Greg Tucker

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/...

NSF seeks public input on its Fiscal Year (FY) 2026–2030 NSF Strategic Plan

US researchers: Do you think science should be free from political interference? Do you think NCAR is a national treasure that shouldn't be erased at the stroke of a pen? Please consider submitting comments on NSF's Strategic Plan. Deadline is Tue 27 Jan midnight ET.

www.nsf.gov/od/updates/n...

It's a Gas Why are most gases invisible, odourless and tasteless? Why do some poison us and others make us laugh? And why do some power our engines while others make drinks fizzy? In It's a Gas, Mark Miodownik m...

Just finished Mark Miodownik’s wonderful book “It’s a Gas” - highly recommend! @markmiodownik.bsky.social

www.penguin.co.uk/books/312206...

NSF building on Eisenhower Av. HUD now owns.

Destroying the NSF mural in the foyer. Of the Eisenhower building.

The National Science Foundation sign on our Eisenhower Av building is now gone.

The NSF mural in the foyer is removed and torn off in sheets.

We were supposed to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the agency in May 2025. That never happened.

Weak Violence, Strong Peace: Who We Are in This Crisis It's getting more extreme out there, especially in Minnesota where the unaccountable army of the Trump regime has, in the wake of its murder, beaten up employees, ripped civilians from their cars, kid...

This may come as a shock to you, but I wrote a thing.
Begins with ICE violence in Minnesota, ends with the Buddhist walk for peace across the Southeast. Discusses the profound weakness of the administration in the middle.

THIN PLACES: CLIMATE CHANGE AND SEEING EARTH WHOLE Published on the winter solstice, 2025 - a thin time for reflection and turning.

I encourage everyone to read this beautiful piece by my friend Lisa Graumlich.

open.substack.com/pub/lisagrau...

In the span of four days, we’ve built a coalition of over 80 lawmakers — including several Republicans — to stop the dismantling of NCAR.

I’m grateful to them for their efforts as we work to secure language protecting NCAR in the upcoming CJS appropriations bill.

We will not back down!

👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽

#SaveNCAR

From wildfire warnings to flood forecasts, NCAR's research impacts everyone in America.

President Trump's attempt to dismantle it for political vengeance is beyond reckless.

We will fight against this dangerous scheme every step of the way.

Gift link:

www.theatlantic.com/science/2025...

NCAR is a crown jewel of US scientific innovation. Dismantling it is utterly crazy. I hope representatives around the country are hearing lots of pushback from their constituents.

A Roomful of Computers: the Prescience of Lewis Fry Richardson In a course I teach on geophysical fluid mechanics, I like show students a video depicting a year of weather on planet earth. The video looks down on a projected map of the world as viewed from space....

Lewis Fry Richardson, often considered the father of numerical weather prediction, turns out to have been a fascinating guy: scientist, Quaker, pacifist, visionary. I wrote a short piece about his legacy:
earthcastings.ghost.io/a-roomful-of...

Excited to share a new paper led by Tamara Aránguiz-Rago, now published in Geophysical Research Letters, exploring how strike-slip faults interact with river systems in dry climates. 🏔️ What’s it… | ... Excited to share a new paper led by Tamara Aránguiz-Rago, now published in Geophysical Research Letters, exploring how strike-slip faults interact with river systems in dry climates. 🏔️ What’s it abo...

www.linkedin.com/posts/benjam... @csdms.bsky.social @gregtucker.bsky.social

Everything You Need to Vote - Vote.org Register to vote. Check your registration status. Get your absentee ballot. Fast, free, easy, secure, nonpartisan.

Election Day is a week from tomorrow, and millions of Americans have a chance to elect important local leaders — judges, council members, school boards, and more — crucial to defending and rebuilding democracy. If you haven’t already, make a plan to cast your vote.

A person in a parka walks on a snow field with mountains in the background and clouds.

Applications are open for the CIRES Visiting Fellows Program! Two-year fellowships are available for postdocs, and terms of up to 12 months for senior scientists on leave or sabbatical. Learn more: cires.colorado.edu/award-progra... #fellowships #postdoc #sabbatical Photo:@alibanwell.bsky.social

Pathways Last month I was invited to give a lecture on earth science to a group of 8th graders at a nearby middle school. I leaped at the chance. Although my day job is teaching university students, it’s not o...

I recently gave a talk on earth science to a group of middle schoolers, and it dawned on me that many of the kids in that age group will be alive to witness what the outcome of Roger Revelle's "great geophysical experiment" looks like in the year 2100.

earthcastings.ghost.io/pathways/

America’s brain drain

No words

It’s not too late to join the #NoKingsKickoff livestream! Great line up of speakers.

