WA declares unprecedented fourth drought emergency in a row The fact that state officials started ringing alarm bells so early in the year underscores just how painful they expect the summer dry spell to be.

For the fourth year in a row, WA has declared a drought emergency.

This is not normal. Climate change is here and now — and we need to urgently address it.

Easy to break. Hard to fix.

Every day, I dread this summer more and more.

GOVERNMENT REGULATING POLLUTION IS GOOD FOR PEOPLE
(I need a sticker or something that says this)

Forest Service to Close 57 of 77 Research Sites A federal restructuring will eliminate regional offices, centralize authority, and expand logging priorities as wildfire risks rise.

Forest Service to Close 57 of 77 Research Sites

The U.S. Forest Service is undergoing a Trump administration overhaul that will eliminate regional offices, relocate its headquarters, and shut most research facilities.
theintellectualistofficial.substack.com/p/forest-ser...

What Emergency Managers Say They Need More Than Ever We heard from more than 40 current and former emergency managers in 11 states about what they need to prepare for the next disaster — and what they aren’t getting.

What do America’s emergency managers need? We talked to more than 40 current and former emergency managers in 11 states to find out. Here’s what they told us.

Photo of the snowpack measurement team, with a five foot long tube to measure snow depth and water content, but it's resting on grass, with just sprinkles of white snow around the field.

When you go up to the Sierra Nevada to do the last seasonal snowpack depth measurement and there isn't any snow.
#climate
#climatechange
#water

‘On a whole other level’: rapid snow melt-off in American west stuns scientists Experts say brutal March heat has left critical snowpack at record-low levels – and key basins in uncharted territory

“Climate change is going to result in these extreme events worsening,” said Frazier, a climatologist & assistant professor at Clark Univ, who added that compound events, where hazards overlap are on the rise -- greater fire danger."
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Trump to revoke protections for endangered species in Gulf of Mexico President is convening so-called ‘God squad’ to override provisions of Endangered Species Act for ‘national security’

Trump to revoke protections for endangered species in Gulf of Mexico; convening so-called ‘God squad’ to override provisions of Endangered Species Act for ‘national security’ www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

GOP weighs health care cuts to pay for Iran war New efforts to rein in health programs open the GOP up to attacks that they're cutting health care to pay for an unpopular war.

Trump and Republicans want more money for a war with no justification.
 
They want more money for lawless and violent mass deportations.
 
All paid for by cutting even more health care for American citizens. I'll do everything I can to stop them.

Homeowners Insurance: Premiums Generally Tracked Inflation but Rose More in Disaster-Prone Areas www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-107867

A farm worker holding an irrigation pipe in a field

"Julio" says, "I've been working in Imperial Valley CA fields for 17 years. I'm removing the irrigation pipes so the harvesting machines can come in. I get tired. The pipes weigh around 30 lb and are unwieldy to carry. I have to walk long distances as I do this work." #WeFeedYou

Artificial Intelligence: IRS Actions Needed to Address Skills Gaps, Information Quality, and Strategic Management www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-107522

The LaGuardia Crash Will Be Blamed on One Controller. That's Not the Whole Story. 3,000 controllers short. WWII-era radar still in use. And a lone controller managing two emergencies at midnight. This was preventable.

Two pilots dead at LaGuardia. A lone controller managing two simultaneous emergencies. The FAA is 3,000 controllers short. We will blame the human. We should fix the system.
open.substack.com/pub/adamkinz...

Graphic showing observed average maximum temperature for March 1, 2026 to March 21, 2026 with 741 stations. Many are in the top 5 warmest on record for this period.

For understandable reasons, we have been focusing a lot on the West, but there's a much broader signal. Many stations across the entire southern half of the U.S. are recording their highest average maximum temperatures on record so far this March.

Graphic by sercc.com

Like the 2021 PNW heat wave, this week’s event is demonstrating how climate change makes heat waves not only hotter but also longer-lasting and larger in size.

Third of entry-level jobs sidelined. #econsky

A tax season reminder that Intuit TurboTax lobbied the government for years to block free public tax-filing.

