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A Montana-based engineering firm whose leadership donated more than $1 million to President Donald Trump’s campaigns has been awarded more than $7 billion in federal border wall contracts. That includes nearly $2 billion to build over a hundred miles of wall through the Big Bend region in Texas.

High Country News reported that Barnard Construction and its affiliates have received more than $5.6 billion in border construction contracts in Trump’s second term. Records show chairman Tim Barnard and his wife donated $1 million to a Trump campaign fundraising committee in 2024. Barnard’s largest single award, a $1.6 billion contract for 112.5 miles of wall in eastern New Mexico, was granted without competitive bidding, citing “urgency” as the justification. “What was so urgent that they couldn’t bid it to other contractors that are already on the pre-approved list?” said Scott Amey, a lawyer who investigates federal contracts for the Project On Government Oversight.

In May, a competing contractor sued the Trump administration after CBP sent roughly 73% of new Texas border wall contracts to just two firms, Barnard and North Dakota-based Fisher Sand & Gravel, arguing the process lacked competitive opportunities. Barnard did not respond to requests for comment from High Country News.

Border wall construction in the Big Bend region has drawn widespread, bipartisan opposition. The region accounts for just 1.6% of southern border apprehensions this fiscal year, and DHS has waived dozens of environmental and cultural regulations to fast-track construction there. In March, five Texas county sheriffs urged the federal government to reconsider, warning the infrastructure would “permanently alter one of the most remote and ecologically significant border landscapes in the United States.”

Report: The 119th Congress’ Anti-parks Caucus

A new report from the Center for American Progress identifies 25 members of Congress as the driving force behind 65 of the 81 anti-conservation bills introduced in the 119th Congress. The Trump administration has already implemented several Antiparks Caucus proposals, including rescinding the BLM Public Lands Rule and revoking the Chaco withdrawal.

Quick hits What will change at Utah’s ‘Little Grand Canyon’ after state and BLM sign landmark management agreement

Salt Lake Tribune

Senators demand answers on Trump’s use of national park fees

The Hill | E&E News | Washington Post

2027 may be a disaster for public lands if this funding bill passes

GearJunkie

Lawsuit filed against USFWS over proposed wildlife refuge land swap with SpaceX

E&E News | Associated Press

Trump officials lay out aggressive timeline to build triumphal arch

Washington Post | Associated Press

Opinion: A land deal that is failing the people who live on the land

Anchorage Daily News

Federal parks program gets good news after an uncertain year

GearJunkie

Trump administration asks judge to reject bid to halt White House UFC event

The Hill | UPI

Quote of the day

The lack of transparency around awards for these beautification projects, as well as the loss in revenue meant for the maintenance and betterment of our national parks threatens the public’s trust and the long-term integrity of our nation’s most beloved public lands.”

—Letter to Interior secretary Doug Burgum, signed by 11 U.S. senators

Picture This @whitesandsnps

What’s Bloomin’?

The pale evening primrose (Oenothera pallida ssp. Runcinata) is thriving along our Backcountry Loop Trail! This beautiful white flower, with its showy yellow pistils, provides both food and shelter to a variety of pollinators in the park.

As always, when viewing the flowers in the park, please be sure to take only pictures and leave the plants intact for others to enjoy!

Photo: NPS/Paige G.

 

Featured photo: Big Bend National Park, Texas. Ralf Kiepert/CC BY-SA 3.0

The post Contracting firm run by Trump donor is building the border wall through Big Bend appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

This week, experts provided witness testimony before the State Water Resources Control Board’s (SWRCB) Administrative Hearings Office, debunking arguments that the Delta Conveyance Project (DCP) will not further degrade water quality in the Delta. 

Key testimony by Dr. David A. Caron, Professor at the University of Southern California, Associates Captain Allan Hancock Endowed Chair in Marine Science, and President and Chief Executive Officer of BlueWater Science, provided insights on how the construction of the DCP could stimulate and expand the geographical distribution and severity of Cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Blooms (CHABs) in the Delta.

Dr. Caron highlights that testimony provided by Dr. Ellen Preece, Environmental Program Manager of the California Department of Water Resources, “inappropriately downplays the potential for the DCP to exacerbate the existing CHAB problems in the Delta or lead to new areas of CHAB occurrence.” The presence of CHABs in the Delta is not a linear question, but rather is impacted by the multitude of stressors that would be exacerbated by the DCP. Dr. Caron stresses that we are nearing a tipping point, and the DCP could be what sends our Delta ecosystems over the edge. 

Restore the Delta calls on the State Water Resources Control Board Administrative Hearing Officer (AHO) to prevent DWR from continuing to underplay the significant impacts the Delta Tunnel would have in exacerbating harmful algal blooms and to acknowledge the ongoing CHAB problems in the Delta that could lead to new areas of CHAB occurrence.

Watch the full direct testimony here. 

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The number of journalists registered to attend the annual climate negotiations in Bonn has declined this year, as climate reporters have been let go and media coverage of climate issues falls around the world.

Data from UN Climate Change, which runs the two weeks of talks, shows that just 135 media representatives have signed up to attend. Climate Home News analysis of previous data shows this is the lowest figure since 2021, when COVID-19 restrictions limited travel and the Bonn talks were held in a hybrid format to enable online participation.

The number of journalists that actually attend the talks will not be known until later this month but is typically significantly less than are registered. Press conferences, held back-to-back each day by campaign groups, have been sparsely attended in the first few days and often filled mainly with climate campaigners and researchers rather than journalists.

Alexandra Endres, a reporter for German-language website Table Briefings, told Climate Home News in Bonn there are fewer German journalists covering the conference in-person. “I think it is important to have more journalists covering the negotiations because when the climate coverage increases, the interest of the public grows,” she said.

Media outlets that have registered fewer journalists than previous years, or no journalists, include global heavyweights like Reuters, Bloomberg and the BBC, as well as German outlets like Deutsche Welle and ZDF television, and specialist publications like business information service Argus and climate broadcaster We Don’t Have Time.

Activist Harjeet Singh, who is in Bonn advising the Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative, said that “the empty press seats here in Bonn are a warning signal. While the world’s gaze is often fixed on the annual COP summits, the real-world consequences of the climate crisis—from financing the fossil fuel transition to protecting vulnerable populations—are being shaped, or ignored, in these mid-year negotiations right now.”

“Journalists are the essential eyes and ears of the public,” he said. “We need them to shine a light on these rooms: hold negotiators accountable, defend the principles of equity and historical responsibility, and ensure that ‘technical’ negotiations do not become an excuse for delay.”

UN Climate Change said they could not comment on the situation at this point in the Bonn talks.

Climate coverage is falling

Outside of Bonn and the official UN climate negotiations, coverage of climate change is falling to lows not seen since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to analysis of newspapers and television reporting conducted by the Media and Climate Change Observatory (MECCO).

MECCO’s head Max Boykoff told Climate Home News that climate coverage in the first five months of 2025 was 35% down on the same period of 2025 and 41% less than in 2021. New analysis by the Yale Programme on Climate Change Communication found a similar fall in climate coverage in 2026.

Boykoff said  media attention has been drawn away from climate change to issues like the Iran war and now the World Cup getting underway in North America.

While both stories have climate implications, he said, the media have “failed to connect the dots” on the conflict in the Middle East, with coverage focusing on the politics, air strikes and violence of the war. “Reporters have been pulling up short,” he said.

He added that since 2025 there have been cuts to climate teams at US outlets like the Washington Post, CBS, National Public Radio and the Los Angeles Times. On top of this, the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s Context website has been shut down and Politico recently folded specialist environmental outlet E&E News into its broader energy coverage. 

Mark Hertsgaard, head of global journalism collaboration Covering Climate Now, also said that fewer reporters at Bonn is “part of a larger pattern”. He said no US television network sent reporters to the recent Santa Marta conference on transitioning away from fossil fuels “and as a result they missed covering what turned out to be a landmark development in the climate story”.

• Jun 9, 2026 Politics COP31 leaders unveil global targets, with spotlight on electrification Co-hosts Türkiye and Australia want countries to sign on to global targets in three of their priority areas for this year’s COP climate negotiations Read more
• Jun 8, 2026 Politics Bonn Bulletin: Tackling climate crisis is “hardest” challenge ever, Stiell says The June Climate Meetings open with a reminder to delegates of the tough but ever-clearer imperative of shifting away from fossil fuels to clean energy Read more

“No one can know if the Bonn talks will yield something similar until the [they] actually take place and conclude. But the fewer journalists that are on the scene, the less the world’s people and policymakers will know about that. And that’s a problem,” he said.

