Posts

Court Orders the Netherlands to Protect a Caribbean Island From Climate Change

By Karen Zraick , The New York Times.  Excerpt: A Dutch court ruled on Wednesday that the Netherlands violated the human rights of residents of the tiny Caribbean island of Bonaire, a Dutch territory, by failing to protect them from the effects of climate change. ...In a  statement  accompanying  Wednesday’s decision , the court said, “There is no good reason why measures for the inhabitants of Bonaire, who will be affected by climate change sooner and more severely, should be taken later and less systematically than for the inhabitants of the European part of the Netherlands.”...  Full article at https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/28/climate/netherlands-bonaire-climate-ruling.html . 

What Americans Lose If Their National Center for Atmospheric Research Is Dismantled

By  Carlos Martinez , Eos/AGU.  Excerpt: Five ways dismantling NCAR will cost the American people, and two ways to save it. ...the Trump administration  plans to dismantle  the  National Science Foundation’s (NSF)   National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR),  a federally funded institution that underpins critical science that Americans rely on. ...1. Air Travelers Will Lose Protection. ...2. Food Security and the U.S. Agricultural Economy Will Be Put at Risk. ...3. U.S. National Security and Military Readiness Will Be Weakened. ...4. Americans in Disaster-Prone Areas Will Have Less Time to Prepare for, and Evacuate from, Extreme Weather. ...5. Americans Lose a Unique Source of National Pride. ...What We Must Do Now. ...This moment demands more than concern—it requires action. First, NSF is requesting feedback regarding its intent to restructure NCAR. ... Respond, and inform NSF  about the value and benefits of  all  of NCAR, n...

Wildfire Smoke Linked to 17,000 Strokes Annually in the United States

By Emily Gardner , Eos/AGU.  Excerpt: A study of 25 million Medicare participants adds to a body of evidence suggesting that prolonged exposure to wildfire smoke is more harmful to human health than other forms of air pollution....  Full article at https://eos.org/articles/wildfire-smoke-linked-to-17000-strokes-annually-in-the-united-states . 

Energy Dept. Says It Is Canceling $30 Billion in Clean Energy Loans

By Brad Plumer , The New York Times.  Excerpt: Many of the cancellations had been known for months, but the announcement underscored the drastic change in the energy landscape under President Trump. The Energy Department said on Thursday that  it was in the process of revising or canceling more than $83 billion in loans  for clean energy technologies that had been approved under the Biden administration. The announcement came from the agency’s loan programs office, which  played a central role  in the Biden administration’s efforts to develop new technologies to fight climate change. Under President Joseph R. Biden Jr., that office finalized or issued conditional commitments for roughly $104 billion in lending for battery factories, transmission lines, hydrogen plants and many other projects. The Trump administration has sought to reshape the agency and renamed it the Office of Energy Dominance Financing. Last year, the energy secretary, Chris Wright, announced ...

As Greenland loses ice, global sea levels will rise—and its own will fall

By Evan Howell , Science.  Excerpt: Seas will rise this century—but not uniformly.... In the very places where glaciers are melting and shrinking, the land beneath will rebound as the burden eases, meaning seas may fall even as the meltwater causes them to rise elsewhere. A new study shows that in Greenland—whose rapidly melting ice sheet accounts for about one-fifth of current sea level rise—this paradox will mean expanding coastlines, dried-up fjords, and future complications. Published today in  Nature Communications , the research  shows portions of Greenland’s coast will rebound far more sharply than expected , causing seas to fall by anywhere from 1 to nearly 4 meters by 2100. Western and southern Greenland...will likely bear the brunt of the retreat, posing major problems for shipping and food security. ...Changes in the mass of Greenland’s enormous ice sheet, which is roughly three times the size of Texas and in some places more than 3 kilometers thick, ...

Inside the World's First Climate-neutral Cruise—Powered by Garbage

By Ryan Craggs , Travel + Leisure.  Excerpt: In Norway, the Havila Polaris is sailing on liquefied biogas and battery power, making it the world’s first climate-neutral cruise. ...Norway built the world’s largest  sovereign wealth fund  by selling oil; Norway's Government Pension Fund Global, a  $2 trillion nest egg , was built almost entirely on North Sea oil and gas revenues. Now it's spending that money to prove you don't need oil at all. As of Jan. 1, 2026, Norwegian regulations require  zero emissions for passenger ships under 10,000 gross tons  operating in the country's five UNESCO World Heritage fjords, with larger vessels facing the same mandate in 2032....  Full article at https://www.travelandleisure.com/worlds-first-climate-neutral-cruise-powered-by-garbage-havila-polaris-11885603 . 

Why Greenland Matters for a Warming World

By Somini Sengupta , The New York Times.  Excerpt: ...the fate of the world’s largest island has outsize importance for billions of people on the planet. That’s because of the one thing that Greenland is quickly losing: ice. Most of Greenland’s landmass...is covered in ice. That ice is melting rapidly because the polar regions of the world are warming rapidly, with wide-ranging consequences for the stability of the Earth’s climate. Blame the burning of coal, oil and gas. Their emissions have driven up global temperatures, most strikingly in the Arctic, which is  warming at least twice as fast  as the rest of the planet. As the Arctic warms, potential new trading routes open up, as well as access to mineral riches, including those that are vital for clean energy technologies useful for slowing climate change.... ...In the 12 months ending on Aug. 31, 2025, Greenland lost 105 billion metric tons of ice, according to scientists at the Danish Meteorological Institute, who...