Mike Dettinger

Earth’s Climate May Go from Greenhouse to Hothouse - Eos Uncertainty in climate models could mean Earth systems are perilously close to their tipping points, scientists warn.

The tipping points we are approaching are not necessarily just points beyond which we lose some control, or beyond which changes begin to accelerate quickly. Some may be tipping points that have different "destinations" than just "worse than we hoped".

eos.org/articles/ear...

These Republican Attorneys General are not only calling for the National Academies to take information about climate science off their website, but also also attacking the NASEM for their a guide to addressing scientific misinformation, calling that project a "liberal crusade."

Increasing synchronicity of global extreme fire weather Increasing synchronicity of global extreme fire weather constrains fire suppression coordination and exacerbates air pollution.

Our new study in Science Advances: Extreme fire risk days are increasingly synchronizing globally. This trend strains firefighting cooperation and worsens regional air quality.

With @climate-guy.bsky.social @mattwjones.bsky.social @mojisadegh.bsky.social and Alison Cullen

doi.org/10.1126/scia...

Scientists no Longer Find Twitter Professionally Useful, and have Switched to Bluesky Synopsis. Social media has become widely used by the scientific community for a variety of professional uses, including networking and public outreach. For

Bluesky is the new science Twitter, new study by @whysharksmatter.bsky.social and Julia Wester concludes!

"Results show that for every reported professional benefit that scientists once gained from Twitter, scientists can now gain that benefit more effectively on Bluesky than on Twitter."

📢 Just accepted in #JAERE! 📢
"Droughts and economic activity: Do dams and groundwater mediate the impact?" by Sheila M. Olmstead ( @sheilaolmstead.bsky.social ) and Hilary Sigman.
Read it here: buff.ly/UBSFaB6
📈📉 #Econsky

The Colorado River Crisis is Here States fail to reach a deal; Lake Powell Deadpool appears imminent

Federal officials now project that Lake Powell will "most probably" drop below power pool level — meaning Glen Canyon Dam will no longer be able to generate hydropower — before the end of this year: www.landdesk.org/p/the-colora... via @landdesk.bsky.social

@CW3E has developed and validated a field-camera-based method for classifying ephemeral stream stages (no water, low water levels, or high water levels) to support lower-cost noncontact support intermittent-stream monitoring.

cw3e.ucsd.edu/cw3e-publica...

Beaver Dams Create Climate Resilience with Help from Humans Beaver dams can slow down water, provide ponds for salmon, and build wet meadows that serve as firebreaks.

In the Sacramento, CA, suburb of El Dorado Hills, the Occidental Arts & Ecology Center has launched a Beaver Help Desk, a resource to matches beaver-beleaguered landowners with certified beaver coexistence professionals.

www.kneedeeptimes.org/beaver-habit...

UCS Joins Lawsuit Challenging Trump Administration’s Unlawful Endangerment Finding Repeal UCS Joins Lawsuit Challenging Trump Administration’s Unlawful Endangerment Finding Repeal

Add the Union of Concerned Scientists to the list….

www.ucs.org/about/news/u...

This mathematician proved a brilliant theorem to justify his social awkwardness George Pólya’s random walk theorem absolved him of being a lurker and revealed how the laws of chance interact with physical space

In analysis whether two random wanderers are destined to cross paths, Pólya shows that “A drunk man will eventually find his way home but a drunk bird may get lost forever” (ie, yes in 2D, no in 3D), w/implications all over chemistry & biology.

www.scientificamerican.com/article/this...

Lombardo silent on Trump’s pledge to restore Biden-era solar subsidies to Nevada • Nevada Current President Donald Trump’s agreement with Gov. Joe Lombardo to restore subsidies to develop solar farms in Nevada, revealed during a December podcast, is among the best-kept secrets in an industry devas...

Trump’s verbal agreement with Nevada’s Gov Lombardo to restore subsidies for solar farms in Nv is the best-kept secret in energy industry (in other words, another Trump false promise?). “NB relies on solar more than any other state,” Lombardo wrote recently.”

nevadacurrent.com/2026/02/18/l...

US threatens to quit energy agency if it doesn’t drop green transition Energy Secretary Chris Wright wants the IEA to stop behaving like a “climate advocacy organization” and focus on “energy security.”

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Tuesday threatened to pull America out of International Energy Agency, whose work on deploying renewables conflicts with the pro-Trump’s strictly pro-fossil-fuel policy.

www.politico.eu/article/us-t...

Public health, green groups sue EPA over repeal of rule supporting climate protections A coalition of health and environmental groups is suing the Environmental Protection Agency, challenging its determination last week that revoked a scientific finding that has been the central basis f...

Coalition includg American Public Health Association, American Lung Association, Alliance of Nurses for a Healthy Environment, Center for Biological Diversity, Environmental Defense Fund, Natural Resources Defense Council & Sierra Club sue EPA re: endangerment revocation.

apnews.com/article/trum...

Photo showing a tall, jagged ice front of the Ronne Ice Shelf in West Antarctica rising above the calm surface of the Weddell Sea. Credit: Torsten Albrecht / PIK.

🔔🚨 New Publication Alert!

Research has shown that the Antarctic Ice Sheet is a climate tipping element.

We found: it’s not one — it’s many.

📄 Paper (open access): www.nature.com/articles/s41...

📢 Press release: www.pik-potsdam.de/en/news/late...

