Tom Parris

Iran's Water Crisis Is Its Greatest Threat The collapse of water security in Iran has been decades in the making and is rooted in a mania for mega projects.

Over the summer, #Iran ’s #water #crisis turned into an #emergency. Wells collapsed and some reservoirs ran #dry. Taps went dry for half a day in #Tehran, and state media warned that the city of about 10 million people could hit “ #DayZero”
time.com/7321571/iran...

The latest edition of the ISciences Global Water Monitor & Forecast Watch List it out. Exceptional seasonal deficits are #forecast for most of the #northeast #UnitedStates during October-December 2025.
www.isciences.com/blog/2025/10...

ISciences Worldwide Water Watch List October 2025 — ISCIENCES Exceptional deficits are forecast for Canada, northeast United States, southeast Europe, northwest Africa, Turkey, and northern Russia. Exceptional surpluses are forecast for west Africa, India, and...

The latest edition of the ISciences Global Water Monitor & Forecast Watch List it out. Exceptional #deficits are #forecast for #Canada, northeast #UnitedStates, southeast #Europe, northwest #Africa, #Turkey, and northern #Russia.
www.isciences.com/blog/2025/10...

This, from several excellent DC-area organizations, is the best and most comprehensive bystander guidance I've found. Unfortunately, I can't find a version that's not on IG.
www.instagram.com/p/DNgGG-htLnZ/

#climate changes slowly. #markets move quickly. What will happen when markets wake up to climate #risk? What would make that happen?

I've seen enough. This has to stop.

Heat, rather than a lack of rain, is driving drought in Utah and the West Since 2000, heat has become the primary force behind how severe and widespread Western droughts get.

Before 2000, #drought severity in the West was mostly driven by the absence of #precipitation, rather than the presence of #heat. That’s flipped in the past couple of decades. ... #Utah is in the area where the #temperature impact is strong.

www.kuer.org/science-envi...

Iraq is facing a water crisis, hit by one of its worst droughts in century Experts warn that the water crisis in the country’s south will worsen, unless there is urgent government action.

" #Iraq is experiencing its driest year on record since 1933, as the #Tigris and #Euphrates Rivers, which flow into the #PersianGulf from West Asia, have seen their levels drop by up to 27 percent due to poor #rainfall and upstream #water #restrictions."
www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/8/...

Emerging evidence of abrupt changes in the Antarctic environment - Nature Abrupt changes are developing across Antarctica’s ice, ocean and biological systems; some of these changes are intensifying faster than equivalent Arctic changes, potentially irreversibly, and their i...

"A #regime #shift has reduced #Antarctic sea-ice extent far below its natural variability of past centuries, and in some respects is more #abrupt, #non-linear and potentially #irreversible than Arctic sea-ice loss."
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

ISciences Worldwide Water Watch List August 2025 — ISCIENCES Exceptional deficits are forecast for Canada, northwestern Africa, the Sahel, and Central Asia. Surpluses are forecast for northern South America, Russia, South Asia, and the maritime Pacific.

The latest edition of the ISciences Global Water Monitor & Forecast Watch List it out. Exceptional deficits forecast for #Canada, the #Sahel, and #CentralAsia. Surpluses are forecast for northern #SouthAmerica, Southern #Africa, #India, and #Papua. Read more at:
www.isciences.com/blog/2025/8/...

More than 400 people suspected to have died from extreme heat in Arizona county August is on track to be hottest on record, with temperatures hitting at least 110F (43C) nearly every day

Heat-related #deaths have soared in #Maricopa county over the past decade, with 645 in 2023 compared to 61 in 2014. The county has become increasingly #unlivable for many amid record-breaking #heatwaves driven by the global #climate crisis, unchecked urban sprawl
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Climate models reveal how human activity may be locking the Southwest into permanent drought The drought has been linked to the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, a natural climate pattern. A new study finds global warming is now influencing that natural phenomenon.

"This #drought has been linked to the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, a #climate pattern that swings between wet and dry phases every few decades ... The PDO is now being strongly #influenced by #human factors and has been since the 1950s."
theconversation.com/climate-mode...

Stalagmites in Mexican caves reveal duration and severity of drought during the Maya collapse A drought lasting 13 years and several others that each lasted over three years may have contributed to the collapse of the Classic Maya civilization, chemical fingerprints from a stalagmite in a Mexi...

"During the Terminal Classic, limestone #Maya cities in the south were #abandoned and #dynasties were ended, as one of the ancient world's great #civilizations shifted north and lost much of its #political and #economic #power." #drought #climate
phys.org/news/2025-08...

Calling all scientists and science supporters! You have a crucial role to play in countering the authoritarian threat we currently face in this country. Learn more about how you can stand up for the facts and truth that are essential for a free and democratic society. blog.ucs.org/gretchen-gol...

Scientists’ role in defending democracy The United States’ democratic leadership, commitment to freedom of expression, and investment in the pursuit of knowledge have long enabled its preeminence in science and technology. Yet today we are ...