Media may also have been put off from attending by a new registration system which is more complicated, especially for freelance journalists. In addition, the rise in jet fuel prices has made travelling by plane to Bonn much more expensive than last year and reporters from many developing countries continue to face hurdles getting visas to enter the Schengen area, of which Germany is part.

Diego Arguedas Ortiz, who led the Oxford Climate Journalism Network from 2022 until it was shut down by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism in 2025, said journalists can’t cover the talks so well remotely.

While press conferences, plenaries and open negotiating sessions are broadcast for the public to watch on the UNFCCC’s website, Ortiz said relying solely on this means “you miss the interviews in the hall”. 

“You can´t catch scientists and ministers as they leave the rooms. And the audience is back home suffering. Because audiences are relying on reporters and editors to explain how these seemingly abstract negotiations have daily implications for them,” he explained.

The post Fewer journalists register for Bonn talks, as cuts to climate reporting bite appeared first on Climate Home News.

Pacific Gas & Electric said the milestone comes during an industry shift from “a one‑way grid to an interactive system where customer energy resources are increasingly part of the solution.”

One of my former political ecology teachers, Robert Biel, has had this incredible ability to use political theories to connect the deeply theoretical with the banal everyday, the micro with the macro, and the natural with the social sciences. He would use simple threads to link geopolitics with music and ecology with architecture. One day […]

For many volunteers, a single opportunity can lead to a lifelong passion. That's certainly true for Sterling Hollman, whose search for community service hours led him to volunteering during crane...

Even if you don’t like eating mushrooms, you’re in debt to fungi. One group of them, known as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, form vast subterranean networks of tubes called hyphae, hooking up with the roots of plants to exchange nutrients. Earth is so verdant in large part thanks to these partnerships, as this expansive infrastructure is associated with nearly three-quarters of all plant species. But because the network sprawls underground, it’s been difficult for scientists to determine just how much arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi is out there. (Good luck digging everywhere on the planet and taking samples.)

Scientists have developed a workaround, which has produced some astonishing numbers. Using machine learning models, they’ve estimated that worldwide, the arbuscular mycorrhizal network stretches for 110 quadrillion kilometers, almost a billion times the distance from Earth to the sun. (Scoop up just a teaspoon of soil and you might find 10 meters of fungal strands.) Every year, these fungi shuttle around 4 billion metric tons of carbon, equal to 11 percent of humanity’s CO2 emissions. 

Because scientists have already taken thousands upon thousands of samples around the world, the researchers could train the models to build maps (you can play with them here) that predict where these fungi are more or less concentrated, even in the most remote environments. “We have started to have a clear picture of the full extent of these hidden living infrastructures that circulate carbon and nutrients in the soils beneath our feet,” said Toby Kiers, executive director of the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks and coauthor of the new paper, which published today in the journal Science.

In this map, brighter yellow spots indicate higher densities of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi.
Courtesy of the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks

There are two major classes of mycorrhizal species. The ectomycorrhizal fungi grow as sheaths around a plant’s roots, especially conifer trees, whereas the arbuscular ones in this new paper penetrate them. Either way, these fungi act as an extension of the roots, helping them absorb more water and nutrients. “Just as a circulatory system moves resources through a body, these sort of microscopic fungal pipes are connected to plants,” Kiers said. 

In exchange, mycorrhizal species get energy in the form of carbon that the plants have drawn from the atmosphere. They help the plants grow to sequester still more carbon, a mutually beneficial partnership that benefits humans, too, as it keeps the planet from warming even further.

However, the density of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi isn’t uniform across the planet’s biomes. You might assume that it would be highest in tropical rainforests, but in fact grasslands account for 40 percent of the predicted global arbuscular biomass, the study found. That might be because herbaceous plants like grasses tend to allocate more carbon to their symbiotic fungi than trees do. You can’t see it, but grasslands have vast root systems, meaning there’s loads of hidden biomass. “Even if grasslands get burned above ground, that carbon tends to remain underground, and they can come back again, which is different than forests,” Kiers said.

Yet, Kiers added, just 5 percent of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal biodiversity hot spots lie in environmentally protected areas. The idea with these new maps is for scientists and policymakers to identify where fungi might be thriving, and protect them. That will simultaneously support plant life and biodiversity overall — all kinds of birds, insects, and herbivores depend on this vegetation, too — and capture still more carbon in the soil. (Some savannas, like Brazil’s cerrado, also store enormous amounts of carbon underground in peat, or dead plant material that resists decay and accumulates over centuries.)

Toby Kiers and Merlin Sheldrake take soil samples in the mountains of Bhutan. Courtesy Tomás Munita

At the other end of the spectrum, the study found that in areas with large-scale agriculture, fungal network densities are about 50 percent lower on average. That may be because synthetic fertilizers provide crops all the nutrients they need, easing their reliance on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Tillage also tears fungal networks apart at the end of a growing season. (Other research has found that tilling also disrupts soil’s ability to retain water.) “Maybe we can do better to have more fungal biomass in our agricultural systems, and in our terrestrial ecosystem as a whole, and capture more carbon dioxide,” said ecologist Smriti Pehim Limbu, who studies mycorrhizal fungi at Dartmouth College but wasn’t involved in the new paper.

Humanity has to feed itself, of course. But with this new data in hand, it can also take steps to protect these critical species hidden underground. “This map is for mycorrhizal fungi what the first detailed maps were for, I don’t know, ocean currents or river systems,” Kiers said. “Where you go from knowing a system exists to knowing where it is, how dense it is, and where it’s threatened.”

This story was originally published by Grist with the headline This unfathomably huge fungal network keeps Earth cool and green on Jun 11, 2026.

Today, Public Citizen released a new report analyzing the lobbying and political spending of 88 corporations that paid zero in corporate income taxes in 2025. The corporations in question were identified in a recent report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), which found that at least 88 corporations paid no federal corporate income taxes last year, despite raking in millions — if not billions —in profits.

The American tax code already enshrines massive giveaways to wealthy corporations, thanks to decades of Republican efforts on their behalf. This report finds that those same corporate tax dodgers then poured millions into lobbying and political campaigns that yielded further tax breaks, which in turn bankrolled even more political influence. The result is a self-reinforcing loop where corporate cash buys policy, and policy pays cash back.

“The largest and richest corporations in the country are paying zero in federal income tax and that is a slap in the face to the American taxpayers who are struggling to afford necessities like groceries and health care,” said Eileen O’Grady, a researcher with Public Citizen and author of the report. “Meanwhile, these companies are spending money that could have gone to the public good on lobbying for even more special advantages and tax breaks. In this backwards, cash-fueled system, the deck is being stacked ever higher in favor of corporations, and against working people.”

Key findings from the report include:

• The 88 corporations that paid no federal corporate income tax in 2025 spent nearly $852 million on political spending over the last three election cycles. This total includes $712 million in lobbying and $140 million in campaign contributions.
  
• Comparing the taxes the corporations saved against the cost of their political spending, they collectively made a 3,000% return on investment.
  
• Coinbase Global spent the most of any company ($89 million) followed by CVS Health ($66 million), Honeywell International ($56 million), American Electric Power ($47 million), and Duke Energy ($35 million).
  
• On average each year, these companies together have sent 1,119 lobbyists to influence the federal government, including on tax issues and legislation that changed the tax code in favor of corporate giveaways.
  
• Since the beginning of 2025, these companies have collectively laid off at least 21,200 workers and announced plans to lay off thousands more.

By: Green Knowledge Foundation

In Durban, South Africa the partnership between the Early Morning Market and the Warwick zero waste composting project stands as a practical model that should be replicated across Africa. This collaboration has not only transformed the market into a cleaner, tidier, healthier, and more attractive environment, but has also significantly reduced the burden on the municipal waste authority while creating value from organic waste through compost production.

To many residents, organic waste is simply part of daily life, but in recent times, environmental organisations, and climate experts across the globe are beginning to see something different, an opportunity for climate action, income generation and community empowerment.

Nigeria generates millions of tonnes of waste every year, and more than half of it is organic; food waste, agricultural residues, and biodegradable materials. When improperly managed, this waste decomposes in oxygen-deprived dumpsites and releases methane, a greenhouse gas significantly more potent than carbon dioxide over the short term. Yet effective organic waste management can transform this environmental challenge into social, economic, and climate solutions.

Waste Pickers benefit significantly.

