Has America become fascist? The answer might surprise you.

Why did levels of planet-warming methane surge during COVID? Partly because lockdowns decreased pollution including NOx, which helps breaks down methane. Makes you wonder what will happen as EVs, solar, wind etc decrease pollution 😬 1/2 www.newscientist.com/article/2514...

Your periodic reminder that the economic models that suggest climate change will knock a couple of percent of future GDP - models that are used widely by governments, investors, and businesses - are almost certainly complete garbage. www.businessgreen.com/news/4525211...

$40 million for the Melania documentary ~ 300 jobs cut? www.politico.com/news/2026/02...

I'm told the catastrophic Washington Post layoffs today include at least 14 climate journalists. Totally gutting. Details: www.climatecoloredgoggles.com/p/washington...

The world, the universe and us: 🧠Mini human brains grown with blood vessels ☀️The governance paradox of solar geoengineering 🐛Wonders of the "Chinese Burgess Shale" open.spotify.com/episode/7Ie9... with @alecluhn.com @carissacwwong.bsky.social and @pennysarchet.bsky.social

Great, but for context: There are more than 3000 immigration agents in Minnesota www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...

Levels of TFA, which causes birth defects in some animals, have increased 3.5x in 20yrs. “It is shocking that we’re emitting large amounts of a chemical into the environment that we have a very poor understanding of its impacts, and it’s irreversible." www.newscientist.com/article/2514...

Some interesting stories I got to cover this month: Sand from under an ice dome in northern Greenland was bleached by the sun 7000yrs ago, proving it melted at 3-5C of warming—temperatures it could see again by 2100… icemushroom.substack.com/p/january-ic...

A sneak peek of the future in many places: A village in Wales is buying 16 houses & knocking them down because they're being flooded too often. “Residents are terrified ... This is no longer a one in 100 or 200 years event. It happens every few years.” www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

I was a White House ethics lawyer. I used to advise people not to even accept a free cup of coffee from someone who had interests before them. And staff followed those rules. I can’t even find the words to describe the scale of Trump’s corruption here.

My wife was outraged when I told her this. "We hear all about skinny polar bears, but they're getting fatter!?" In Svalbard yes, but it probably won't last. It's hard to feed thousands of carnivores that can weigh as much as a small car on duck eggs & reindeer. www.newscientist.com/article/2513...

"The Little West has an ideology of sorts... democracy, individual freedoms and nostalgia for the old order. The other powers have no belief system beyond an all-purpose aggressive nationalism.. "Anyone can be invaded next.. the biggest problem is ignored: climate change" www.ft.com/content/fcb5...

“Some people in agribusiness might see a bit of forest as wasted land [they] could go clear. That bit of forest is working really hard to maintain regional rainfall that our bit of agriculture is benefitting from.” www.newscientist.com/article/2513...

Wow! This read-along of the NYT moment-by-moment leading to the murder of Alex Pretti should shake everyone awake. He was a Good Samaritan. Agents fired at least ten shots in roughly five seconds. DHS and Pam Bondi claim Pretti approached them armed and intent on a “massacre.”

Trump’s crackdown on Minnesota is so bad one of the top Republicans just dropped out of the governor race: “National Republicans have made it nearly impossible for a Republican to win a statewide election in Minnesota.” www.startribune.com/chris-madel-...

Interrupted geoengineering could cost us *more* by 2100 than doing nothing at all, detailed econ modeling shows: High emissions: $868 billion Solar geoengineering: $393 billion Termination shock: $1 trillion www.newscientist.com/article/2513...

3/4 of people live in countries threatened by "water bankruptcy," as we overdraw our checking account of rainwater & dip into our savings of groundwater. The drivers are agriculture & urbanization, compounded by climate change www.newscientist.com/article/2511...

China's gas demand is slowing as cheaper renewables skyrocket. Maybe you don't need the "bridge" fuel & can just move quickly to the other side 🤔 ... www.carbonbrief.org/explainer-wh...

*Whisper it* The red flag of opinion pieces

The Prime Minister of Belgium speaks:

Countries have spent beyond their sustainable water budgets for so long that critical assets are depleted and the world faces huge economic, social and environmental costs

The Metals Company (which applied to Trump for a deep sea mining permit) says deep sea nodules aren’t producing oxygen. So scientists are going back to the Clarion Clipperton Zone to prove they are. www.newscientist.com/article/2512...