The Wizard of Seneca Falls I’m enchanted by waterfalls, and not just for the obvious reasons. To a geologist, a waterfall is a slow-motion wave in solid rock. Occasionally you find waterfalls that are stationary, pinned in plac...

This summer I got the chance to visit the home town of Eunice Newton Foote, the 19th century inventor and scientist who first noted the heat-trapping property of CO2, and who was also a key player in the US women’s rights movement:

earthcastings.ghost.io/the-wizard-o...

Opinion | Students Hate Them. Universities Need Them. The Only Real Solution to the A.I. Cheating Crisis.

Interesting perspective on higher ed teaching in the age of AI (gift link):
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/o...

I wrote a thing, a roundup of some of the resistance going on.

Federal agencies hiding out in a bunker

Comic. [3-column table with headers Period, My Favorite Part, and My Biggest Complaint] [Row 1] P: *Precambrian*, MFP: Life develops, MBC: Snowball Earth episodes [Row 2] P: Cambrian, MFP: Trilobites!, MBC: Evolution could stand to calm down a little [Row 3] P: Ordovician, MFP: Earth might have had rings, MBC: Scary volcanic eruption in North America [Row 4] P: Silurian, MFP: First land animals, MBC: Earth’s newfound mold problem [Row 5] P: Devonian, MFP: Big mountains in Boston, MBC: Yeah, sure, what those giant killer fish needed was *armor* [Row 6] P: Carboniferous, MFP: Cool forests, MBC: Bugs too big [Row 7] P: Permian, MFP: Pangea, MBC: Google “The Great Dying” [Row 8] P: Triassic, MFP: Tanystropheus [dinosaur with extremely long neck next to tiny person for scale], MBC: Damage to Canada still visible from space at Manicouagan [Row 9] P: Jurassic, MFP: Birds, MBC: Parasitoid wasps [Row 10] P: Cretaceous, MFP: Raptors, MBC: Raptors [Row 11] P: Paleogene, MFP: Pretty horseys!!!, MBC: Paleocene-eocene thermal maximum [Row 12] P: Neogene, MFP: Forests of *Dracaena* Dragonblood Trees, MBC: Zanclean Flood [Row 13] P: Quaternary, MFP: Burrito invented, MBC: Whoever picked this name for the third period of the Cenozoic

Geologic Periods

xkcd.com/3120/

In an Age of Climate Change, How Do We Cope with Floods? The deaths in the Texas Hill Country are a tragic testament to the force of a raging river. Flood-stricken Vermont has a radical plan to counter the threat it faces.

“The flowing water in a mad river reshapes the entire landscape, a process known as fluvial erosion.”

www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

SCIENCE UNDER SIEGE | Kirkus Reviews Pursuing science and truth in the age of disinformation.

An effusive review of #ScienceUnderSiege by #KirkusReviews of my forthcoming book with @peterhotezmdphd.bsky.social, #ScienceUnderSiege

The Endless Frontier This month marks the 80th anniversary of a report that transformed American science and technology. In July 1945, Vannevar Bush delivered a report to President Harry Truman titled “Science: The Endles...

July 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the "Endless Frontier" report, which led to the establishment of NSF and transformed the US from a science backwater to a global research powerhouse. Will today's congress sustain or abandon that incredible success story?
earthcastings.ghost.io/the-endless-...

Anniversary of an eruption June 15, 2025, marks the 34th anniversary of the eruption of Mount Pinatubo. In 1991, an unassuming peak fifty-four miles north of the Philippine capital of Manila blew its top, blasting more than a c...

Today is the 34th anniversary of the 1991 Pinatubo eruption.
earthcastings.ghost.io/anniversary-...

US climate scientists need all the help they can get. Including from foul-mouthed comedians! 🤡😱😱

Watch Emmy Award-Winning David Cross team up with Prof Michael Oppenheimer in the US launch of the hit series "Climate Science Translated".

#climate #arresteddevelopment #climatescience

A grid of four photos shows protesters marching through U.S. streets carrying signs. One sign reads: "No oligarchs, no kings." Photos by Philip Cheung, Nicole Craine, Grant Hindsley and Desiree Rios for NYT.

Large crowds across the U.S. gathered on Saturday to protest the Trump administration. See photos from the “No Kings” rallies here. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/14/u...

Tariffs, Trade & Tyranny (with Larry Summers) - CAFE What damage could Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ do? Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers joins Preet to discuss the stakes of the spending bill, America’s weakening position in the global economy, a...

"It is insane for us to be slashing expenditures on science" - good interview with former Treasury Sec Larry Summers
cafe.com/stay-tuned/b...