For waste pickers and informal waste workers, improved organic waste management systems create opportunities for safer livelihoods, economic empowerment, and social inclusion. Across Nigeria, informal waste workers already play a critical role in material recovery, recycling, and waste diversion despite operating with limited recognition, inadequate protection, and unsafe working conditions. Their efforts help reduce the volume of waste reaching dumpsites and landfills, thereby contributing to methane reduction and broader environmental sustainability goals.

Proper management of organic waste through composting, source segregation, decentralised collection systems, and Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) creates pathways for new green jobs and more stable income opportunities. Through the implementation of the Multi-Solving Action for Methane Reduction in Nigeria ( MAMRN) project, new opportunities are being created for waste workers to transition from hazardous collection practices into safer, more organized, and dignified work. These opportunities include the construction of Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) within the project.

This waste management system also creates opportunities for skills development, entrepreneurship, compost production, agriculture support, and climate smart business that benefit local economies. Beyond improving environmental conditions, inclusive organic waste management can help to reduce social stigma and protect informal workers while also improving their health and reducing pressure on landfills.

Across Africa, similar models are already demonstrating the socio-economic potential of inclusive waste systems. E.g. In Accra, the work of the Green Africa Youth Organization (GAYO) has shown how integrating waste pickers into organized recovery and recycling programs can improve livelihoods, strengthen community participation, and support sustainable environmental management. Such examples reinforce the idea that proper organic waste management is not only a climate solution but also a pathway toward economic resilience, social inclusion, and community development.

Farmers also stand to benefit significantly.

Composting initiatives have already demonstrated how organic waste can be converted into nutrient-rich compost that improves soil fertility while reducing dependence on chemical fertilisers. The MRF being constructed in the MAMRN project is designed to process a minimum of 10 tons of waste weekly, producing compost and Black Soldier Fly (BSF) larvae for Nigerian farms.

For small farmers facing rising fish feed and fertiliser costs and declining soil quality, compost and BSF larvae offers a climate-smart alternative that supports healthier produce, crops and long-term soil restoration.

Young people and entrepreneurs are finding opportunities as well. Across Africa, climate-focused enterprises are emerging around composting, Black Soldier Fly farming, waste collection, recycling, and methane monitoring systems. New jobs are being created in environmental education, circular economy innovation, climate data, and sustainable agriculture.

As one Climate and Clean Air Coalition report noted, organic waste should be seen as “a viable resource.” 

Communities themselves benefit through cleaner environments and improved public health. Poorly managed organic waste contributes to environmental stench, air pollution, blocked drainage systems, and disease outbreaks. Effective waste separation and composting, reduce the volume of waste entering dumpsites while lowering methane emissions and open burning.

For NGOs and development organisations, this creates an important opportunity for high impact interventions. This also combines climate mitigation with livelihood creation, food security, gender inclusion, and youth empowerment. Organic waste management sits at the centre of all these priorities.

The MAMRN project has revealed the urgent need for more initiatives focused on composting, circular economy systems, and methane reduction, as these approaches can simultaneously deliver environmental benefits, create green jobs, support sustainable agriculture, and strengthen community resilience. Such initiatives also align strongly with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), and SDG 13 (Climate Action).

Globally, the transition toward zero waste systems is accelerating because governments and development partners increasingly recognise that climate action must also create social and economic value.

The environment and the economy are deeply interconnected, and effective organic waste management is increasingly demonstrating this reality. What was once viewed merely as waste is gradually emerging as a source of livelihoods, climate solutions, cleaner environment, healthier soils, and economic opportunity.

The future of sustainable development may therefore depend not only on reducing waste, but on recognizing the social, environmental, and economic value embedded within it.

This article is fourth in a series on the Methane Reduction in Nigeria (MAMRN) Project, implemented in collaboration with CfEW Jos, SraDev Lagos, Pave Lagos, CODAF Epe Lagos, and SEDI Benin City.

The post Opportunities in Organic Waste Management first appeared on GAIA.

This article ICE will be at the World Cup, but organizers are ready was originally published by Waging Nonviolence.

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With the World Cup starting on June 11, workers, residents and activists in its 16 host cities across North America are mobilizing against the increased presence of police and of Immigration Customs and Enforcement, or ICE, in communities of color during the World Cup. 

On May Day, thousands of people, led by the Unite HERE Local 11 union of hospitality workers walked from Los Angeles’ MacArthur Park to the FIFA building downtown, where they proceeded to drop more than a hundred soccer balls down the steps, chanting “kick ICE out.” 

A few weeks later, community activists in LA held the first event of the People’s World Cup, a documentary screening about the increased policing and surveillance that comes with big sporting events like the World Cup.

And activists in Seattle, another World Cup host city, held an art build to bring the community together to create anti-ICE paintings. They are part of “No ICE in the Cup,” a big tent coalition of artists and local groups brought together by two organizations, the Horizons Project and the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture, and united under the demand for no ICE presence at or near the World Cup games. 

“We know that that demand is going to have to be a collective resounding demand, and that this administration needs to hear from people from all walks of life,” said CJ Garcia, an immigrant justice organizer involved with No ICE in the Cup in Seattle. 

Coalition partners in host cities such as Seattle, Boston, New York and Dallas — and non-host cities joining in solidarity like Yakima, Washington, and Oklahoma City — have held art campaigns, teach-ins and soccer tournaments to connect and educate their communities. 

“We’re hosting those kind of events in order for people to come together to get to know who shares the value of making the World Cup a safe, joyful and inclusive and welcoming space, and that includes and centers immigrants, workers, working-class people, low-income folks who are often left out of those conversations,” Garcia said. 

The Trump administration has not responded to the campaign, and in May the Department of Homeland Security confirmed that ICE would be present at the World Cup. 

Art created for the No ICE in the Cup campaign. (From left to right: Hana Natsuhara, Chris Stewart, Angel Faz)

As the event kicks off, Garcia is organizing worker-led spaces in Seattle where people can enjoy the games safely. “It will be inevitable that our communities get excited about this mass cultural moment, and we want to create spaces where people are able to both get information, get organized, get activated, but also enjoy the beautiful game,” Garcia said.

The People’s World Cup is taking a different approach, with a call for a boycott of the World Cup to oppose the increased presence of law enforcement and ICE. 

“We are emphasizing … boycotting the games, that people should not be legitimizing these games in the face of fascism,” said Carlos Sirah, an organizer with Black Alliance for Peace, which has helped pull together the People’s World Cup in LA. “So for that reason, we are asking people to organize, to counter-program to reclaim the sport, which belongs to the people.” 

Resisting policing around mega events

Historically, wherever mega sports events like the Olympics, Super Bowl and World Cup go, law enforcement and ICE tend to follow. The United States classifies them as National Special Security Events, or NSSE, which means that host cities and communities are subjected to even more surveillance and policing before, during and after the games.

Sirah said it is important to educate people in the community about the impacts that mega events in Los Angeles have had in the past. When LA hosted the 1984 Olympics, the event budget was used to purchase machine guns, armored vehicles and surveillance, which were used by police long after the games ended, Sirah said. This contributed to the mass arrests of mostly Black youth and created the conditions for the 1992 uprisings. 

Previous Coverage

Two visions of the US will compete at the World Cup

At the same time, Sirah said, these events often displace people who live in the community. In Cape Town, South Africa, 20,000 Black and mixed-race people were displaced to clear the way for the stadium for the 2010 World Cup. Thousands of Black people were forced to move when the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood — where the World Cup is being hosted — was unveiled in 2020 for NFL events and large concerts. 

“We say that it’s unacceptable, this war on and the theft from working-class people,” Sirah said. “They give us crumbs, and we refuse the crumbs. We refuse a World Cup of displacement.”

Eric Sheehan, founder of NOlympics LA, which started in 2017 to oppose the 2028 Olympics being held in the U.S., said it is unjust that most people in the community cannot afford or attend these mega events. At the same time, residents have to deal with intense surveillance and increased policing because their cities host these games.

“Each one of these mega events is an excuse for the federal government to descend upon our city and terrorize our people,” Sheehan said. “We want people to understand that, regardless of the good vibes that come with it, these events always bring ICE to terrorize our neighborhoods and our neighbors, and that will never be good for us.”

The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security will be sending “counterterrorism” task forces to the World Cup cities as part of the NSSE protocol, stirring fear that immigrant communities will be targeted by ICE.

LA Sheriff Robert Luna said that federal officials told him that while ICE will be present, it will not be conducting “civil immigration enforcement.”

“Any of that is subject to change,” Luna cautioned.

