Kim Cobb

Giving strong 2014 vibes... But in that case, just about the time we finished eating crow, 2015 rolled around with a vengeance. Maybe that will happen again this time around.

I'm a Prof with a research lab and a climate solutions course I teach every year. I also volunteer on local, state, and federal boards and committees to advance climate action. Mentees mostly work in research (academic, govt, private sector). Lots of opportunities - we need more women scientists!

A line curve showing number of awards for fiscal year 2026 compared to fiscal years 2021-2025 across NSF. The fiscal year 2026 curve lies well below curves for other fiscal years.

NSF Update

Funding curve overall. A little bit of progress in the past week, but only a little bit.

Now by Directorate...

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Trump's Climate Supercomputer Plans Threaten US Insurance Market: Actuaries A new letter from the American Academy of Actuaries draws a direct line between the planned dismantling of NCAR and higher homeowners insurance costs for US consumers.

The American Academy of Actuaries warns that dismantling NCAR would degrade the catastrophe models insurers depend on to price climate risk—driving up premiums and threatening coverage availability nationwide.
"Uncertainty carries a positive cost."
www.riskmarketnews.com/trumps-clima...

A leading American research lab is slated to lose its critical supercomputing facility, according to a letter released by the National Science Foundation.https://cnn.it/3MoF7zU

YouTube video by The Weather & Climate Livestream We ❤️ NCAR - Let's Save It!

Last December, weather and climate scientists sat down with us to tell us why they loved the National Center for Atmospheric Research, and why it benefits us all. Last night, the NSF began dismantling it. Listen to what they have to say, and why it's urgent that we #SaveNCAR wclivestream.com/act

National Lab of the Rockies, formerly NREL, lays off more than 130 employees The cuts impacted staffers engaged in both research and operations at the lab.

NEW: There's been another round of layoffs at the lab formerly known as NREL.

Weeks after scrubbing “renewable energy” from its name, the National Laboratory of the Rockies in Golden has cut 134 staffers.

www.cpr.org/2026/02/09/n...

New postdoc opportunities in my group at Rutgers-New Brunswick, working on sea-level rise projections and/or coastal climate risk assessment & management

LOOKING FOR A NEW ACADEMIC OPPORTUNITY?

Regius Professorship in Meteorology & Climate Science - a role awarded to the University of Reading by Queen Elizabeth II

Seeking an exceptional academic leader who will shape the future of meteorology & climate science.

jobs.reading.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai...

A Secret Panel to Question Climate Science Was Unlawful, Judge Rules

Today we won.

A U.S. District Court ruled that the administration violated federal law when it secretly convened a group of climate contrarians to produce a thoroughly debunked report to overturn the Endangerment Finding.

The science still matters. We won't stop.

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/30/c...

Share your comments on NCAR with NSF Tell NSF the future that you want for NCAR by 13 March

AGU has an easy-to-use toolkit set for public feedback to proposed government actions. Now is a great time to respond to NSF’s proposed shuttering of NCAR. agu.quorum.us/campaign/154...

My first rule of bike commuting: never ever trust a car. Glad to see you assumed the worst too! Stay safe.

Important update about Congressional efforts to prevent the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) from being dismantled. Last week the White House threatened to veto any appropriations bill that protects NCAR. Despite this attempt at intimidation ... (1/ )

Equitable Climate Futures | Brown University Equitable Climate Futures is an initiative that will build Brown’s capacity for climate research, with a strong focus on under-resourced and historically marginalized groups.

* JOB ALERT* Join our team at @brown-ibes.bsky.social as Program Manager for a cross-campus research initiative "Equitable Climate Futures". ecf.brown.edu Apply by 1/15 for full consideration. brown.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/staff-career...

Photo of a lightning strike. "Scott's Bluff" by Isaac Schluesche was a finalist in the AMS 2024 Photo Contest

New AMS Statement: Dismantling NSF’s National Center for Atmospheric Research would weaken U.S. leadership in weather, water, and climate science, putting public safety at risk.

For more than 60 years, NSF NCAR has improved forecasts and early warnings that save lives. More: https://bit.ly/4q6eChn

What's NCAR? and 8 ways it has helped you

www.forbes.com/sites/marsha...

#AGU25 folks, there is a rapid- response town hall TODAY on the #NCAR dismantling at 1 pm, La Nouvelle Orleans ballroom C (per an AGU media advisory)

Save NCAR from being dismantled today! The Trump Administration has vowed to dissolve the center that provides critical extreme weather and climate data for our nation.

AGU has a Congressional email and call script up on NCAR:

Arg. Omitted two names of students in the above. Corrected version here. Dates/times/sessions unchanged.

#AGU25: Please consider showing up to support Cobb Lab early career researchers from Brown. I especially want to flag undergrad posters Thursday pm and *high school* posters Thursday am. I'm incredibly proud of their hard work to get to this point!

It is hard to overstate how critical @ncar-ucar.bsky.social is to climate science in the US and around the world. It's the beating heart of our field. Generations of scientists have trained there, and almost everyone I know relies on deep collaborations with NCAR scientists. It's end is unthinkable.

I am safe, but still waiting to hear back from many students, staff, and colleagues. The darkest of days for Brown. My heart breaks.

Speed cameras with auto- ticketing.

map of Sri Lanka with heavy rainfall

map of Sumatra and Malaysia showing heavy rainfall between November 23rd and 27th

In the world we live in today, that is 1.3C warmer due to our continued burning of fossil fuels, the extreme rainfall leading to disastrous flooding in many parts of Asia is up to 50 to 160% more intense - new @wwattribution.bsky.social study www.worldweatherattribution.org/increasing-h...

I have a new update to climate model-observation comparisons over at The Climate Brink, covering CMIP3, CMIP5, and CMIP6. Models perform well globally. The latest generation shows too much long-term warming but better reproduces recent trends: www.theclimatebrink....

Time series of annual GISTEMP data from 1880 onwards with an estimate for 2025 based on Jan-Oct data showing that it will be cooler than 2024, but probably a little warmer than 2023.

Now that the Sept and Oct data are (belatedly) in, it looks like 2025 will be the second warmest year in the record (~80% probability). The last three years are in a class of their own.

IBES Director @kimcobb.bsky.social joined LA's AirTalk radio show to discuss Bill Gates's recent memo on climate change — in which he expresses concerns on how the climate crisis is being framed and addressed — and how should we talk about climate moving forward. laist.com/news/la-city...

Current Vacancies

I am hiring 4 postdoctoral researchers for up to 4 years each. Topics include ice sheet reconstruction, GIA, spatial stats, and satellite geodesy. Based in Tasmania.

All details are here: careers.utas.edu.au/en/listing/ with titles below

I am also recruiting multiple PhD students (see below)

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📢Global Carbon Budget 2025📢

Fossil CO2 emissions continue to rise in 2025 while the terrestrial carbon sink recovers to pre-El Niño strength.

The key findings are covered in two reports this year:
* ESSDD (preprint): essd.copernicus.org/preprints/es...
* Nature: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

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YES! So many congratulations to a cherished colleague!