Matt Rissler

GOOD NEWS: The world’s largest steam-producing heat pump is now online in Finland, delivering 12 MW of superheated steam from waste heat and CO₂-free electricity.

Proof that industrial heat can be electrified at scale.

www.pv-magazine.com/2026/02/19/w...

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Today, the Trump administration repealed the endangerment finding: the ruling that served as the basis for limits on tailpipe emissions and power plant rules.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.

I think phrasing it as "how many?" Is more reasonable. Somewhere on the planet will probably still be habitable. Not sure what its carrying capacity will be though.

I blame it mostly on the American delusion that anyone could be that rich with just a few lucky breaks. So when they get those breaks, they'll be rich and don't want those restrictions.

Our failure to hold firm in the response to the danger of COVID severely reduced my opinion that we will hold firm to the much slower, but more impactful, danger of climate change.

The Climate Casino composed a little limerick:

There once was a planet in strife,
Where the climate disrupted all life.
With record highs and record lows,
Droughts, heat, ice and snows,
Survival became a roll of the dice.

House lawmakers advance bill to end school vaccine requirements House lawmakers advanced a bill Wednesday that would end vaccine requirements for Iowans to enter elementary and secondary school.

The GOP is not pro-life, they are pro-death. Preventable infectious diseases is just one of their tools.

www.iowapublicradio.org/state-govern...

From Iowa Public Radio

CHOTINER: You were an early riser today.

PHIL: The 2nd is a big day; it's important I get it right.

CHOTINER: Six more weeks of winter—is that exact, or...?

PHIL: I mean, it's science.

CHOTINER: The data I have shows you're correct only 35% of the time, less than random guesses.

PHIL: Look—

bsky.app/profile/covi...

A diagram showing different colored humans. The title reads — There have been 646 measles cases confirmed in the current South Carolina outbreak (as of Jan 20, 2026) Red human — unvaccinated (563) Black human — unknown vaccination status (58) Blue human — partially vaccinated (12) Green human — fully vaccinated (13) Receiving both doses of the measles vaccine (MMR vaccine) is 97% effective at preventing measles.

Measles has one of the highest basic reproduction numbers (R₀) of any disease (12 to 18), meaning one infected person can spread it to 12 to 18 others in a fully susceptible population, making it extremely contagious. Need 95% vaccination status to achieve herd immunity. Get vaccinated!!

Just saw there is a TB outbreak at a San Francisco High School. So that category is done.

It’s a tough time to be an electric car enthusiast in the U.S.

Tesla is imploding, Lucid & Rivian are struggling to sell cars, traditional automakers have scaled back plans and we’ve imposed tariffs on the most competitive EVs in the world; Chinese EVs.

We glimpsed the future and then lost it..

Feeling behind the curve when it comes to being ready for Lent? We've got you covered. Our newest resource is flexible and adaptable for worship, small groups, emails or social, personal devotions & more. Download it at iowafaithandclimate....

Number of people living in extreme heat to double by 2050 if 2C rise occurs, study finds Scientists expect 41% of the projected global population to face the extremes, with ‘no part of the world’ immune

People in 2050 would give trillions of dollars just to have the climate that we enjoy today.

We know this isn’t much notice, but we are organizing a Candlelight Vigil for Tuesday Evening. We know we’re in the middle of what is the coldest part of an Iowa winter.
But we know we need this

Because some schools didn't start until after MLK day and those are the schools the engineers pay attention to. Also it was a three day weekend so they thought they'd have time to do it smoothly. File a bug report about the copy paste issue and they'll get to it?

Climate scientists are also obsessed with Greenland, not because of the Mercator projection, but because the melting of the Greenland ice sheet is going to raise sea levels significantly, change ocean circulation, and be generally very bad for humanity.

Downball. The game is measured in downs, the touchdown is the biggest score, players are downed to stop a play. Call it downball.

From Minneapolis To Arizona, ICE Targets Native Peoples - PopularResistance.Org Immigration and Customs Enforcement has escalated a nationwide campaign of racial profiling and arbitrary detention against Indigenous people, seizing members of federally recognized tribes in Minnesota, Arizona, and Oklahoma in what tribal leaders are denouncing as open treaty violations and a direct attack on Native sovereignty. What began earlier this month with mass arrests in Minneapolis has now spread across state lines. Native citizens are being stopped, detained, and threatened despite presenting valid tribal identification and proof of U.S. citizenship.

popularresistance.org/from-minneap...

The final committee scene of "Oppenheimer"?

My guess is this is in part due to their obsession with land voting. If you look at the electoral map of MN, it's pretty red. Too bad the Twins Cities metro absolutely dwarfs the rest of the state in terms of population and it's people that vote.

This is why you do lots of analysis to prove the mistakes are very small with strong bounds.

Sorry, decent USA folk, but your "president" is making an enemy of many Europeans, with the course he is choosing. And it is you who are going to suffer, not him...

The richest 1% just used an entire year's worth of carbon in around one week of 2026 The 0.1%, meanwhile, used their share of carbon for the year on 3 January - the ruling class are steering us to catastrophe

www.thecanary.co/global/world...

Not just fuels. Everything! International cooperation, rules of war, women's rights, civil rights, universal education, ... If it was part of the humanism project of the 20th century it's being undone.

Also reinforces my observation that they are just ignoring everything learned in the 20th century about being humane.

That would involve FIFA making a stand, which I highly doubt.

Someone needs to organize an alternate tournament at the same time and invite the qualifying teams.

Bar graph showing US temperatures by year. Blue bars going down are temperatures below 20th century average and are present in beginning of graph 1895-1970s. Orange bars most recently indicate above-average temperatures. Temperatures are rising because of climate change.

📈 It's official from NOAA. 2025 was the fourth-hottest year on record (since 1895) for the contiguous U.S. 🔥

Average temperatures for the contiguous U.S. in 2025 were 2.6°F (1.4°C) warmer than the 20th century (1901-2000) average.
🧵 Let's dig in a little deeper.

The World Cup should not be held in the United States.