In the early 80s, Sumner formed a trio with Rudolph Grey and Arto Lindsay to do paintings & drawings and show them together under one name, Jack Texas. Here I ask: who does this - i.e., form a band, but for visual art - and why? And I document their show, at Danceteria, in 1983. bit.ly/4pf20Dp

BREAKING: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is illegally closing 13 campus buildings (including ~100 laboratories). Report coming from GESTA, the Goddard employee union

In the early 80s, #sumnercrane, Rudolph Grey and Arto Lindsay all signed the name Jack Texas to their visual art. Sumner and Rudolph did works based on comic book panels by Sumner's hero, artist Bob Powell, including a couple of Powell's "Cave Girl" character. More here bit.ly/49d6hTq

"But perhaps the most consequential long-term loss for federal science is that of institutional knowledge and expertise — and the downstream effects on the training of early-career researchers." "We lost people with decades of experience and everyone who was very early career, ...”

In which I introduce Sumner's art, starting with what I think may be the first paintings I ever saw in my life. In these, Sumner was strongly influenced by his teacher Milton Resnick. He also put in found objects, at least one of which has great personal meaning for me. bit.ly/4hQAGcj

🚨The Moore Lab at UC Davis is hiring!🚨 Post-doc for a project with @adamsobel.bsky.social on the valuation of climate information for adaptation Could be a good fit for an environmental economist or a climate scientist - flexible start date and location Apply by Dec 1st: recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF07346

October 26 5pm ET: #Melissa, unfortunately, has never looked better on satellite. The NHC indicates Melissa is now up to 145 mph winds (Category 4). We'll see if this goes Category 5 in the next 24-48 hours. High potential for catastrophic impacts in Jamaica, Cuba, and Hispaniola. Heartbreaking.

"Damaging winds and heavy rainfall... will cause catastrophic and life-threatening flash flooding and numerous landslides before potentially devastating winds arrive... Extensive infrastructural damage, long-duration power and communication outages, and isolation of communities are expected." 💔😔

My late uncle Sumner had 15 minutes of fame in the 1970s as a member of the band Mars. But there was much more to him. I wrote a little biographical essay. Though only a few pages, I believe this is the most substantial written document of his life and work that yet exists. bit.ly/3L63zFb

For those interested, I’ll giving a departmental colloquium on “Nine months in the federal assault on climate science” on 10/29 at 11:30am EDT Register here:

It was a pleasure to talk with Matt Goldklang at the Man Group about climate risk, for his nice article on the subject in their newsletter, "Lets get geophysical." I hate looking at myself on video though... maybe just listen with picture off😑 letsgetgeophysical.substack.com/p/decoding-c...

I've started a substack newsletter. If you've liked my podcast or media articles, you might like this too. In the short term, mostly about my late uncle, artist Sumner Crane. But eventually, climate, life, politics etc. First post is just saying hi, real content soon. substack.com/home/post/p-...

Looking forward to visiting Brown!

📣 Postdoc opportunity alert! Join our dynamic community of Earth, environmental, and climate scientists as LDEO postdoctoral fellow. Principal criteria: scientific excellence + clear plan to investigate problems at forefront of Earth science. ➡️ Apply by Nov 7: lamont.columbia.edu/about/postdo...

Our friends @saveaidsresearch.bsky.social have just begun their own 24 hour livestream to #saveAIDSresearch. Go support them and learn about what decades of federally funded science has achieved and we stand to lose!

We're hiring! We have an open search for an Assistant Professor in physics of the ocean and/or atmosphere in Columbia's Dept. of Earth and Environmental Sciences. Please circulate this information to good candidates, and apply yourself if you are one! Ad & link to apply: apply.interfolio.com/173819

Today is a day of action to protect science and American innovation. Email Congress, call your representative. www.protectscienceandinnovation.org

I was thrilled that @climatefran.bsky.social let me play a supporting role in this work. It's a step towards the big goal of a broad theoretical framework for adaptation-oriented climate risk science.

If Trump's proposed budget were adopted, it would end the United States' longstanding dominance as the world leader in science and innovation.

Thanks Adam for sharing what's going on with us with everyone else! You mention the Weather and Climate Livestream at the end, recording were just posted to Youtube! bsky.app/profile/wcli...

Both science and universities in the US are in the process of being devastated by our current president and his administration. I felt compelled to use my little platform to say something about this. So instead of my uncle, I'm talking about this instead, this week on the podcast. bit.ly/3Ta2FIE

On the latest episode of The Sumner Files: the legendary Connie Burg! Connie was essential to the sounds of Mars and John Gavanti, and stayed lifelong friends with Sumner, as evidenced by how many of his paintings feature her face. It was an honor and a pleasure! deep-convection.org/2025/06/11/t...

Thanks so much to Karen Smith and Stuart Livingstone for having me on their Emerging Environments podcast. We talked mostly about the current crisis in US science, but also life & career choices, science communication, etc. podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/e...

Trump's Budget is out. For NOAA, it's exactly what the previous passback document showed. Trump administration eliminations NOAA's Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research in its ongoing fight against science and reality. www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/...

Such a privilege to host this panel earlier today with my own scientific heroes. But sobering to hear such statements from these distinguished scientists.

