Posts

The ocean current that warms Europe may be more resilient than feared

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By Paul Voosen, Science.  Excerpt: After decades of warnings, new data suggest the Atlantic’s vital circulation may withstand climate warming better than feared. ...Climate models have long warned that global warming could weaken “deep-water formation”—the density-driven sinking that is the engine of the AMOC [Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation]. The logic is straightforward: As Greenland’s ice sheets melt and sea ice formation declines, North Atlantic waters will freshen. Combined with warmer sea temperatures, the freshening makes surface waters more buoyant. The AMOC was thought to have shut down abruptly during past climate warmings, and a handful of researchers now argue such a tipping point could occur this century. ...Yet for all the alarming headlines, most climate researchers think the AMOC is more resilient than these worst case scenarios make it seem. Emerging evidence suggests the AMOC may not have actually collapsed in the warm climates following ice ages. More...
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Human-caused sea level rise drives 21st-century worldwide water level extremes

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By Daniel M. Gilford , et al, Science.  Abstract: The rate and impacts of sea level rise vary considerably around the world, but the contribution of human-caused climate change to increases in local and regional flood risks has not yet been systematically explored. ...we quantify human-caused climate change’s contributions to sea level rise at worldwide locations using budget-based and semiempirical model methods. Results show that human-caused sea level rise is quantifiable at 97% of 519 tide gauge sites and is responsible for 58% (44 to 65%) of the observed daily extreme water level exceedances over 2000–2018. On average, human-caused sea level rise has caused a near-tripling in the number of days with attributable exceedances since the 1970s....  Full article at https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adz3595 .   See also Nature article, Human-driven sea-level rise has quadrupled the frequency of coastal sea-level extremes since 1900 . 
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Laboring Under Delhi’s Harsh Heat, Workers Must Choose Health or Wages

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By Pragati K.B. and Anupreeta Das , The New York Times.  Excerpt: Severe heat waves have been hitting India since April, forcing many of the country’s essential workers to make tough decisions. ...For millions of workers like Mr. Rastogi — wage laborers, construction workers, street vendors, delivery drivers — the scorching summer in New Delhi often forces them into a bitter trade-off between health and income. They keep the machinery of this city running, and they are among the most susceptible to its harshest conditions. ...On the hottest days, the surface temperature of the ground can reach 140 degrees, according to the Center for Science and Environment, a New Delhi-based think tank. That is when tarmac starts to soften and barefoot workers risk blistering their feet....  Full article at https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/06/world/asia/india-heat-workers-health-income.html . 
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Trump invokes Defense Production Act to keep U.S. coal plants running

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By Dan Vergano , Scientific American.  Excerpt: At a White House briefing on Thursday, President Donald Trump invoked a national defense law to steer nearly $700 million to support coal power plants and exports. Trump aims to use the 1950 Defense Production Act to refurbish 13 coal plants , build two new ones and establish a West Coast coal export facility in the U.S.—even as many coal plants around the country are retiring and the fossil fuel is in long-term decline....  Full article at https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/trump-invokes-defense-production-act-to-keep-u-s-coal-plants-running/ .  See also WIRED article, China Opens World’s First Wind-Powered Underwater Data Center , and Gizmodo article, America's Solar Just Hit a Critical Milestone That Won't Make Trump Happy ...solar overtook coal power generation in the U.S. electricity mix for the first month on record in May, according to an analysis published Wednesday by the energy think tank Ember.... 
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Court Orders Billions in EV Funds Restored

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By NRDC Nature's Voice.  Excerpt: Siding with NRDC and our allies, a federal court has ruled that the Department of Transportation under the Trump administration acted illegally when it tried to freeze a $5 billion federal initiative to build a nationwide network of reliable, high speed electric-vehicle (EV) charging stations and odered the funds restored. ...It aims to bu9ild EV charging stations every 50 miles on major highways across all 50 states....  Full article at https://issuu.com/nrdc/docs/nature_s_voice_summer_2026 (page 2). 
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Judge Blocks NSF From Dismantling NCAR

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By Emily Gardner and Grace van Deelen , Eos/AGU.  Excerpt: “NSF’s failure to provide any explanation for its decision—let alone a reasonable one—thwarts meaningful judicial review and renders the challenged action arbitrary and capricious,” the judge wrote. A Colorado judge has granted a preliminary injunction to the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR). The move temporarily blocks the federal government from moving forward with one part of its effort to dismantle UCAR’s National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) by transferring stewardship of a state-of-the-art supercomputing facility....  Full article at https://eos.org/research-and-developments/judge-blocks-nsf-from-dismantling-ncar .   See also https://www.science.org/content/article/court-blocks-nsf-s-transfer-climate-lab-s-supercomputing-facility . 
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Trump Administration to Dismantle Ocean Monitoring System

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By Eric Niiler , The New York Times.  Excerpt: The $368 million network of instruments collecting data in both the Atlantic and Pacific has been critical to climate and ocean research....  Full article at https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/01/climate/ocean-observatories-initiative.html .  See also E.U. Steps Up Ocean Monitoring as Trump Administration Backs Away .
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