A large high-pressure ridge sets up shop over the Western US, generating record-breaking heat.
An atmospheric river follows the path of the ridge, bringing heavy rain to the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia.
‘Snow-Eater’ Heat Wave Behind Big Sierra Melt Is a Look at Our Climate Future
“Without a long-term warming trend, these events were previously either unlikely or statistically impossible. We kind of unlock that possibility”
@kqednews.kqed.org @kqedscience.bsky.social
www.kqed.org/science/2000...
Satellite images and data show California’s snowpack collapsing at an unprecedented rate during a March heat wave.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pT8d...
Map of the Colorado River, demarcating its tributaries as well as the Upper and Lower Basins and the states in which they're located.
Today, water users in the West did not meet the Interior Department deadline to establish a new Colorado River compact. 🧵
The Vietnamese Bach Ma Mountain Peak station recorded one-day rainfall of 1,739 mm - close to the global one-day record and perhaps a new record for the northern hemisphere. It is part of a deluge Viet Nam has seen in October, shattering 35 precip records. e.vnexpress.net/news/news/en...
Climate projections indicate the Sahara Desert could see a 75% increase in precipitation by late 21st century, with broader shifts in rainfall patterns expected across Africa due to rising global temperatures. doi.org/g96xth
“Climate is changing, and the rate and magnitude of change are unusual in human experience. People are the primary cause of modern climate change, mostly through burning fossil fuels. Those who study the scientific evidence overwhelmingly agree.”
www.ametsoc.org/ams/about-am...
"the Trump administration is updating the [previously published] National Climate Assessments...Altering or revising previously published assessments would be a significant escalation in the administration’s attempts to wipe credible climate science off the record"
www.cnn.com/2025/08/07/c...
Specifically, in our paper we argue that RCP4.5 or RCP6.0 are more realistic representations of 2100 warming under current policy than the increasingly implausible RCP8.5 scenario. But the lower of those two – RCP4.5 – gives a 2100 warming range of around 1.8C to 4C!
“There is a lot of pressure to essentially leave the country or not pursue research.” scim.ag/3Gz4VWW
Feels like a weird time to be talking about regular stuff, but: if you're working on climate and snow and headed to AGU, consider submitting to our session! agu.confex.com/agu/agu25/pr...
Lucky to be organizing with @mtnclimrhoades.bsky.social , Will Rudisill, Kate Hale, @akoshkin.bsky.social
Proud to share @areidy.bsky.social recent work which examined how California's water cycle could respond to warming & the potential "trickle down" implications for agriculture, ultimately concluding that the Sierra Nevada 🏔️ may transition into the Sierra Lluviosa 🌧️ iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...
The White Cliffs of Dover have even been lit up with the stripes!
"Over 250 million acres of public lands are eligible for sale in the bill...demanding the nomination of tracts within 30 days, then every 60 days until the arbitrary multi-million-acre goal is met, all without hearings, debate or public input"
www.wilderness.org/articles/med...
"...We operated [climate.gov] exactly how you would want an independent, non-partisan communications group...It does seem to be part of this sort of slow & quiet way of keep[ing] science agencies from providing information to the American public about climate..."
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
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 🧵
YouGov’s latest survey of trust in news sources continues to show big partisan divides. Full interactive here; gift link: wapo.st/43TBV55
A glacier partially collapsed in Switzerland, burying the village of Blatten in a huge landslide of ice, rock, and mud after residents had been evacuated.
Scientists called the collapse of the glacier “unprecedented” in the Swiss Alps.
Trump administration cuts to NSF will result in more than 200,000 FEWER people per year involved in basic science, training, and education - what should have been the next generation of US scientists. This isn't even eating your seed corn, it is setting your seed corn on fire and salting the earth.
First heli inspection of what remains of Blatten yesterday evening... 🚁😱🌊
SHOCKING!
