Claire Zarakas's Avatar

Claire Zarakas

@czarakas.bsky.social

Climate scientist. Thinking about interactions between land, climate, and society & applying research to advance climate action Schmidt Science Fellow @carbonplan.org and @UCIrvine. Atmospheric Sciences PhD @UW. Opinions my own.

535 Followers  |  590 Following  |  6 Posts  |  Joined: 25.10.2023
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Posts by Claire Zarakas (@czarakas.bsky.social)

The high-resolution simulations in the MESACLIP dataset include such features as snow cover on land and sea surface temperatures in the oceans. Photo credit: NCAR.

The high-resolution simulations in the MESACLIP dataset include such features as snow cover on land and sea surface temperatures in the oceans. Photo credit: NCAR.

A team of scientists from @tamu.bsky.social and NCAR (@ncar-ucar.bsky.social) has created an unprecedented set of high-resolution Earth system simulations that is freely available to the scientific community.

Learn more about the MESACLIP project: https://bit.ly/4rBK9bg

26.02.2026 21:07 β€” πŸ‘ 20    πŸ” 5    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Let’s reframe the CDR policy conversation – CarbonPlan CDR policies must align with a coherent vision of a net-negative world.

Our new report, written in collaboration with the Carbon Removal Standards Initiative, presents a framework for policymakers to connect the dots between future net negativity and the practical decisions that underpin public investments in early-stage technologies.

carbonplan.org/blog/cdr-pol...

26.02.2026 14:10 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 1
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Project Drawdown launches Climate Science Serving America Fellowship to support scientists working in the public good Fellowship seeks early- to mid-career researchers based in America who are committed to science and public expertise

FELLOWSHIP! We’re proud to announce the launch of the Climate Science Serving America fellowship, open to early- and mid-career scientists & engineers who work on climate solutions.

Full salary, benefits, and a research stipend. Remote anywhere in the United States.

drawdown.org/news/project...

20.02.2026 17:16 β€” πŸ‘ 46    πŸ” 30    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 2

It has warmed my hearth to see we have reached over 200 signatures here :) Thank you to everyone who has put their name down. As this is picking up steam, together with other initiatives, and with some UCAR representatives, we're trying to make sure this reaches the general public, congress & NSF.

19.02.2026 19:05 β€” πŸ‘ 19    πŸ” 9    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 1
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This New Wildfire Risk Model Has No Secrets CarbonPlan has a new tool to measure climate risk that comes with full transparency.

I wrote about the first 100% transparent climate risk tool. You can look up your home's wildfire risk, w/ all underlying data, methods, and code available to dl. The hope is to get this info out of black box models and invite public/scientific scrutiny and collaboration. heatmap.news/adaptation/c...

10.02.2026 22:18 β€” πŸ‘ 22    πŸ” 9    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 3
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This New Wildfire Risk Model Has No Secrets CarbonPlan has a new tool to measure climate risk that comes with full transparency.

Climate risk modeling is notoriously fraught, but @carbonplan.org is trying anyway β€” and showing its work.

Here's @emilypont.bsky.social with the story:

heatmap.news/adaptation/c...

10.02.2026 20:15 β€” πŸ‘ 10    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Very excited to see this out in the world, modeling what it looks like to develop fully open-source climate risk tools

10.02.2026 17:20 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Breaking: Washington Post gutting its climate team Clean energy dies in darkness. Courtesy of Jeff Bezos.

I don't say this often but: I'm so proud to be a climate and environment reporter. We cover an issue that is vitally important to humanity and the natural world. 14 of my climate colleagues at the Post were laid off today and I'm devastated.

www.climatecoloredgoggles.com/p/washington...

05.02.2026 02:17 β€” πŸ‘ 1949    πŸ” 580    πŸ’¬ 51    πŸ“Œ 42
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The need to consistently account for time in CDR – CarbonPlan We collaborated on a new preprint that establishes clearer language for talking about temporal lags in CDR, and shows how ignoring them can drive near-term warming.

Most carbon removal projects don’t pull COβ‚‚ from the atmosphere instantly β€” there are temporal lags. We contributed to a new preprint showing why accounting for lags matters for both near-term warming and long-term temperature stabilization. 1/2

carbonplan.org/blog/cdr-tem...

20.01.2026 22:20 β€” πŸ‘ 21    πŸ” 5    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Consistent temporal accounting supports credible CDR use – CDRXIV Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) is increasingly used to support national targets and corporate net-zero commitments, yet the timing of atmospheric drawdown remains poorly represented in carbon accounting...

Consistent temporal accounting supports credible CDR use. cdrxiv.org/preprint/302

20.01.2026 14:59 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

#SaveNCAR Update: CO Senators aren't backing down on NCAR protections, so now is the time to call your representatives and force the amendment to a vote: wclivestream.com/act/

14.01.2026 22:35 β€” πŸ‘ 26    πŸ” 17    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 2

Yay!! I'm excited to see what you find!

24.11.2025 18:44 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Why Billionaire Wendy Schmidt Is β€˜Doubling Down’ On Climate Science In The Age Of Trump How billionaire Wendy Schmidt became a crucial funder of science and climate research amid political rollbacksβ€”backing ocean discovery, data access, and storytelling.

Philanthropy is vital in advancing the science needed to address global challenges. Our co-founder @wendyschmidt.bsky.social is an inspiring example. Thank you for your unwavering support for science @schmidtocean.bsky.social @schmidtsciences.bsky.social www.forbes.com/sites/elisab...