Gotta have space to process those visas 😉 www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

R.I.P., @theonion.com newsroom www.nytimes.com/live/2026/01...

I’m the one in the brown hat. What you might not see is the victim in the car. His feet are pointing out the open car door. An agent is sitting on one of his legs. He’s only wearing crocs. Bystanders found his legal work visa in his abandoned car. #AbolishICE

This photo was taken in 1911 using glass plate technology by Herbert Ponting who was part of Scott's Antarctic expedition, The composition and detail are exquisite with the band of white snow/ice creating a perfect frame around the two people and the ship in the distance Iconic imo

The High Seas Treaty, which will allow countries to establish protected areas outside territorial waters, takes effect today after 20yrs of talks. Scientists like Sylvia Earle call it a “turning pt” for biodiversity. Protected areas raise fish catch nearby too www.newscientist.com/article/2512...

Don't make me dig up my posts telling y'all that voting for Jill Stein is voting to make the world a more evil and dangerous place.

Yesterday the UK Met Office, EU Copernicus, Berkeley Earth, WMO & NASA released findings 2024 was essentially tied for 2nd hottest year. Guess which one didn't mention climate change www.france24.com/en/live-news...

The past 3yrs were 1.5C warmer than preindustrial & experts say we're underestimating the impacts: “This is Titanic risk modelling, looking backwards from the... Titanic in April 1912 & predicting a smooth voyage. This fails the 1st principles of risk management” www.newscientist.com/article/2511...

I couldn't find a starter pack of people posting about the #Arctic, #Antarctic, Himalayas, #glacier, snow, #Thwaites, #cryosphere, etc., so I made one. It's called Ice Pack, naturally: go.bsky.app/8VxBraA

💥 Boom! And it's just happened. The huge volumes of meltwater that had collected on the surface of iceberg A23a have triggered a massive and catastrophic hydrofracture event. Much of the berg has turned to mush. Three major segments remain, the largest about 500 sq km.

www.thenation.com/article/acti... Hit them where it hurts them - boycotts can work

RIP to one of the greatest American rock musicians of all time, Bob Weir. One more Saturday night, my friend.

Kristi Noem, while governor of South Dakota, supplemented her roughly $130,000 salary by secretly accepting $80,000 donated to a political nonprofit she was affiliated with, records show. She never disclosed this income on federal ethics forms. (Published June 2025)

RIP Bob Weir. This was the last song he ever performed, Touch of Grey at the Grateful Dead’s 60th anniversary in San Francisco. No one knew he had just been diagnosed with cancer. Jerry Garcia was the sorcerer, & Robert Hunter was the mad poet, but Bob was the heart & soul of the Dead.

ICE now trying to deport Native Americans. Guys, their name literally spells it out for you

Cutting & dumping boreal trees into rivers flowing to the Arctic Ocean, where they would sink, could be a cheap way to remove atmospheric CO2. Pros: It's happened before, & wildfires are increasingly burning down the forest Cons: Almost every step could backfire www.newscientist.com/article/2510...

Banning business class could halve aviation emissions, along with flying most efficient current planes & loading them fuller www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Subsidizing green tech now & putting a price on CO2 emissions in 2035 could get the US most of the way to net zero by 2050—& cost far less than delaying. But current US policy inconsistency—Trump canceling Biden green subsidies—is the "worst case on all fronts" www.newscientist.com/article/2509...

The Arctic is going to suffer 1.5C of “irreversible” warming even if we reduce global temperatures to preindustrial. Meaning continued melt of sea ice & the Greenland ice sheet, in the best case. This is one of several Arctic stories in my latest newsletter: icemushroom.substack.com/p/december-i...

One of the 1st sediment cores from Greenland shows a 500m thick ice dome melted entirely at warming similar to what we'll likely see by 2100. "This is very direct evidence that the ice sheet is as sensitive as we feared to even a relatively small amount of warming." newscientist.com/article/2510...

An explorer and a glaciologist are kite-skiing across Antarctica with a ground-penetrating radar to gather data that will help understand the past and future of the ice sheet

Well, that should get Trump to back down news.sky.com/story/uk-gov...

“We do need Greenland, absolutely." www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...

What could go wrong? 🤷🏻‍♂️

Let the party begin: “Myers said in an interview he is planning a trip to Venezuela with officials from top hedge funds and asset managers to determine whether there are investment prospects in the country under new leadership.” (H/t @antoniajuhasz.bsky.social) www.wsj.com/livecoverage...