The Los Angeles community feels the threat. On June 5, the UNITE HERE Local 11 union of hospitality workers which represents workers at the SoFi Stadium authorized a strike with 96 percent voting to demand protections from ICE at the workplace and better conditions. Cesar Zamora, a union worker at SoFi Stadium, said that the stadium should offer more incentives to workers when they work these large events that welcome thousands of people from all over the world, and not add ICE to the equation for workers to worry about. 

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“When we heard that ICE was going to be involved around the games, it was concerning, because as we have seen, every time there’s ICE involved, there’s always chaos,” Zamora said. “They claim to be looking out for criminals, but everybody that works at SoFi is a hard worker.”

Days after the strike was authorized, the SoFi Stadium conceded to a new contract for the workers, averting the strike. Under the tentative agreement, workers would get raises and be allowed to strike if ICE threatens staff or fans. Leading up to that victory, the workers held protests outside the FIFA building and at SoFi Stadium.

To further educate, connect and protect Los Angeles residents, Black Alliance for Peace and NOlympics LA created the People’s World Cup program. The first event was a screening of “March of the White Elephants,” which is about stadiums that were built for previous World Cups in Brazil and South Africa at enormous expense with little or no input from — or benefits for — the working people who lived there. Sirah said the purpose of the screening was to ask community members what these games do to change the material conditions of their lives.

Additionally, the campaign hosted a running event, soccer matches with up to 100 people, canvassing, solidarity protests with the Boycott Home Depot campaign, and talks with the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador about resistance against imperialism.

Sheehan said that making connections across various groups and causes has been critical to organizing, as NOlympics LA has worked with local to international organizations. When Sheehan reached out to the Vancouver Anti-FIFA Coalition, he learned that the group had already heard about NOlympics LA and had been building on their work around mega events.

Building a national coalition

No ICE in the Cup is working with a broad range of communities and causes. Campaigns in some cities are including their own unique demands, such as Seattle calling for worker protections and Dallas calling to end ICE detention contracts. In Atlanta, the Play Fair ATL coalition is tracking the city’s adherence to a plan it submitted to FIFA to uphold human rights during the Cup (one of just four host cities to submit the required plan).

Garcia sees the campaign as an effort to collectively demand that everyone be able to safely enjoy a game that brings people together without threatening their livelihood.

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“There has been an increase of ICE presence in our communities already, so we know that the federal administration will try to equate ICE and federal agencies with mechanisms of safety,” Garcia said. “But we know that the reality is people on the ground and people who are visiting are trying to enjoy the game.”

In response to the increased fear of ICE amid the games, No ICE in the Cup organizers in different host cities have held Know Your Rights trainings to plan for community safety and rolled out toolkits on how to host an ICE-free watch party. The Our Copa campaign, a joint initiative of Working Families Power and Mijente Support Committee, is doing the same, and offers a searchable list of safe watch parties nationwide.

The No ICE in the Cup campaign is also planning ongoing national calls about how to keep ICE out of their cities and keep their communities safe. 

“We are not just counting on the administration to concede,” Garcia said. “Our success metric is how many people can build together locally, statewide and at the national level.” And on that front, organizers have already built relationships that will long outlast the World Cup.

This article ICE will be at the World Cup, but organizers are ready was originally published by Waging Nonviolence.

DENVER—Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Bureau of Land Management Director Steve Pearce were in Grand Junction on Wednesday for a “roundtable with community outdoor recreation and health figures in promotion of the departments’ collaboration on the intersection of public land access, physical activity and public health outcomes,” according to the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. 

According to the Sentinel, Burgum was asked about public land selloff and downplayed the significance of selling off 2-3 million acres of public land:

Burgum was asked about his previous advocacy for selling off two to three million acres of BLM and Forest Service land and how this contrasts with current efforts to expand public land access. He responded that, in America, “you can do two things at the same time,” noting that the few million acres mentioned are a small portion of the approximately 525 million acres of Forest Service, BLM and National Park Service lands.

The Center for Western Priorities released the following statement from Communications Director Kate Groetzinger: 

“It’s shocking that Secretary Burgum is still defending Mike Lee’s failed public land sell-off attempt. The entire country—including hunters, anglers, and conservative lawmakers—adamantly rejected Lee’s attempt to sell off national public lands last year. We know that Burgum’s office helped Lee write talking points for his failed gambit to privatize public lands, and the fact that Burgum is still pushing it shows the fight is not over. Clearly Doug Burgum still wants to sell off our public lands.”

Also at the roundtable Wednesday, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. touted the power of nature to improve Americans’ health. The Sentinel wrote:

“Burgum said in a press conference after the roundtable that some participating physicians suggested that the government adopt language that it’s ‘prescribing’ Americans with ‘vitamin N’ for ‘nature’ to get them active outside.

“‘We need to get kids outdoors. Particularly, we need to connect them to the wilderness. The wilderness is a seminal experience for American kids and has been since our nation was founded,’ Kennedy said.”

Despite this acknowledgement, the Interior department announced today via Fox News that it is cutting 43 partnerships with outside groups it says no longer align with the Trump administration’s priorities. These include internship programs, conservation initiatives, research projects, and cooperative partnerships to get Americans outside.

The Center for Western Priorities released the following statement from Communications Director Kate Groetzinger: 

“Cutting partnerships that help get Americans outdoors during Great Outdoors Month is shameful and cruel. The administration is saying one thing and doing another—touting the outdoors as crucial for physical and mental health while cutting programs that increase access to outdoor recreation. Doug Burgum should put his money where his mouth is and expand federal partnerships that help Americans get outside, not cut them.”

Learn more:

• The Secretary of the Interior has a Yellowstone Club problem – Westwise
• Trump’s Interior Dept. Crafted Talking Points For Mike Lee’s Public Land Sell-Off Scheme – Public Domain
• 2026 Conservation in the West poll – Colorado College State of the Rockies Project

Featured image: @SecretaryBurgum

The post Burgum doubles down on support for selling off public land, cuts partnerships to get Americans outdoors appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

This week, we have a controversial episode featuring the ultimate roads scholar, Florida Atlantic University Professor Eric Dumbaugh, slaughtering some of the sacred cows of the livable streets movement. To Dumbaugh, the issue isn’t merely redesigning roads for safety, but making sure that planners don’t put all the big box stores on arterials.

We at Streetsblog USA aren’t sure we’re convinced, but we always like to hear from important people in the traffic space.

And, as always, let’s review all the ways you can enjoy this spirited content:

• Click here for a full transcript, albeit with some AI typos.
• Click the player below to listen.
• Or check out the lightly edited excerpt below the player.

Here’s the edited transcript:

Jeff Wood: Well, you’ve got a new paper out, Land Use and Road Safety: Understanding the Persistence of Vulnerable Road User Deaths and Injuries in the United States. I’m wondering if you can give us a little bit of the basics of what you found and why you were looking in this specific direction.

Eric Dumbaugh: So I’ve been examining street design issues now for 25 years, and there’s a uniquely U.S. view that street design is the solution to all things. But when it comes to arterials, European designs are indistinguishable from what we use in the United States. The lane widths, the design features are exactly the same. The difference is what we put along our streets, right?

Everyone who goes to Western Europe on vacation comes back and says, “Oh, this is really rather lovely. We should have our streets designed like this.” But those are essentially pre-automobile streets, the streets that were built from the Renaissance through the early industrial era. After the Second World War, they didn’t build American-style, they did not build the stuff we built. They essentially rebuilt the urban fabric that they had, and they haven’t had a lot of population growth since then.

So when we start looking at street design solutions from Europe, we need to understand that we’re looking at a built environment context where the automobile is adapted into a pre-automobile form.

The United States is totally different. Nearly all of our growth has happened since the Second World War — and all of that growth was built on an entirely different design model that came of age in the 1910s and 1920s that was centered around integrating automobile into the urban fabric.

So the safety problem on the streets happens because we have different sorts of users entering them. So is the issue really street design? Is it speed? Or is there something else going on here?

And what I found is that after you control for land use, things like speed and geometric design don’t really matter that much. What’s going on is we’re putting these land uses on either side of the street and it’s activating different activities there.

We’ve all seen the graphic where, you know, your chance of dying in a 40-mile-per-hour crash is like 90 percent. But to me, the question is, why is somebody walking there? They’re not walking there in Sweden because there’s nothing to walk to. All of those land uses are prohibited along their arterials. You can’t build that stuff there.

In the United States, our development model is we build the residential community as a cell, and then we export all of the other uses outside, to the arterials.