Tread below 🧵👇

Wow.

Nearly half of L.A. County’s pavement may be unnecessary, new map finds Researchers have released the first parcel-level analysis to map all paved surfaces across L.A. County. In particular, large parking lots are ripe for change, they say.

A new report, DepaveLA, finds that 44% of Los Angeles County’s 312k acres of pavement may not be essential for roads, sidewalks and parking, and could be converted to greener cooler cover and habitat.

www.latimes.com/environment/...

acceleratela.org/depavela/

Thinking about lying Climate denial taught our leaders shamelessness

@billmckibben offers still more truth and revelation (how does he do it so consistently…The story of how climate denialism has served as a training ground for the right-wing shamelessness and lies that are burying is today.

open.substack.com/pub/billmcki...

The greening of career education: US students learn new skills as climate crisis intensifies Some districts are adding programs in clean energy and sustainability, while one state is infusing environmental lessons into culinary education and construction

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

The First Casualty of Trump’s Climate Action Repeal: The U.S. EV Transition - Inside Climate News Tailpipe standards meant to hasten adoption of electric vehicles were slashed alongside the scientific basis for regulating greenhouse gas emissions. That will come at a cost.

In anticipation, Ford announced it will stop making F-150 Lightning pickups and scale back other EV plans. General Motors wont build EVs at Orion plant in MI, shifting to big gas-powered Cadillac Escalade SUV and Chevrolet Silverado pickup. Etc. Etc. Etc.

insideclimatenews.org/news/1302202...

Revoking Climate-Change Regulation May Be the Worst Thing Trump Has Done Climate-change denialism used to be a fringe right-wing tendency. Now it’s the law of the land, and we’ll all suffer from it.

Revocation of EPA endangerment finding “is really bad, rivaling mass deportation, the inversion of civil-rights, the destruction of NATO, subversion of reproductive rights, and the use of government as an instrument of vengeance,” and we’ll all pay for a VERY long time.

nymag.com/intelligence...

Can’t believe that the bird-elevation study didn’t get picked up more. It may seem obvious but you’ll need that reference later.

From 1951-2023, people living in high-social-vulnerability areas across CONUS experienced ~1.6C warmer extreme air temperatures than low-vulnerability areas. Disparity has increased recently and future disparities projected to increase more.

agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/...

Climate, ecological dynamics, and the seasonal distribution of birds in mountains Ecological dynamics related to energy use and competition drives the seasonal distribution of birds in mountains across the world.

New review of sznal elevation ranges for >10k bird populations in 34 mountain regions reveals altitudinal migration fulfills same ecological function as long-distance latitudinal migration, offering better predictions for mountain birds under global change.

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

New review in Science synthesizes research on how trees biophysically influence temperature & water dynamics locally to globally, examining implications of these dynamics for human well-being and focusing on climate-mediated contribs of forests to human adaptation.

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

5 Facts About the Endangerment Finding If the EPA scraps the endangerment finding, this would fundamentally undermine the nation’s safety, health, and economic well-being.

Pretty wild -- If it was a nation, greenhouse gas emissions from the U.S. vehicles sector would be the fifth-largest source in the world

www.nrdc.org/media/5-fact...

There is No Scientific Justification to Revoke the Endangerment Finding The U.S. EPA's decision to repeal the Endangerment Finding will limit the government's ability to regulate emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act.

As I say here, there is no scientific justification to revoke the engagement finding. In fact, over the last 15+ yrs, the evidence of how climate change affects our health has only grown. Higher risk of allergies, dementia, fertility, heart disease, and death: that’s what’s on the line. @nature.org

WATCH: Trump, EPA's Zeldin announce end of scientific basis for U.S. action on climate change The Trump administration on Thursday revoked a scientific finding that long has been the central basis for U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change, the most aggressiv...

Today, the Trump administration repealed the endangerment finding: the ruling that served as the basis for limits on tailpipe emissions and power plant rules. Without it, we’ll be less safe, less healthy and less able to fight climate change—all so the fossil fuel industry can make even more money.

Trump Will Order Defense Department to Buy Coal Power - Inside Climate News Climate and security experts say the plan is outdated and could place the U.S. at a competitive disadvantage.

Trump plans an executive order directing the U.S. Department of Defense to buy electricity from coal-fired power plants, as art of plans to repeal the EPA endangerment finding, a climate ruling that determined greenhouse gases pose a threat to public health.

insideclimatenews.org/news/1002202...

Infographic by CARB titled "Growth in Trees and Shrubs Outweigh Emissions from Wildfire." A split-screen visual compares annual carbon rates from 2001–2022: a brown "Loss" side shows -24 million metric tons from wildfires, while a teal "Growth" side shows 43 million metric tons from ecosystem growth. The data reveals that growth absorbed nearly double the carbon lost to fire.

Nature is CA's ally for carbon neutrality.

A new CARB inventory reveals our natural & working lands absorbed nearly twice the carbon lost to wildfires— demonstrating the important role of nature in the state’s fight against climate change 🌲📈

➡️ bit.ly/4a72Mhi

After Republican complaints, judicial body pulls climate advice Meant to help judges handle scientific issues, document is now climate-free.

Last week, the Congressionally mandated research & education agency of the US judicial branch removed the climate-change chapter from its document created to help judges grapple with scientific issues, in response to complaints from Republicans state AGs.

arstechnica.com/science/2026...