abstract The extent to which surface processes drive continental deformation remains a pivotal question in geodynamics. Here, we demonstrate that Late Quaternary lake‐water unloading is...
Flocculated Silt, Not Clay, Dominates River Suspended Sediment Load
Abstract River mud builds fertile floodplains, combats land loss due to sea level rise, and buries vast amounts of organic carbon. These processes rely on...
BepiColombo at Mercury: Three Flybys, Three Magnetospheres
Abstract We examine the first three BepiColombo Mercury flybys Using data from the Miniature Ion Precipitation Analyzer (MIPA), an ion mass analyzer in the Search...
Glacial Expansion of Deoxygenation in the Arabian Sea
Abstract The mechanisms by which ongoing climate change influences ocean Oxygen Minimum Zones (OMZs) are insufficiently understood, making it essential to examine their long‐term variations...
As Artificial Stone Countertops Kill Workers, House Republicans Discuss Protections—for Manufacturers
Sponsors of a new bill want to give the industry immunity from lawsuits brought by injured employees. That will kill even more workers, experts warn.By...
An Alabama Mayor Signed an NDA With a Data Center Developer. Read It Here.
The non-disclosure agreement was a major sticking point in a lively town hall that featured city officials, data center representatives and more than a hundred...
Guterres warns of ‘powerful forces’ undermining ‘global cooperation’
In historic speech to mark UN’s 80th anniversary, secretary general makes impassioned plea for multilateralism and international law amid drastic US funding cutsThe United Nations...
Improving Sandstorm Simulations by Parameterizing Form Drag From Subgrid Sand Dunes Using 30‐m‐Resolution Terrain Data
Abstract Surface and near‐surface wind speeds, critical factors for dust emission, are often overestimated in desert regions by models, leading to exaggerated predictions of sandstorm...
Seismological Evidence of Multiple Crustal Magma Reservoirs Beneath Mt. Wrangell in Southcentral Alaska
Abstract Recent studies have challenged the classical view of magma chambers as ephemeral, melt‐rich bodies confined to shallow depths beneath arc volcanoes at subduction zones....
Complex Networks Reveal Climate Models' Capability in Simulating Global Synchronized Extreme Precipitation
Abstract Spatially synchronized extreme precipitation events are intensifying under anthropogenic warming. Accurate simulation of such compound extremes by global climate models underpins reliable climate projections...
Federal Court Allows Dominion Energy in Virginia to Continue Offshore Wind Project
For the third time this week, the Trump administration is blocked from stopping a major renewable energy effort.By Charles PaullinNORFOLK, Va.—U.S. District Court Judge Jamar...
Clean Energy Advocates Criticize ‘Glaring’ Omission in White House Plan to Fuel Data Centers in PJM Region
Environmentalists warn that the proposal, signed by a bipartisan group of 13 governors, could increase reliance on fossil fuels and fail to bring consumer prices...
A Year Out From One of the World’s Largest Battery Facility Fires
Thousands of lithium-ion batteries burned in a facility in Moss Landing, Calif., sending up a plume of smoke and heavy metals. Today, the cleanup continues.By...
Trump’s Push for Coal in Colorado Could Bring ‘Massive’ Harm to Public Lands and Rural Communities, Advocates Say
The EPA’s rejection of Colorado’s regional haze plan and orders from the Trump administration to keep coal plants online in the state have advocates worried...
Some guest editors pack special issues with their own articles
Thousands have penned more than one-third of a journal issue, raising conflict-of-interest concerns
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
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