John Doherty

I put together some of my thoughts on the ongoing attacks to NOAA and climate science that make us all less safe. I hope you consider reading:

www.eli.org/vibrant-envi...

Fascinating analysis here!

Scientists looked back in time to find the first signs of human-caused global warming. It’s far earlier than previously thought | CNN The human fingerprint on global warming was likely evident in Earth’s atmosphere far earlier than previously thought—even before the invention of modern cars, a new study says.

1885!

www.cnn.com/2025/06/16/c...

This is just so messed up in so many ways, legal not least among them.

E&E News: Pope Francis, the isolated climate moralist In the weeks before his death, Francis repeated a decade-old plea for a break from both Trumpian greed and the left’s economic rationalism.

"Pope Francis, the isolated climate moralist"

subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...

Harvard has set an example for other higher-ed institutions - rejecting an unlawful and ham-handed attempt to stifle academic freedom, while taking steps to make sure students can benefit from an environment of intellectual inquiry, rigorous debate and mutual respect. Let’s hope others follow suit.

She Inspired Laws to Hold the Fossil Fuel Industry Accountable. Now She’s a Target. A conservative group is suing for emails of a law professor who helped create legislation to force oil, gas and coal companies to pay for climate damage.

“She Inspired Laws to Hold the Fossil Fuel Industry Accountable. Now She’s a Target.”

www.nytimes.com/2025/03/27/c...

A line graph showing atmospheric CO2 levels at Mauna Loa Observatory from 1955 to 2025. The y-axis represents CO2 mole fraction in parts per million (ppm), ranging from 320 to 420 ppm, while the x-axis is years.

The most iconic figure in the environmental sciences is the Keeling Curve, the CO₂ record from Mauna Loa, Hawaii.

@noaa.gov had a wonderful site where you could visualize and download these data, and now it's just gone. These data belong to us and we should not let this happen!

New publication out in the Environmental Law Reporter led by Prakriti Shah, where we speculate that it is likely that India's judiciary will see an uptick in climate-related litigation and argue that proactive preparation via education will be essential for judges: www.elr.info/articles/elr...

thousands of excess deaths resulting from extreme heat conditions at increasing levels of global temperature

NEW: Mass heat mortality events are coming. In our new preprint, we project tens of thousands of deaths per week in Europe, if the weather patterns that produced heat waves historically happen again at future -- or even current -- global temperatures.

eartharxiv.org/repository/v...

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

It was a pleasure to discuss the future of science policy on AGUTV at #AGU24!

They are unironically called “people movers!” Welcome to DC 🙂

Insightful perspective by @bobkopp.net and coauthors on tipping points and the communication of them:

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

I am looking forward to presenting at this session next Friday at #AGU24!

There has been a lot of scholarship on this topic! If you haven’t already seen this piece from 2020, I’d recommend it!

journals.library.columbia.edu/index.php/cj...

What it looks like when you go from paleoceanography to environmental law & policy research. I, for one, am excited to learn more about biogeochemical courts!

Mapped: How climate change affects extreme weather around the world - Carbon Brief Attribution studies calculate whether, and by how much, climate change affected the intensity, frequency or impact of extremes – Carbon Brief has mapped every published study on how climate change has...

Fascinating new synthesis of extreme event attribution research from @carbonbrief.org . Two things are clear: 1) for the vast majority of analyses, scientists have detected a role of climate change in the event, and 2) there is a clear bias in analyses for the global north.

tinyurl.com/5a4at653

Twelve graphs (arranged in three columns and four rows) covering the period 1960 to 2024. Starting top left these are Carbon Dioxide, Ocean heat content, glacier mass, methane concentrations in the atmosphere, global mean sea level, Greenland ice sheet cumulative mass balance, nitrous oxide concentrations in the atmosphere, arctic sea ice extent, Antarctic ice sheet mass balance, global mean temperature, Antarctic sea ice extent and ocean pH. Data from various sources.

1. It’s that time of the year. The WMO State of the Climate Update was released today(ish), taking momentary stock of where the climate is. So, some climate nuggets. 🧵

YouTube video by Shah That there's some good in this world, Mr Frodo and it's worth fighting for - The Two Towers

May you all find a Samwise in these times… ❤️

youtu.be/n0wWHTMMuSc

Maps showing maximum rainfall from Hurricane Helene (left) and percentage change due to human-caused climate change (right).

New rapid attribution by Mike Wehner and colleagues at LBL shows that climate change increased Hurricane Helene's rainfall by up to 50% in some parts of Georgia and the Carolinas, and made the event up to 20x more likely.

Read: drive.google.com/file/d/14oq6...

A time series of billion+ dollar weather & climate disasters in the US from 1980 through mid-2024

NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information website is down, as is their database of billion-dollar weather and climate disasters.

Why? Likely because NCEI is based in Asheville NC.

Climate-fueled unnatural disasters spare no-one and nothing.

www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/billi...

Curious about the landmark settlement of Hawaii’s youth-led constitutional climate case and the role that science played in arriving at it? Check out this new blog from my colleague, Dara Albrecht!

www.eli.org/vibrant-envi...

Show Your Stripes Visualising how the climate has changed for every country across the globe

Happy #ShowYourStripes Day! We are certainly feeling that dark red in DC this week with the ongoing heatwave. See your region’s stripes at showyourstripes.info, courtesy of @edhawkins.bsky.social .

Pleased to share our new article, "Weathering the Storm of Global Climate Litigation: Enabling Judges to Make Sense of Science!" Here, we explore the role of science in informing climate change litigation in a few high-profile cases from around the world.

www.law.georgetown.edu/internationa...

SLR in DC

Climate impacts for the average citizen of a low-income country at 1.5°C of global warming will not be felt by ~40% of people living in high-income nations until >3°C of global warming. 😩 #ClimateInjustice

h/t @eroston.bsky.social

2024 as the year of international climate litigation 2024 is shaping up to be the year of international climate litigation, with three of the four cases on foot before regional and international tribunals centrally featuring human rights arguments.

Nice summary of four ongoing international climate cases

www.unimelb.edu.au/climate/news...

Confidence in Climate Science: How Consensus Emerges in the Scientific Community | People Places Planet Podcast | Episode 4

I had a great time on the People Places Planet podcast this week, talking about the IPCC, the Fifth National Climate Assessment, and the process of finding consensus in climate science--in addition to what scientific consensus actually means and why it's important!

share.transistor.fm/s/0c8f9c3c

12 graphs each with one or more blue lines showing in 3 columns and 4 rows. From top left: Carbon dioxide (ppm), Ocean heat content (ZJ), Glacier ice (mwe), Methane (ppb), Sea level (mm), Greenland ice sheet *Gt), Nitrous oxide (ppb), Arctic sea ice extent (million square km), Antarctic ice sheet (Gt), Global temperature change (degC), Antarctic sea ice extent (million square km) and Ocean ph (units).

Tweet of the climate 2023

NB: Not all lines reach 2023 yet.