Ben Riddell-Young

The growing role of climate-sensitive emissions raises the stakes for reducing methane emissions from the anthropogenic sectors we can directly control. 🌍

www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...

Further, fossil methane emissions appear relatively stable over the past two decades despite rising production. That implies a global decline in methane intensity (less methane released per unit of fossil energy produced) and points to real mitigation progress as well as additional opportunity. ↓

In our recent PNAS paper, we analyze long-term trends in the isotopic composition of atmospheric methane and find recent growth is largely driven by microbial emissions. These increases are consistent with a mix of climate-sensitive wetland emissions and expanding agricultural and waste sources. ↓

Methane Hunters Track Swamp Gas That Is Driving Climate Warming

Glad to see our group's work featured in this @nytimes.com article on how different methane emission categories are changing over time. 🧵↓

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/18/c...

In our recent PNAS paper, we analyze long-term trends in the isotopic composition of atmospheric methane and find recent growth is largely driven by microbial emissions. These increases are consistent with a mix of climate-sensitive wetland emissions and expanding agricultural and waste sources. ↓

Attention folks in the weather, climate, disaster, wildfire, and Earth science communities: NSF has just published a new "Dear Colleague" letter inviting feedback (by Mar 13) on the proposal to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). www.nsf.gov/funding/...

I just signed - consider signing if you work or have worked in Greenland “We hope many U.S.-based researchers in Greenland …will join us in signing this letter to… call upon our elected representatives to vocally support Greenland’s right to self-governance”. forms.gle/csef7uCnU11y...

Science Under Siege -- The NCAR development | Michael E. Mann The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) has played a key role developing the science of climate modeling and the measurement of climate observations going back […]

"Science Under Siege -- the NCAR Development" | My new commentary: michaelmann.net/science-unde...
#ScienceUnderSiege

A deeply dangerous — and blatantly retaliatory action against Colorado — by the Trump administration.

NCAR is one of the most renowned scientific facilities in the WORLD — where scientists perform cutting-edge research everyday.

We will fight this reckless directive with every legal tool we have.

Congrats to @benryoung.bsky.social and team for a new publication on methane emissions. They found: 1) The fossil fuel industry is getting better at increasing production but not emissions, and...

With support from the @cires.colorado.edu and @noaa.gov

Excited to share our new PNAS paper!

We find that recent methane growth was driven by agriculture/waste and wetland emissions, while fossil fuel emissions have remained stable despite growth in production, highlighting recent progress and further mitigation potential.
www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...

Trump order gives political appointees vast powers over research grants Researchers are alarmed that the move might upend a long-standing tradition of peer-review for grants.

The order is the latest move by the Trump administration to assert control over US science

go.nature.com/3H6IxVr

Improving Oversight of Federal Grantmaking By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and to improve the process of Federal

So now, regardless of the scientific merit of your grant proposal, a Trump appointee with no specified qualifications gets to decide whether to fund it or not based entirely on how it aligns with the Trump administrations policy goals…seems real bad.

Researchers Are Resurrecting Billion-Dollar Disaster Tool Trump Killed Nonprofit Climate Central has hired the scientist behind a key database of costly weather disasters to rebuild it.

"A climate nonprofit is planning to revive a key federal database tracking billion-dollar weather disasters that the Trump administration formally stopped updating in May.

The database - which was produced by NOAA - is set to return this fall as a product of @climatecentral.org."

A punnet that has only a single cherry in it.

Breaking: US shortage of cherries since so many were picked for the DOE ‘critical’ review of climate science.

Why Did National Geographic Disappear Its Own Documentary About A Queer Climate Scientist? | Defector If you’re not a particular kind of mountain sports nerd, you might not be familiar with the Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival World Tour. But for people who live their lives in the overlapping circl...

Nat Geo would kill for legit science-driven adventure like they found in “For Winter,” over content less credibly grounded in pursuit of knowledge +humans pushing limits. Instead they’ve (Disney?) gotten cold feet & deeply disrespected my colleague Ali & her family. defector.com/why-did-nati...

The critical research that unlocks our climate's past and future may be on thin ice “There’s questions that we don’t know we should be asking yet.”

See interviews from lab alum Ben Riddell-Young and PI Ed Brook in this Mother Jones article on the future of ice core research.

🚨The Trump Administration is proposing devastating cuts to key national agencies in Colorado that play a vital role in protecting our country, including through cutting-edge research on wildfires, droughts, and more.

Senator Bennet and I are fighting back against the attacks on NOAA, CIRES & CIRA 👇🏾

Problems don’t exist if you don’t see them! 😐

The critical research that unlocks our climate's past and future may be on thin ice “There’s questions that we don’t know we should be asking yet.”

Funding for ice core research is at risk. Ben Riddell-Young, a CIRES postdoctoral researcher in NOAA GML, shares why ice core research is important for understanding past and future climate change. “There’s questions that we don’t know we should be asking yet.”
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

When Ice Ages End, Ocean Circulation Fine-Tunes Ocean Heat - Eos New Antarctic ice core data bolster model predictions of ocean heat content during glacials and interglacials.

About 20 years ago, researchers drilled a 3,260-meter ice core in East Antarctica. Now, scientists are using it to uncover new insights. 🧪🌊

@noaa.gov just released the 2024 CO2 growth rate and it doesn’t look good. It is more important than ever to continue monitoring how and researching why GHGs are changing and what these changes mean for our climate system.
@climate.noaa.gov

To the world:
We are fighting back. Our movement has been silenced by the media here—but we are not backing down. This is what our streets looked like across multiple cities. Tomorrow, there will be more of us! Raise a glass to freedom.

—With love,
Your American allies.

A screenshot of a text conversation discussing chaotic and troubling conditions at NOAA, expressing concerns about the administration's lack of care and the need for legislative attention.

My friend from the NOAA lab that brings you the Keeling Curve wants that world to know that things are horrible inside NOAA.

We have an exciting opportunity for postdoc to join our group at @bas.ac.uk and take part in two big ice core projects: www.beyondepica.eu and @fetch4.bsky.social.

Package includes: mugs, stickers, maps, trips to Copenhagen, Grenoble and (maybe) Greenland.

bas.ciphr-irecruit.com/applicants/v...

Having fun with new lecture on:

Wendt et al., 2024, Southern Ocean drives multidecadal atmospheric CO₂ rise during Heinrich Stadials | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Riddell-Young et al., 2025, Abrupt changes in biomass burning during the last glacial period | Nature doi.org/10.1038/s415...

Happening at the NOAA/NIST entrance in Boulder, CO today. Spread the word!

New lab account! Please share this post to help us connect with our network.

We are a lab at Oregon State University headed by Dr. Ed Brook and Dr. Christo Buizert using ice samples to study past climate. See coldex.org for info on our search for old ice. #science #coldex #oregonstateuniversity

The Ronne Ice Shelf survived the last interglacial - Nature Sea salt data from an ice core record show that Antarctica’s Ronne Ice Shelf survived the last interglacial, the last period of enhanced and sustained global warmth about 125,000 years ago.

Important paper in Nature today about collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. There is a positive isotope anomaly at Skytrain Ice Rise during the last interglacial, consistent with what we found in our high-resolution water-isotope simulations when WAIS collapses.

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