And that’s generating the hazard, because once you put them there, you start drawing the activities to them. You draw the pedestrians to them, you draw the cyclists to them, you draw the cars in and out of the driveways.

Now, often here in the United States, we have debate: “cars versus vulnerable users.” The safety problem for these users is exactly the same, and it’s the confluence of activities at these points. So the question then becomes: Why are we putting these uses in these environments, right? And what do we do about that to retrofit it going forward?

I have a graphic in the article that I think does a good job of illustrating this:

The traffic engineer was never tasked with city design The traffic engineer was tasked with moving traffic. That was part of the configuration that came about in the 1920s and ’30s. They go out and they build perfectly fine roads, rural roads, ex-urban roads that are indistinguishable from the European counterparts. The difference is our planners, our local economic development people, they get real excited about bringing in growth, and they’re experiencing growth, and they channel it over these roads.

So roads that are perfectly fine in an undeveloped context become developed. Think of them as a latent hazard, right? The speed is hazardous, but it’s only hazard if it’s activated. And when you put these land uses on there, when your local planner colors their land-use map red and says, “We’re gonna allow this development along here,” they’re activating that error.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has unveiled new guidance for governments seeking to protect people from extreme heat, a growing priority as climate change pushes temperatures higher worldwide and intensifies heatwaves and related health risks.

The launch came as the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said on Thursday that El Niño has developed in the tropical Pacific. The climate phenomenon – which occurs naturally every few years – is predicted to intensify to a moderate or strong level this autumn, the service said.

Scientists have warned that a strong El Niño weather pattern could fuel “unprecedented” weather extremes in the coming months, including severe fires and droughts, and may make 2027 the next record-breaking hot year as it supercharges human-driven warming.  

Scientists warn El Niño could intensify climate extremes in 2026

Unveiling updated recommendations for “Heat-Health Action Plans”, which are tailored for Europe but can be adapted globally, Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO’s regional director for Europe, said that over the past four years, heat has claimed more than 200,000 lives across 32 European countries.

He added that most of those deaths were “entirely preventable” and are “just the tip of the iceberg”, with millions more people being affected physically and mentally by the effects of extreme heat. Scientists have said Europe is the fastest-warming continent.

“Individual action, such as keeping out of the heat, keeping our homes cool and keeping our bodies hydrated, can make a big difference in protecting us, but it is not enough to fight a systemic crisis,” Kluge said in a statement. “We need a coordinated, powerful and institutional response.”

The new guidance focuses on the importance of providing early warning and alerts, targeting help for vulnerable groups and putting in place longer-term prevention measures across households and buildings, especially in cities, which are often hotter than rural areas. It also offers practical advice on how to do those things.

Who’s most vulnerable to heat?

Heat can trigger exhaustion and heat stroke, and exacerbate existing medical conditions, including diabetes and cardiovascular, respiratory and cerebrovascular diseases, as well as disrupting sleep and aggravating mental health conditions.

In a fact-sheet, the WHO warned that rising global temperatures, more people living in cities and demographic aging are increasing exposure to heat and vulnerability to its impacts. Some of the most at-risk groups include older people, children, outdoor workers, athletes and sports players, those attending mass public gatherings and poorer social groups, it said.

Employers need plans to protect workers from rising heat stress, UN says

The WHO emphasised, however, that it does not just propose wider use of air-conditioning (AC) as the solution because it is not sustainable, is often unaffordable for those with low incomes and increases energy demand.

“It contributes to both the urban heat island effect and climate change, thus worsening heat exposures in the medium and long term,” the fact-sheet said.

Europe’s intense May heatwave

On Wednesday, Europe’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) announced that May 2026 was the second warmest May on record globally across land and sea.

Across Europe, the month saw a rapid transition from much cooler-than-average conditions to one of the most intense heatwaves ever observed this early in the year in western Europe, C3S said. Numerous temperature records were broken for May with France, the UK, Ireland and Portugal enduring particularly severe conditions, it added.

C3S noted that the quick flip to a period of extreme heat “likely increased impacts on populations, leaving little time for people – or crops and ecosystems during growing season – to acclimatise to much higher temperatures”.

“Prepare for rougher times”

In a foreword to the new WHO heat plan guidance, Wopke Hoekstra, European Commissioner for Climate, Net Zero and Clean Growth, wrote that extreme heat is responsible for some 95% of all climate-related deaths in Europe, undermines labour productivity and risks overwhelming hospitals.

He noted that investing in emission reductions is far cheaper than paying for climate damage.

“Yet, while we push for emission reductions, we must also prepare for rougher times. Strengthening Europe’s climate resilience, protecting both well-being and economies, is non-negotiable,” he added.

By the end of this year, the European Union plans to adopt a new framework for climate resilience across all sectors, including health.

A woman cools herself with an electric portable fan during a heatwave, in London, Britain, August 12, 2025. (Photo: REUTERS/Jack Taylor) A woman cools herself with an electric portable fan during a heatwave, in London, Britain, August 12, 2025. (Photo: REUTERS/Jack Taylor)

In the UK, the independent Climate Change Committee warned last month that, in a projected scenario of 2C of global warming by 2050, recent record hot summers will become the “new normal” in the usually temperate country, putting regular stress on domestic agricultural production.

Heatwaves lasting at least a week will be common and could regularly exceed 40C in the south, the committee’s report on adaptation said, posing challenges for keeping vulnerable people sufficiently cool.

It recommended that cooling will be needed in hospitals, prisons, schools and care homes, while regulation should set maximum temperature limits for workplaces.

Berlin’s Heat-Health Action Plan

On Thursday, the WHO said that since the publication of the first edition of its heat and health guidance in 2008, far more scientific evidence and practical experience have been gained. Many countries have since established Heat-Health Action Plans, but their adoption and implementation have been uneven, it said.

Comment: Early warnings for heatwaves can save lives – and we need them now

In Germany, where local authorities are primarily responsible for heat protection, the Berlin Senate adopted a state-wide heat–health action plan in 2025. It contains 72 measures to improve heat protection for residents, including informing them every summer of the risks via traditional and digital media.

A heat protection portal offers access to Berlin’s heat–health action plan, and a map of cool places in the city, as well as behavioural advice.

Berlin Senator Ina Czyborra said the city is also working on the long-term maintenance and expansion of parks, green spaces and water bodies, which can all help alleviate the effects of heat.

“One thing is clear: protection from heat is a cross-cutting task that can only be tackled through a joint effort by all administrative departments and levels, and with the involvement of civil society actors,” she added in a statement. 

The post WHO issues new guidance on heat-health action plans, as El Niño sets in appeared first on Climate Home News.

Canada is taking action to build a stronger, more secure and competitive economy by investing in a Cascade-led coalition of geothermal experts and innovators.

On June 11, the Honourable Tim Hodgson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, announced approximately $468,000 in funding through Natural Resources Canada’s Energy Innovation Program to support the Canadian Deep Geothermal Roadmap project, led by the Canadian Deep Geothermal Coalition.

This project will develop Canada’s first national roadmap for deep geothermal energy resources, which harness the Earth’s natural heat to provide reliable, clean energy. CDGC will lead the development of the roadmap, with Cascade Institute serving as the Secretariat to support co-ordination and delivery. CDGC will work with industry, researchers, Indigenous partners and governments to identify technology opportunities and research and development priorities to support next-generation geothermal development in Canada.

“Canada’s clean energy future relies on the talent and innovation of Canadian researchers, businesses and industry leaders, and British Columbia is leading the way,” said Minister Hodgson. “Our government is committed to creating new jobs for Canadians while supporting technologies that will help meet future energy needs.”

Thomas Homer-Dixon, founder and executive director of the Cascade Institute, applauded the announcement as an vital step toward addressing serious challenges: “Canada has a strong foundation for next-generation geothermal — from world-class geology to deep subsurface expertise and a highly skilled workforce. What’s been missing is a clear, shared path forward. This roadmap will bring together industry, researchers, Indigenous partners and governments to define that path, grounded in evidence and focused on practical opportunities. With federal support, the Coalition can develop a strategy that helps translate Canada’s strengths into real projects and long-term sector growth.”

Conventional geothermal technologies can already provide clean and reliable heat and power. Next-generation geothermal systems have the potential to do this across more regions of Canada while leveraging Canadian expertise in areas such as drilling and subsurface engineering. The roadmap will help enable investment and support the growth of Canada’s geothermal sector.

The Canadian Deep Geothermal Coalition, launched in 2025, is a growing alliance of organizations committed to accelerating deep geothermal development in Canada.