Few buildings left are flooded
Little debris flow run through the deposit
Look at the height reached on the counterslope! 😮
🎥 Pomona
Spring contrasts! 😍
Mont Blanc massif 'remotely' seen from Loriaz today, with heavy colour contrasts between greening valleys and burnt areas just uncovered by snow ❄️
Aiguille Verte (4,122 m asl) center left with a scarf! 🏔️☁️
Textbook protalus rampart to the right! 😎🥰
📷 @lomdumtblanc.bsky.social
The Trump administration just dropped an executive order, "Restoring Gold Standard Science" and there's lots to unpack. This EO reveals more about how the Administration will approach scientific integrity and science in regulatory contexts. Some initial thoughts. 🧵
www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
NEW: Under Trump, the National Science Foundation is awarding grants at the slowest pace in decades. We took a detailed look at every area of science affected by the funding lag. Here's a gift link: www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
The mountains feeding the Colorado River have less than 50% of the average snowpack for this time of year. This means that the Colorado River could see low water volume, putting the millions of Americans who rely on it for drinking water, agriculture, and hydropower at risk.
Scientists have been publishing climate models since ~1970.
A good way to evaluate their skill is to compare what they expected to happen in the years after the model was published to observed climate changes.
It turns out most models were pretty spot-on:
"The proposed budget for FY26, just released by the White House, cuts NOAA by ~30%...[staff layoffs already leave] nation’s official weather forecast entity at a deficit–down >10% of its staffing– as we head into busiest time for severe storm predictions like 🌪️ & 🌀"
www.cbsnews.com/news/former-...
"CA lawmakers are looking for ways to make up for federal research cuts...Senate Bill 829 would create the CA Institute for Scientific Research, which would give grants & loans to universities & orgs...[for research on] disease prevent. & weather forecasting [et al]"
www.capradio.org/articles/202...
A table titled "Funding Levels Summary (in millions)" shows funding data for various U.S. federal agencies over fiscal years FY24, FY25, and the FY26 President's Budget Request (PBR). It includes five columns: Agency, FY24 Omnibus, FY25 CR (Continuing Resolution), FY25 Enacted, FY26 PBR, and % Change from FY25 to FY26 PBR. Agencies and their respective funding levels (in millions) and percent changes are: DOE (Department of Energy) FY24 Omnibus: $50,246.75 FY25 CR: $50,246.75 FY25 Enacted: $49,800 FY26 PBR: $45,100 % Change: -9.4% DOE Office of Science FY24 Omnibus: $8,240 FY25 CR: $8,240 FY25 Enacted: — FY26 PBR: $7,092 % Change: -13.9% EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) FY24 Omnibus: $9,158.89 FY25 CR: $9,158.89 FY25 Enacted: $9,100 FY26 PBR: $5,000 % Change: -54.5% NASA FY24 Omnibus: $24,875 FY25 CR: $24,875 FY25 Enacted: $24,800 FY26 PBR: $18,800 % Change: -24.3% NASA SMD (Science Mission Directorate) FY24 Omnibus: $7,334.20 FY25 CR: $7,565.70 FY25 Enacted: — FY26 PBR: $3,908.2 % Change: -46.7% NIEHS (National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences) FY24 Omnibus: $997.02 FY25 CR: $997.02 FY25 Enacted: — FY26 PBR: NA % Change: NA NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) FY24 Omnibus: $6,319 FY25 CR: $6,319 FY25 Enacted: — FY26 PBR: $4,799 % Change: -24% NSF (National Science Foundation) FY24 Omnibus: $9,060 FY25 CR: — FY25 Enacted: $8,800 FY26 PBR: $3,900 % Change: -55.8% USGS (United States Geological Survey) FY24 Omnibus: $1,455.43 FY25 CR: $1,455.43 FY25 Enacted: — FY26 PBR: $891.43 % Change: -38.8% Red text is used to denote percentage decreases in FY26 PBR compared to FY25. Several entries for FY25 Enacted are missing or denoted with a dash. NIEHS has no FY26 PBR or percent change listed.
This is not a science budget. This is a massacre.
thebridge.agu.org/2025/05/05/t...
These numbers have almost certainly gone up since this update, but Truckee is one of the top 10 CA FAIR plan exposures in the state, at $4.1BN in exposure.
So a 90% failure rate in wildfire prep is... not ideal.
boe.ca.gov/meetings/pdf...
