Paul Higgins

Graphic for the 2026 AMS President-Elect (President in 2027) and Council featuring names and headshots of the president-elect candidates and headshots of the council candidates.

AMS Elections are NOW open 🔓!

President-Elect Candidates:
Jack Kaye, Richard Spinrad, Bruce Telfeyan

Council Candidates:
Michael Eilts, Renée Leduc, Maureen McCann, Randall Bass, Jordan Gerth, Aaron Piña, Julie Demuth, Kevin Goebbert, Jon Nese

Learn more and vote here: https://bit.ly/3Iaapbo

Climate Variability and Change The CVC committee divides among its members the responsibilities, which include organization of the Climate Variability and Change Symposium at the AMS annual meeting, various awards (AMS and STAC), s...

The @ametsoc.org Climate Variability & Change (CVC) Committee is recruiting new members! If you’re passionate about advancing climate science and service, I encourage you to get involved. It is incredibly rewarding.

Apply here: www.ametsoc.org/ams/get-invo...

Understanding six “key truths” about climate change predicts policy support, discussion, and political advocacy Social norms and collective efficacy are strong predictors

Not the research itself, per se. But I would say this is even more evidence for the fact that we need a large scale effort that uses a social media as a tool to make people aware of these six key facts. It is astonishing and disappointing to me that so few see the need and none want to fund it.

A detailed technical assessment of the DOE Climate report is now available. It's an impressive effort that involved more than 85 scientists. If you wanted a deeper dive after reading AMS's 5 page response (bit.ly/climateDOE), this is it.

The Practice and Assessment of Science: Five Foundational Flaws in the Department of Energy's 2025 Climate Report Adopted by the Executive Committee of the AMS Council on 27 August 2025

AMS released a statement on climate change today that points out five foundational flaws with the Department of Energy's 2025 climate report: www.ametsoc.org/ams/about-am...

The Top 6 Weather Conspiracy Theories Debunked An expert debunks popular weather conspiracy theories.

You're welcome
www.forbes.com/sites/marsha...

on this date eight years ago, Tom Holland wowed Zendaya on Lip Sync Battle with his cultural critique of impervious surface stormwater runoff.

For hundreds of years, humanity has relied on science to improve lives and build civilization. Science tests hypotheses, uses data, and follows a systematic method in pursuit of the truth. It’s not perfect of course. But destroying American science as we know it will only send us backward.

The U.S. Weather Enterprise: A National Treasure at Risk The AMS is a global community committed to advancing weather, water, and climate science and service.

Here is the correct link to the full statement: bit.ly/3XqJs7L

This is what happens when you ask me to help sanewash the Trump tariffs.

Consider adding to the syllabus:
“The Glass Hotel” by Emily St. John Mandel

This is so spot on. As a climate scientist and public intellectual, I see or experience these often

‘Night Magic’ invites you to celebrate the living wonders of the dark In the book ‘Night Magic,’ Leigh Ann Henion writes of encounters with salamanders, bats, glowworms and other life-forms nurtured by darkness.

Science News just published a piece on our ten favorite books from 2024. My contribution was Leigh Ann Henion's Night Magic, a lively and moving account of the fauna, flora and fungi that thrive in darkness and the wonder night holds. My review from September: www.sciencenews.org/article/nigh...

For climate-interested people new on bluesky, here is an excellent starter pack of climate scientists to follow from @katharinehayhoe.com
@edhawkins.bsky.social @lisaschipper.bsky.social @andrewdessler.bsky.social @rahmstorf.bsky.social @oceanterra.bsky.social
go.bsky.app/7Mbnoge

If anyone would like to learn more about the history of vaccines & infectious diseases and people's stories of the 1918 flu and other epidemics, I wrote this series in 2021. Lots of historical photos and videos. May help if you need to win over a vaccine skeptic. www.sciencenews.org/century/epid...

Please welcome the @ametsoc.bsky.social to Bluesky!

AMS advances the atmospheric & related sciences (including of course climate), applications, and services for the benefit of society.

I've added them to this starter pack of scientific organizations that do climate-related work ⬇️

Professor of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences - Madison, Wisconsin, United States Job Summary: The Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (AOS) invites applications at the assistant (tenure track) or associate professor (tenured) level with research broadly related to mod...

Please share!

UW-Madison’s Dept of Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences invites applications for a faculty position with research broadly related to modeling, remote sensing, and/or analysis of climate and extreme weather risk, impacts, or solutions.

More info: jobs.wisc.edu/jobs/profess...

Analysis is helpful but for those who want to see it for themselves and without the filter, here's a link to the CSPAN simulcast of the Presidential debate:
www.c-span.org/video/?53805...

Climate Policy Colloquium New! An immersive introduction to the U.S. Federal policy process for scientists and professionals working in climate and climate-related fields. Learn More

I am very pleased to announce that the AMS Policy Program is initiating a Climate Policy Colloquium (www.ametsoc.org/cpc), which will occur from December 15-19, 2024 in Washington, DC.

Please see the preliminary agenda (bit.ly/AMSCPC24) and event webpage for details and updates.

"As the linguist Emily M. Bender has noted, teachers don’t ask students to write essays because the world needs more student essays. The point of writing essays is to strengthen students’ critical-thinking skills."

Some rough numbers to keep in mind

Every living thing on Earth put together: 1 trillion tons

All the stuff we’ve built or made: 1 trillion tons

Total CO2 we emitted: 2.5 trillion tons

Support US OCTOPUS Act to keep octopuses wild

Last spring, Washington state passed a bill banning commercial octopus farming.

Today, we (myself and 99 others, led by Jennifer Jacquet, Becca Franks, Peter Godfrey-Smith, and Walter Sanchez-Suarez) have a letter in Science supporting the US OCTOPUS Act, which would do the same nationwide.

Register to vote in your state | Vote.gov Find the information you need to make registration and voting easy. Official voter registration website of the United States government.

Check your voter registration. Or get registered. 

Just do it. Pass it on.
vote.gov

Inside Project 2025’s Secret Training Videos “Eradicate climate change references”; only talk to conservative media; don’t leave a paper trail for watchdogs to discover. In a series of never-before-published videos, Project 2025 details how a se...

NEW: Inside Project 2025’s Secret Training Videos

“Eradicate climate change references”...
Only talk to conservative media...

Don’t leave a paper trail for watchdogs to discover.

In never-before-published videos, Project 2025 details how a second Trump administration would operate.

Wikipedia image of people bird-watching

A new study finds that "nature-based experiences, and birdwatching in particular, increase well-being and reduce distress" on college campuses. More of this, please!

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Flint grapples with the mental health fallout from the water disaster The water crisis started almost a decade ago. Residents of Flint, Mich., are still healing from the disaster — and caring for their own.

April 25, 2024 is the 10th anniversary of the start of the water disaster in Flint. Residents have reported rates of depression and PTSD higher than US and global averages. My story from 2023 on residents' experiences and how the community is helping people cope.
www.sciencenews.org/article/flin...

Just listened to a webinar on WRI's 2023 State of Climate Action Report. It's no surprise that the report finds that there is a lot of work to do to address climate change (and plenty of opportunity to get after it). Here is a link to the document:

www.wri.org/insights/cli...

This is my first of what will probably be not very many, not very frequent posts. I'm very happy to be here!