The post Canada invests in first national geothermal energy roadmap; Cascade Institute to lead coalition appeared first on Cascade Institute.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is proposing to designate the High Desert Trail, a roughly 810-mile off-road vehicle (ORV) route running north to south across western Utah.

The trail is meant to drive ORV users and groups to some of the most remote areas of western Utah. In Washington County, the proposed route would thread a narrow passage between the designated Cougar Canyon and Slaughter Creek Wilderness Areas, continue through the Beaver Dam Wash National Conservation Area (NCA), and terminate in “Zone 6” of the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve near St. George—a world-class recreation area and important habitat for the threatened Mojave desert tortoise.

The BLM’s 15-day comment window ends on Tuesday, June 16. Please tell the agency to reroute the High Desert Trail away from wilderness, tortoise habitat, and the Beaver Dam Wash NCA. 

As currently proposed, the High Desert Trail would push a highly promoted ORV route through one of the most sensitive landscapes in southwestern Utah. Even though the trail does not technically enter wilderness (it follows a narrow “cherrystem” route between two wilderness areas), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires the agency to take a hard look at real-world impacts to wilderness character, solitude, quiet, wildlife, and adjacent wilderness-quality lands.

The BLM’s Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) also makes clear that designation of this trail is intended to increase use. In fact, the agency expects use to increase by about 30 to 40 percent in the first one to three years. More promotion, more traffic, and more organized use will mean more noise, dust, user conflict, and greater pressure on nearby wilderness, cultural resources, and tortoise habitat.

Importantly, the BLM is considering two crucial reroutes—Colie Flat and Manganese Road—which would avoid bisecting wilderness areas, bypass most Mojave desert tortoise critical habitat, steer clear of the Beaver Dam Wash NCA, and mitigate user conflicts in the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve by relocating the route’s terminus at Manganese Wash, near Gunlock Reservoir, instead of in Zone 6.

Urge the BLM to reject any route that fails to protect wilderness, the Beaver Dam Wash NCA, and Mojave desert tortoise habitat.

This proposal is not just about a line on a map. The High Desert Trail is being planned as a continuous, promoted, point-to-point ORV route across western Utah, complete with signage, maps, kiosks, and coordinated permitting designed to increase travel and visitation. The BLM should not route this trail through wilderness-adjacent lands and some of the most ecologically sensitive parts of Washington County when a less damaging alternative is already available.

Click here to submit your comments by June 16

The post Tell BLM to Keep the High Desert Trail Away from Wilderness and Critical Tortoise Habitat appeared first on Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

Virginia passed a law encouraging utilities to offer big power users the opportunity to participate in load-shedding programs, but for facilities, signing up is not an easy decision.

Open access notables

Emergence of Uncompensable Heat Stress During Monsoon Season in India, Chuphal et al., AGU Advances

Uncompensable heat stress (UHS), characterized by the loss of homeostasis due to excessive environmental thermal loading, causes substantial heat-related health risks in India. However, the spatial and seasonal heterogeneity, as well as temporal changes of UHS in India remain poorly understood. Using observations, reanalysis data, and climate model projections, we highlight the surge of UHS during the monsoon season (July–October) as the climate warms. In the observed period (1979–2021), the frequency and area affected by UHS have increased significantly across India. The observed UHS is more prevalent in summer (March–June) and affects 8% of India, whereas only 1% of the country is affected in the monsoon season. The summer UHS is also more strongly associated with annual heat-related mortality (R2 = 0.38). However, the monsoon season (July-October) UHS, predominantly characterized by hot-humid conditions, is projected to increase rapidly with climate warming and affect nearly equivalent areas of the country as the summer season (60% in summer and 53% in the monsoon season) under 2°C warming relative to the preindustrial period. This will create long-lasting UHS across both seasons, posing critical challenges to public health, labor productivity, and climate resilience in densely populated and vulnerable regions.

Brief communication: Sea-level projections, adaptation planning, and actionable science, Lipscomb et al., cryosphere

As climate scientists seek to deliver actionable science for adaptation planning, there are risks in using novel results to inform decision-making. Premature acceptance may lead to maladaptation, practitioner confusion, and “whiplash”. We propose that scientific claims should be considered actionable (i.e., sufficiently accepted to support near-term adaptation action) only after meeting a confidence threshold based on the strength of evidence as evaluated by a diverse group of scientific experts. We discuss an influential study that projected rapid sea-level rise from Antarctic ice-sheet retreat but in our view was not actionable. We recommend regular, transparent communications between scientists and practitioners to support the use of actionable science.

Hello world! An interdisciplinary climate modelling course, Proske & Staab, Geoscience Communication

Climate models are not just physics translated into computer code. They are powerful actors influencing and influenced by humans. Thus modelers need to learn and modelling courses need to teach not only the techniques of numerical discretisation and the physical understanding of the climate system, but also the underlying motivations, the uncertainties and the societal embededness of the modelling approach. Following a design-based research approach, this study develops a 50 h long course at Bachelor level that aims to teach students such interdisciplinary perspectives. With a reflective open-ended exercise, we elicit students' learning process through challenging climate modelling topics. We find that the students learn to appreciate the complexity of climate models and the intricacies of scientific practice itself, highlighting for example the role of values in science. The exercise reveals few misconceptions and no major hurdles in the students' learning that may have been expected from the interdisciplinary nature of the material. We thus conclude that the course is a practice-proven approach to teaching the physical basis of climate modelling as well as its critical reflection. 

Rapid artificial intelligence deployment increases near-term pressure on global carbon budgets, Charabi, Communications Earth & Environment

Limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius depends on cumulative carbon dioxide emissions, not only on whether annual emissions eventually balance. Artificial intelligence is increasingly promoted as a tool for reducing emissions, but its supporting digital infrastructure produces emissions before many system-level benefits are realized. Here, we evaluate this timing mismatch using a probabilistic numerical cumulative carbon accounting model calibrated to International Energy Agency artificial-intelligence and energy scenarios through 2035. The model combines operational emissions, embodied emissions, and delayed system-level savings. Across 10,000 Monte Carlo realizations, the accelerated Lift-Off pathway yields a median cumulative carbon debt of 2.85 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide before annual savings exceed annual infrastructure-related emissions in late 2031. Across scenarios, the carbon imbalance varies with deployment speed, grid decarbonization, and the coupling between infrastructure growth and mitigation-relevant applications. These results indicate that rapid artificial-intelligence deployment can increase near-term pressure on the remaining 1.5 degrees Celsius carbon budget.

From this week's government/NGO section:

Temperature Check 2025–26, The Center for Climate Journalism and Communication, University of Southern California

Even though fewer Americans now hear about global warming and climate change through news, newspapers are still the top source of information for climate communicators. Climate communicators still prefer LinkedIn as their go-to social media platform for climate information, followed by Instagram and BlueSky. The use of X/Twitter for engaging in climate media continues to drop even more among climate communicators. Climate communicators are most concerned about the lack of climate action, global warming and the health impacts of climate change this year. Yet, the authors' survey shows climate communicators are also increasingly avoiding terms and phrases such as “climate change” and “global warming,” likely due to increasing politicization of the terms as well as pushback from the government as well as the public.

Climate Change in the American Mind: Politics & Policy, Spring 2026, Leiserowitz et al., Yale University and George Mason University

With the primaries in the 2026 midterm elections underway, the authors found that 58% of registered voters prefer to vote for a candidate for public office who supports action on global warming, while 14% prefer to vote for a candidate who opposes action. 42% would like to hear from political candidates more often about efforts to reduce global warming, while 23% would like to hear about this less often. 31% will only vote for a congressional candidate who supports increasing the use of renewable energy, while 7% will only vote for a candidate who supports decreasing the use of renewable energy. 25% will only vote for a candidate who supports decreasing the use of fossil fuels, while 14% will only vote for a candidate who supports increasing the use of fossil fuels. 161 articles in 66 journals by 1249 contributing authors

This edition includes an unusually large number of articles, with some being rather old. This is a result of our correcting a bibliographic database query problem. In the interest of completeness of our internal database wer're integrating older items affected by this quirk. This edition takes a large initial bite out of the backlog and we'll then will meter out the remainder over the coming few weeks.