Building alternative institutions outside of government that reduce reliance on the authoritarian regime, lessen its power and relevance over day-to-day life, and preserve sites of independent thought can be vital both in preserving science and in defending democracy.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Opinion | ‘Acute, Sustained, Profound and Abiding Rage’: Canada Finds Its Voice

" #Canada has experienced the second #Trump administration like a teenager being kicked out of the house by an abusive father. We have to grow up fast and we can’t go back. And the choices we make now will matter forever."

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/10/o...

Economic policy, Louis XIV style.

Opinion | MAGA Maoism is spreading through the populist right A new conservative strain dreams of sending the bourgeoisie to work the factories.

This morning, I reread this editorial from the April 8, 2025 Washington Post. It resonated even more strongly than when I first read it in April. Take a look (gift link) and let me know what you think.

wapo.st/41vTqXx

#SovietScience

Now show me a video of a coal mine, coal transport, coal fired power, and kids suffering from asthma and mercury poisoning...

#SovietScience #CapacityToMeasure #Sustainabilty

Trump orders firing of BLS commissioner after dismal employment report U.S President Donald Trump on Friday ordered that the commissioner of the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics Erika McEntarfer be fired after data showed weaker than expected employment growth in July and massive downward revisions to the prior two months' job counts.

"Donald Trump on Friday ordered that the commissioner of the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics Erika McEntarfer be fired after data showed weaker than expected employment growth in July and massive downward revisions to the prior two months' job counts." share.google/LdEbDGOeQUB8...

Unprecedented continental drying, shrinking freshwater availability, and increasing land contributions to sea level rise Drying continents, extreme drought, and groundwater depletion are shrinking water availability and increasing sea level rise.

Areas experiencing drying increased by twice the size of California annually, creating mega-drying regions across the Northern Hemisphere. While most of the world’s dry/wet areas continue to get drier/wetter, dry areas are now drying faster than wet areas are wetting
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Israel faces unprecedented drought crisis as water shortages loom Country faces its worst drought in a century, with northern rivers drying up and water officials warning of a looming crisis as rainfall declines and demand rises

"Israel is grappling with record-breaking temperatures and dwindling water sources, with northern streams drying up and the Water Authority sounding alarms over a severe drought ... the authority’s director, warns that the situation is nearing catastrophic levels."
www.ynetnews.com/health_scien...

Newfoundland farmer says he’s never seen anything like this year’s drought, ‘not even close’ An unseasonably warm and dry stretch across much of Newfoundland and Labrador has left crops and animals parched — and farmers hoping for a steady dose of rain.

"Eastern parts of the island have received less than half of normal precipitation, while St. John’s has seen temperatures between 2 to 4 degrees warmer than usual, according to an analysis by Agriculture Canada."
www.ctvnews.ca/canada/newfo...

Santa feels the heat as Lapland buckles in Finland's record-breaking heatwave - BBC News After an unusually cold early summer, Finland has seen two weeks of temperatures topping 30C.

"The Finnish Meteorological Institute said on Friday that for the 14th day in a row a temperature of 30C was measured somewhere in Finland - the first time since records began in 1961."
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Fires engulf Turkey's Mediterranean coast as government declares 2 disaster zones New wildfires have broken out on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast and the government has declared two western provinces to be disaster zones.

At 46.1C (115F), July temperatures in Antalya city were the highest for the month since records began in 1930 ... Izmir and Bilecik provinces had been declared “disaster areas affecting public life,” one step below the most serious level of emergency.
apnews.com/article/turk...

Convoy of drought relief trucks complete trek across Nullarbor A huge convoy of hay-laden trucks has made its way across the Nullabor from Western Australia to drought-stricken South Australia in what one young volunteer describes as a "journey of hope".

Many areas have recorded record-low rainfall over the past 12 months, with the Mid North and the upper Eyre Peninsula the worst affected, according to data from the Bureau of Meteorology ... widespread heavy rain has fallen across SA this week ... bringing some relief.
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07...

‘When the water goes away, it goes away’ — NV’s desert wildlife can’t keep up with drought - The Nevada Independent Spurred by a seasonal wind shift, the North American monsoon season brings thunderstorms to the desert Southwest. But some wildlife experts say the monsoons are changing, and they are seeing the effec...

"While there’s still a long way to go in this year’s monsoon season — it runs from mid-June to the end of September — the state saw its 16th driest June on record. The previous 11 months were among Southern Nevada’s driest since 1895."
thenevadaindependent.com/article/when...

Turkey sets new record of 50.5 degrees as Europe swelters – DW – 07/27/2025 Turkey has been hit by a record high temperature of 50.5 degrees as southeastern Europe reels under a heat wave and battles wildfires.

"Turkey's Environment Ministry said meteorologists had registered a reading of 50.5 degrees Celsius (122.9 degrees Fahrenheit) in the southeast of the country, setting a nationwide record ... The previous heat record, registered in August 2023, was 49.5 degrees Celsius."
www.dw.com/en/turkey-se...