Trump then terminated the free IRS Direct File program established under Biden, just a year after the tax prep giant gave his inauguration fund $1M.

Do you see how this works?

Applying machine learning to identify unrecognized COVID-19 deaths recorded as other causes of death in the United States A machine learning approach suggests that COVID-19 deaths were undercounted unevenly across sociodemographic groups in 2020–2021.

19% more deaths from Covid in the US than counted thru 2021

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Bluesky, we need your help to count walrus! 🦭

Previously on "Walrus from Space", volunteers like you sifted through around 500,000 satellite images to support our conservation research.

Now we're asking the you to help us count the walrus in those images 👀

➡️ geohive.vantor.com/walrus/login

While dropping off his kids, federal agents detained an Afghan refugee who served alongside U.S. special forces. He died less than 24 hours later.

This is the 43rd death in ICE custody since Trump retook office. We need accountability and justice for all those who’ve died under their watch.

Hello #econsky. I am still trying to find people who were on hiring committees during this economics job market for a panel at the SEA meetings in November. Please reach out if you will be at the SEA and were hiring his past year.

Graph from California's water agencies snowing current statewide snowpack compared to the long-term average. Snow levels have risen rapidly when storms in late December/early January boosted snowpack, but much of that snow then melted. New storms in February rapidly boosted snowpack again, but again that snow has melted. Current levels are just half of normal, and the peak of snow season ends April 1.

What is happening with California snowpack this year is an example of #climatechange: more extreme storms that bring rain and snow; too little snow compared to rain; and rapid loss of snowpack due to rising temperatures. Snowpack is just half of normal & melting far more quickly than average.
#water

Reimagining homeowners insurance amid growing climate risk - The Hamilton Project On March 18, The Hamilton Project and Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy will host an event on homeowners insurance and climate risk.

What does climate change mean for homeowners insurance and housing costs? Join us on 3/18 to discuss lessons and policy solutions for (re)insurance amid growing climate risk:

White House stalls release of approved US science budgets The US Congress rejected sweeping cuts to science agencies. But the NIH, the NSF and NASA have had their spending slowed.

Congress rejected massive cuts to US science budgets for 2026, but much of the money still isn’t flowing to researchers.

The culprit? The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is quietly slow-walking the release of funds. 🧵👇

LCV National Environmental Scorecard Are your members of Congress protecting people and the planet?

🚨 The LCV Scorecard is here!

Tracking votes on the most important environmental issues, we give each member of Congress a score from 0-100% based on how often they are voting in favor of people and the planet.

Please repost and share!

Agriculture Is Taking Over Grasslands, Wetlands and Other Overlooked Ecosystems A new study reveals that agriculture is rapidly replacing ecosystems like grasslands, wetlands and savannas, which are often ignored in sustainability policies.

Important new @worldresources.bsky.social research shows that agricultural expansion isn’t only leading to forest loss - it’s leading to loss of grasslands, savannas, & wetlands too.

From 2005-20, the 🌎 lost 95 Mha of non-forest natural ecosystems to annual crops, and another 95 Mha to pasture. 1/

‘Psychological’ Trump wall on WA’s border has repelled a million trips Since Trump began threatening to make Canada the “51st state,” Canadians have resisted coming over the border at Blaine. How will we tear this wall down?

‘Psychological’ Trump wall on WA’s border has repelled a million trips

Valuing wildfire smoke–related mortality benefits from climate mitigation | PNAS Human-induced climate change has increased wildfire risks, associated air pollution, and health damages in North America. Despite its large potenti...

🚨🔥 NEW: Increasing mortality from wildfire smoke is directly traceable to greenhouse gas emissions. In our new paper in @pnas.org , we show that every megaton of CO2 emitted costs the US more than 10 million dollars in health costs from wildfire smoke. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

A line curve showing number of awards for fiscal year 2026 compared to fiscal years 2021-2025 across NSF. The fiscal year 2026 curve lies well below curves for other fiscal years.

NSF Update

Funding curve overall. A little bit of progress in the past week, but only a little bit.

Now by Directorate...

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