Physical science of climate change, effects

Atlantic multidecadal variability amplifies decadal variability in the Kuroshio–Oyashio Extension region under global warming, Wang et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access 10.1038/s43247-026-03750-2

Constraints on Climate Change Stabilization Based on Observations of Earth's Energy Imbalance, Douville & Allan, Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl121056

Current and Future Changes in Earth's Outgoing Infrared Spectrum, Shaw et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2026gl121893

Decoupling greenhouse gas and paleogeographic effects on Pacific decadal climate variability, Wu et al., Global and Planetary Change 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2026.105558

Differential Synoptic Circulation Forcing of Land and Coastal Heatwaves, Zhang et al., Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres 10.1029/2026jd046358

Differential Synoptic Circulation Forcing of Land and Coastal Heatwaves, Zhang et al., Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres 10.1029/2026jd046358

Divergent regional responses of soil moisture-air temperature coupling under future climate scenarios, Hagan et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-026-74040-w

Elevation-dependent warming: observations, models, and energetic mechanisms, Byrne et al., Weather and Climate Dynamics Open Access pdf 10.5194/wcd-5-763-2024

High-latitude Southern Ocean warming hotspot induced by ocean mesoscale eddies, Li et al., Nature Climate Change Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41558-026-02652-7

Interdependent Extratropical Atmospheric Responses to Arctic Sea Ice Loss, QBO, and ENSO, Walsh et al., Journal of Climate Open Access 10.1175/jcli-d-24-0518.1

Mechanisms Driving CO2 Instantaneous Radiative Forcing Enhancement in Warmer Climates, Wang et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-25-0569.1

Multidecadal Atlantic “Warming Hole” Heat Content Variations Are Caused by Ocean Heat Transport, Not by Surface Fluxes, Rahmstorf et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl118383

Multidecadal Atlantic “Warming Hole” Heat Content Variations Are Caused by Ocean Heat Transport, Not by Surface Fluxes, Rahmstorf et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl118383

Observational constraints from global ice-phase fraction indicate moderate climate sensitivity, Zhou et al., Science Advances Open Access 10.1126/sciadv.aea0731

On the Role of Ocean Dynamics in Polar-Amplified Climate Change, Shakespeare, Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-25-0193.1

Polar processes set Arctic marine heatwaves apart, Athanase et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-026-03735-1

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Changes in Compound Hot Extremes over the Mid–High Latitudes of Asia and the Underlying Mechanisms, Journal of Climate, 10.1175/jcli-d-23-0502.1 4 cites.

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Observations of climate change, effects

Compound weather and climate events in 2025, Raymond et al., Nature Reviews Earth & Environment 10.1038/s43017-026-00797-9

Emergence of Uncompensable Heat Stress During Monsoon Season in India, Chuphal et al., AGU Advances Open Access 10.1029/2025av001945

Emerging Effective Radiative Forcing in the Radiative Imbalance Since 2010, Yukimoto et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access pdf 10.1029/2025gl119913

Historical Increase in Autumn and Winter Cyclone-Associated Precipitation Over the Arctic Ocean Driven Primarily by Enhanced Arctic Evaporation, Crawford et al., Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres Open Access 10.1029/2025jd045523

Human-induced westerly jet shifts coordinate terrestrial productivity at the hemispheric scale, Yang et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-026-74039-3

Sudden, local temperature increase above the continental slope in the southern Weddell Sea, Antarctica, Darelius et al., Ocean science Open Access 10.5194/os-19-671-2023

The Fate of Western Headwaters: Climate Controls on Base-Flow Decline, Mroczek et al., Earth s Future Open Access 10.1029/2025ef007971

Unveiling the Climate Type Shifts: The Dominant Role of Anthropogenic Activities, Zhang et al., Anthropocene 10.1016/j.ancene.2026.100558

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Analysis of tropical nights in Spain (1970–2023): Minimum temperatures as an indicator of climate change, International Journal of Climatology, 10.1002/joc.8510 19 cites.

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Instrumentation & observational methods of climate change, effects

Cloud parameter retrieval based on satellite data: A review of methods, advances, and challenges, Li et al., Atmospheric Research 10.1016/j.atmosres.2026.109130

Combining Observations, Forecasts, and Projections into Seamless Climate Information: Recent Advances and Insights in User Applications, Sarojini et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society Open Access 10.1175/bams-d-26-0079.1

Data supporting the North Atlantic Climate System: Integrated Studies (ACSIS) programme, including atmospheric composition, oceanographic and sea ice observations (2016–2022) and output from ocean, atmosphere, land and sea-ice models (1950–2050), Archibald et al., Earth system science data Open Access pdf 10.5194/essd-17-135-2025

Machine learning-based assessment of climate change impacts on hydrological drought in the Yangtze River Basin, 1985–2020, WANG et al., Advances in Climate Change Research Open Access 10.1016/j.accre.2026.05.010

Thermo-hydrological river valley observatory in Yedoma permafrost from 2012 through 2022 in Syrdakh, Central Yakutia, Pohl et al., Earth system science data Open Access 10.5194/essd-18-3525-2026

Modeling, simulation & projection of climate change, effects

Enhanced Moisture Uptake Fuels North Atlantic Tropical Easterly Waves Precipitation in a Downscaled CMIP6 Projection, Córdova-García et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2026gl122074

Future Projection of Tropical Upper-Tropospheric Troughs and Implications for Tropical Cyclone Activity, Chang et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-25-0579.1

Increasing Future Global Compound Heat Flash Droughts and Socioeconomic Exposure, Li et al., Earth s Future Open Access 10.1029/2026ef008096

Near-0°C Temperature Pathways From High-Resolution Simulation in Current and Pseudo-Global Warming Future Over Eastern Canada and United States, Basnet & Thériault, Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres Open Access 10.1029/2025jd045714

Projected changes in forest fire season, the number of fires, and burnt area in Fennoscandia by 2100, Kinnunen et al., Biogeosciences Open Access 10.5194/bg-21-4739-2024

Worst-case European heat storylines generated using ensemble boosting, Suarez-Gutierrez et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-026-03699-2

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Comparative assessment of dry- and humid-heat extremes in a warming climate: Frequency, intensity, and seasonal timing, Weather and Climate Extremes, 10.1016/j.wace.2024.100698 20 cites.

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Advancement of climate & climate effects modeling, simulation & projection

CMIP6 models overestimate sea ice melt, growth and conduction relative to ice mass balance buoy estimates, West & Blockley, Geoscientific model development Open Access pdf 10.5194/gmd-18-3041-2025

Hello world! An interdisciplinary climate modelling course, Proske & Staab, Geoscience Communication Open Access pdf 10.5194/gc-9-239-2026

Transport of warm bias from Indian Ocean subsurface to Southern Ocean surface in Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 6 models, Ma et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-026-03705-7

Tropical impacts of the Southern Ocean underestimated by mean-state biases, Dong et al., Science Advances Open Access 10.1126/sciadv.aed1936

Underestimated Future Wetting in the Arid Region of Northwest China: Impact of Systematic Model Biases in Synoptic Regime Frequency, Guo et al., Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres 10.1029/2026jd046874

Using remote sensing radiation and meteorological data to assess climate change: prediction of extreme weather events in Northeast China, Li et al., Frontiers in Environmental Science Open Access pdf 10.3389/fenvs.2026.1778049

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Delivering an Improved Framework for the New Generation of CMIP6-Driven EURO-CORDEX Regional Climate Simulations, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 10.1175/bams-d-23-0131.1 23 cites.

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Cryosphere & climate change

Arctic Sea Ice Acceleration: Seasonal Pulses, Spatial Contrasts, and a Sea Ice Concentration–Dependent Rheological Threshold, Ouyang et al., Journal of Geophysical Research Oceans 10.1029/2025jc023182

Assessing the susceptibility to thaw settlement hazards in circum-Arctic permafrost regions during 2000?2020, NI et al., Advances in Climate Change Research Open Access 10.1016/j.accre.2026.05.021

Ice-sheet regime shifts with climate warming, Golledge et al., Nature Geoscience 10.1038/s41561-026-02010-4

Ice-Sheet–Ocean Interactions and the Reversibility of a Regime Shift Beneath Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf, Reese et al., Journal of Geophysical Research Oceans Open Access 10.1029/2025jc023952

Inland migration of near-surface crevasses in the Amundsen Sea Sector, West Antarctica, Hoffman et al., cryosphere Open Access 10.5194/tc-19-1353-2025

Mapping the vertical heterogeneity of Greenland's firn from 2011–2019 using airborne radar and laser altimetry, Rutishauser et al., cryosphere Open Access 10.5194/tc-18-2455-2024

Probabilistic projections of the Amery Ice Shelf catchment, Antarctica, under conditions of high ice-shelf basal melt, Jantre et al., cryosphere Open Access 10.5194/tc-18-5207-2024

Sedimentary insights into organic matter alteration in Arctic Alaska's saline permafrost, Seemann et al., Biogeosciences Open Access pdf 10.5194/bg-23-3675-2026

The influence of ocean waves on Antarctic sea-ice albedo and seasonal melting, and potential coupled physical and biological feedbacks, Massom et al., cryosphere Open Access 10.5194/tc-20-3271-2026

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Snowpack variations and their hazardous effects under climate warming in the central Tianshan Mountains, Advances in Climate Change Research, 10.1016/j.accre.2024.06.001 12 cites.