There’s so much happening right now, I thought I’d put together a running thread on the dismantling of #climate and research and knowledge infrastructure in the United States 🧵

Last day at the GISS building (Wed. May 28th). 🥲

There are 2 previous historical cases of countries destroying their science and universities, crippling them for decades: Lysenkoism in the USSR and Nazi Germany. The Trump administration will be the 3rd. It's not just budgets but research, institutions, expertise, and training the next generation.

Last few hours of the weather & climate livestream. It has been an amazing thing to witness and be part of. Put on by a fantastic, dedicated group of young scientists, with participation from the whole community in this scientific field. www.youtube.com/@wclivestrea...

The Sumner Files' new episode, I talk with Susan Lehman, aka Sue Crane, aka my Aunt Sue! She talks about her memories of Sumner, his art and personality, and their happy life together. Featuring a couple of exclusive music clips from Sumner's cassette archive! deep-convection.org/2025/05/29/t...

I'm honored to be a part of this, speaking at 8:45 pm tonight. Thanks so much to the organizers for putting together this event. It's an amazing real-time document of the state of US weather and climate science in 2025, and everything that's at risk due to the proposed catastrophic budget cuts.

Kelly is the best, go work for her! Good opportunity for those wanting to move from academia/govt to private sector!

It’s hard to overstate how important Unidata is to weather research & communication, but the program paused most of its operations this month due to a lapse in funding from the NSF freeze. Staff is furloughed & it is unclear when they will be able to resume operations thebulletin.org/2025/05/deco...

It's outrageous that NASA GISS, one of the best earth & space science labs in the world, is being kicked out of its Columbia home. The outstanding scientists who work there can't say that publicly, but I can. And so can you --- call your reps, esp. (but not only) if you live in NYC or NY state.

📢 URGENT: Graphic designer needed to design materials for our public event opposing federal budget cuts to weather/climate research. The event is only a week away! Details of the event at wclivestream.com DM if interested or tag someone who might be!

Big day for the destruction of the US: GOP budget: raise deficit by $2.3 trillion over 10 yrs, raise incomes of the richest 10% and cut incomes of the poorest 10%. Cryptocurrency is stealing $$ from us to protect crypto bros. Medicare/MediCal are being cut. GOP is using nuclear option in the Senate.

The proposed cuts to NSF would be a national catastrophe. theconversation.com/unprecedente...

New on The Sumner Files today: Cynthia Sobel, my mom! And Sumner's sister. She talks about their parents and their childhoods, and other memories - like Sumner taking her and my dad to see Bob Dylan at Carnegie Hall in 1963. deep-convection.org/2025/05/14/t...

☀️THE SUMMER FIGHT FOR SCIENCE☀️ 🫵 WHO: You + all our friends 🧪 WHAT: Share science with your neighbors and tell them about the impact of proposed budget cuts. 🇺🇸 WHERE: Your local community 🏖️ WHEN: Now to Sept 30th 🔬 WHY: The 9/30 budget vote will determine the future of science in America.

There are so many, many ways these cuts are going to affect not only the country's economy but public safety. 🧪 (Thanks to @drjeffmasters.bsky.social, @weatherwest.bsky.social, @coweatherman.bsky.social, JoAnn Becker, Rick Spinrad, and Louis Uccellini for their help on this one.)

Today, House Republicans are unveiling their plan to increase energy bills and pollution for everyday Americans, just to give billionaires another tax break. A summary of their proposals. THREAD! 🧵

"I will be resigning after this semester from my tenured position at West Point after 13 years on the faculty. I cannot tolerate these changes, which prevent me from doing my job responsibly. I am ashamed to be associated with the academy in its current form." www.nytimes.com/2025/05/08/o...

It appears that NOAA's Atlas 14 Precipitation Frequency Data webpage is not currently active. This is an essential dataset that contextualizes extreme rainfall (i.e. return periods), and is heavily utilized to assess / strategize flood potential in localized areas. hdsc.nws.noaa.gov/pfds/

Trump and the GOP are purging, deleting, censoring, moving, and hiding hundreds of government webpages, documents, and assessments that report on environmental and climate-change threats to U.S. national security and the military. I've documented some examples here: www.gleick.com/blog/censors...

If you're wondering what the impact of NSF cutting the overhead rate, I wrote something about this for The Climate Brink. This sounds boring but, make no mistake, this is an existential threat for the U.S.'s competitiveness in the 21st century. www.theclimatebrink....

Cutting federal funding for scientific research could cause long-term economic damage, equivalent to a major recession. A 25% reduction in public support for research and development results in a 3.8% drop in economic output. A 50% reduction lowers GDP by ~7.6%, and a 75% cut reduces it by ~11.3%.

New on the Sumner Files: Arto Lindsay! From DNA to Ambitious Lovers & Lounge Lizards to solo projects & producing many other great artists, Arto has had an amazing career. It was an honor & pleasure to talk with him about Sumner & his art & their relationship. deep-convection.org/2025/04/30/t...

They simply want to cancel an entire field of science because they don't like the answers it has come up with. It's like the burning of the library of Alexandria. www.propublica.org/article/trum...