18.09.2025 19:15 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Record wildfire smoke kills more people each year than car crashes. It’s about to get worse. The past six summers have been the smokiest on record. New research shows that smoke could become the costliest consequence of climate change for Americans.

It's not your imagination: Wildfire smoke in the U.S. has dramatically worsened since 2019. According to a new study, it's already killing 41,000 people a year - and it's poised to get much worse.

new from me @johnmuyskens.bsky.social and @sadbumblebee.buzz

www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

18.09.2025 15:25 β€” πŸ‘ 373    πŸ” 169    πŸ’¬ 12    πŸ“Œ 21
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Our paper "Sensitivity to Data Choice for Index‐Based Flood Insurance" is now published in Earth’s Future!

We show that the data chosen to trigger index‑based flood insurance payouts can change everything.

agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

#ClimateResilience #FloodInsurance

16.09.2025 16:18 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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I'm happy to share a paper in Science Advances that makes the case for a weak land carbon sink, drawing upon JPL and Chloris biomass time series. To close the budget with a net land sink of 0.8 Pg C/y from 2000-2019, we propose increases in the ocean sink and decreases in fossil fuel emissions.

10.09.2025 20:01 β€” πŸ‘ 13    πŸ” 13    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0

Right then...

A quick review of the DOE's new 'critical review' of climate science. Whether it's worth a formal community response - I'm still not sure, but here's my first thoughts

/thread/

30.07.2025 14:32 β€” πŸ‘ 193    πŸ” 111    πŸ’¬ 10    πŸ“Œ 23
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Ecological acclimation: A framework to integrate fast and slow responses to climate change Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

A synthetic paper about fast vs. slow responses of ecological systems to changing climate, explaining how and why those responses can shift (even in sign) over time. Examples across scales and subdiscplines (population genetics, ecosystem ecology). besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

25.06.2025 17:31 β€” πŸ‘ 38    πŸ” 13    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

🚨Calling U.S.-based climate experts! The newly formed U.S. Academic Alliance for the @ipcc.bsky.social is now accepting nominations for the Seventh Assessment Report.🌍

Join a global network of scientists shaping the future of climate action.

Apply by April 4: buff.ly/hDrBH1F

#IPCC #AGU

20.03.2025 12:05 β€” πŸ‘ 112    πŸ” 68    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 8
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My hard copies of the BCI book have arrived! 98 chapters of plant and ecosystem science. "All" I need now is a comfy chair, a pot of tea, and no distractions for a week.
Downloadable here: smithsonian.figshare.com/articles/boo...

31.03.2025 18:24 β€” πŸ‘ 12    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Thanks for thinking of me @kdorheim.bsky.social! I'll sign up 😁

24.03.2025 21:49 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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β€œWhat is CDR?” is the wrong question – CarbonPlan We summarize the ongoing debate around what β€œcounts” as CDR, highlighting the trade-offs of each proposed definition. We suggest an alternative set of questions that can provide a more meaningful guid...

There’s an ongoing debate over what should β€œcount” as COβ‚‚ removal. In a new commentary with @hausfath.bsky.social, we break down key points of contention, proposed definitions, and why no definition offers a perfect path forward. (1/5)

carbonplan.org/research/def...

25.02.2025 19:11 β€” πŸ‘ 28    πŸ” 6    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 2

"Others found the financial enticements to leave insulting. 'I don’t work here for the fucking money,' said one longtime agency employee who works on air pollution. 'I work here because I believe in it, and I want to serve the public.'"

06.02.2025 14:49 β€” πŸ‘ 16    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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GHG emissions from the German LULUCF sector have gone from around neutral to a large source!

The change is almost entirely in forest land.

"Due to the years of drought, around two million hectares of trees have been damaged and some have died completely."
www.thuenen.de/en/thuenen-t...

1/

05.02.2025 11:53 β€” πŸ‘ 89    πŸ” 43    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 13
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The extent of Storm #Eowyn’s impact on forests cannot be seen properly from the ground. This drone footage taken today above a stand I visited in Meath shows how wind hardened trees around the edge remain standing while the centre has been flattened.

30.01.2025 18:34 β€” πŸ‘ 170    πŸ” 58    πŸ’¬ 8    πŸ“Œ 8

it's down for planned maintenance until monday

23.01.2025 17:51 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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New data added to the Compliance Users tool – CarbonPlan We updated the Compliance Users tool to include the latest available cap-and-trade program data about who used which offsets during the program’s fourth compliance period.

We maintain a tool that shows how companies use offsets to comply with California’s cap-and-trade program. The tool is now updated with the latest available data, providing a complete picture of offset use in the first decade of the program β€” from 2013 through 2023. πŸ§ͺ

carbonplan.org/blog/complia...

19.12.2024 21:40 β€” πŸ‘ 11    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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One challenge of using National Forest Inventory data for GHG estimates of forest carbon uptake is that only a share of the inventory plots are sampled each year, meaning the last 5 years or so is a guestimate.

In Sweden, it looks like forest uptake has stabilised, but...

1/

18.12.2024 08:18 β€” πŸ‘ 25    πŸ” 7    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0

The meeting is hybrid, so join us online from anywhere for free! Tutorial for running emissions-driven CESM is in person only, and it would be great to see you in Boulder. We will also make all of the materials from the tutorial public.

18.12.2024 16:53 β€” πŸ‘ 9    πŸ” 8    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1