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Sea level & climate change

Crustal Deformation and Gravitational Effects From Dynamic Ocean Mass Redistribution Impact Projected Sea-Level Change, Ertel et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2026gl122243

Impacts of future sea level change on Greenland from community knowledge, coastal mapping, and glacial isostatic adjustment models, Tinto et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Open Access pdf 10.1073/pnas.2528615123

Sea-level rise is projected to reshape compound flooding potential in microtidal environments along the Spanish Mediterranean coastline, Jiménez et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-026-03712-8

Singular Geological Evidence, Historical Record and Socio-Economic Consequences of Recent Coastal Erosion and Future Sea Level Rise on Tourist Beaches: A Case Study from Southwestern Spain, Izquierdo et al., Journal of Earth Science 10.1007/s12583-025-0303-5

The sea level time series of Trieste, Molo Sartorio, Italy (1869–2021), Raicich, Earth system science data Open Access pdf 10.5194/essd-15-1749-2023

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Sea-level change in coastal areas of China: Status in 2021, Advances in Climate Change Research, 10.1016/j.accre.2024.06.002 11 cites.

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Paleoclimate & paleogeochemistry

Non-linear climatic response to the weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation during glacial times, Du et al., Climate of the past Open Access 10.5194/cp-22-1105-2026

West Antarctic Ice Sheet advance since the early Pliocene, Zhang et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-026-74100-1

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Polar amplification of orbital-scale climate variability in the early Eocene greenhouse world, Climate of the past, 10.5194/cp-20-1303-2024 11 cites.

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Biology & climate change, related geochemistry

A global early warning system for predicting exposure of biodiversity to extreme heat, Serra-Diaz et al., Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-026-02642-9

Amplified Arctic iceberg traffic reshapes benthic biodiversity, Krumpen, Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) Open Access 10.5281/zenodo.19664564

Anchoring India's Umbrella Species to Biodiversity and Climate Gains, Lamba et al., Conservation Letters Open Access 10.1111/con4.70059

Aridity Modulates the Legacy of Peak Growing Season Precipitation on Tree Growth Across Eurasia, Abudureheman et al., Dendrochronologia 10.1016/j.dendro.2026.126563

Bambusa bambos in Sri Lanka: a native species at the interface of climate resilience and ecological disruption, Madawala, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution Open Access pdf 10.3389/fevo.2026.1862374

Bleaching, mortality and lengthy recovery on the coral reefs of Lord Howe Island. The 2019 marine heatwave suggests an uncertain future for high-latitude ecosystems, Moriarty et al., PLOS Climate Open Access pdf 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000080

Climate Change Reduces Habitat Suitability of the Endemic Iranian Ground-Jay (Podoces pleskei): Spatial Analyses to Guide Conservation Strategies, Yousefi et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access 10.1002/ece3.73637

Climate Warming Will Reduce Boreal Forest Litterfall, but the Response Differs Among Plant Functional Types, Thu et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access 10.1002/ece3.73726

Climate-induced shifts in plant investment strategies regulate ecosystem carbon cycling across alpine grasslands, Althuizen et al., Journal of Ecology Open Access 10.1111/1365-2745.70364

Competition enables rapid adaptation to a warming range edge in a model plant community, Usui & Angert, Science 10.1126/science.ads4664

Deforestation-induced drying lowers Amazon climate threshold, Wunderling et al., Nature Open Access 10.1038/s41586-026-10456-0

Disease, Drought, and Warming: A Triple Threat to a Declining High-Elevation Amphibian, Kissel et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access 10.1002/ece3.73767

Eco-evolutionary decoupling drives silent ecosystem collapse in the Anthropocene, Mosoh, Frontiers in Climate Open Access 10.3389/fclim.2026.1765410

Glacial Meltwater Impacts Marine Carbonate Chemistry on Iceland's Continental Shelf, Ljungberg et al., Journal of Geophysical Research Oceans Open Access 10.1029/2025jc023671

Integrating Remote Sensing and Machine Learning to Project Global Habitat Suitability and Productivity of Chinese Fir Under Climate Change, Sun et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access 10.1002/ece3.73757

Modelling the global invasion potential of Pelagia noctiluca under climate change, Nisai et al., Scientific Reports Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41598-026-48886-5

Persistent warm water anomalies before and after marine heatwaves amplify heat exposure and associated risks, Nardi et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access 10.1038/s43247-026-03739-x

Reversible Regime Change: Climate-Driven Phytoplankton Community Shifts in the Cariaco Basin, Venezuela, Post et al., Journal of Geophysical Research Biogeosciences Open Access 10.1029/2025jg009360

Snow Gum Dieback Enhances Trunk Monoterpene Emissions in the Australian Alps, Contreras?Serrano et al., Journal of Geophysical Research Biogeosciences Open Access 10.1029/2025jg009577

Static connectivity models underestimate ecological risk under long-term climate and land-use change, Xu et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access 10.1038/s43247-026-03707-5

The Mussels That Came in From the Cold: Long-Term Effects of the Population Collapse in the 1960s May Explain Low Abundances of Boreal Mussels in the Subarctic Despite the Warming, Marchenko et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access 10.1002/ece3.73763

These Boots Are Made for Walking: Sex-Specific Physiological and Metabolomic Strategies Reflect Male-Skewed Vulnerability to Ocean Warming in a Keystone Amphipod, Fernandes et al., Global Change Biology Open Access 10.1111/gcb.70950

Vegetation Growth Responses to Extreme Drought Events During 2001–2016 in Southwest China, Bing et al., Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres 10.1029/2025jd045108

Widespread Aquatic Insect Responses to Recent Warming in Swiss Mountain Lakes, Damber et al., Global Change Biology Open Access 10.1111/gcb.70957

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Global critical soil moisture thresholds of plant water stress, Nature Communications, 10.1038/s41467-024-49244-7 156 cites.

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GHG sources & sinks, flux, related geochemistry

A fixed methane filter maximizes freshwater emissions under warming, Harpenslager et al., Nature Climate Change Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41558-026-02649-2

Annual emissions of carbon from land use, land-use change, and forestry from 1850 to 2020, Houghton & Castanho, Earth system science data Open Access pdf 10.5194/essd-15-2025-2023

Anthropogenic Carbon Isotope Signals in North Atlantic Water Masses at 48°N, Bavoux et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl121339

Assessing recent anthropogenic carbon dioxide and acidification in the Ross Sea, Antarctica, Mo et al., Marine Environmental Research 10.1016/j.marenvres.2026.108125

Canada's Forests Are Shifting From a Recovery-Driven Carbon Sink to a Disturbance-Driven Carbon Source, Curasi et al., Global Change Biology Open Access 10.1111/gcb.70958

Carbon emissions and radiative forcings from tundra wildfires in the Yukon–Kuskokwim River Delta, Alaska, Moubarak et al., Biogeosciences Open Access pdf 10.5194/bg-20-1537-2023

Climate-induced shifts in plant investment strategies regulate ecosystem carbon cycling across alpine grasslands, Althuizen et al., Journal of Ecology Open Access 10.1111/1365-2745.70364

Contrasting carbon cycling in the benthic food webs between a river-fed, high-energy canyon and an upper continental slope, Tung et al., Biogeosciences Open Access pdf 10.5194/bg-21-1729-2024

FluxCANS: A Field Campaign on Carbon, Nitrogen, and Sulfur Fluxes over a Lake–Wetland in the North China Plain, Li et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 10.1175/bams-d-25-0330.1

Integrated perspective on ocean carbon cycle: Untangling facts, fluxes, and fictions, Resplandy et al., Science Advances Open Access 10.1126/sciadv.aed2480

Monitoring urban carbon dioxide emissions from the atmosphere: insights from vertical tower observations in Beijing, China, Liu et al., Atmospheric Environment 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2026.122166

Natural forest expansion is a larger carbon sink than secondary forests in moist tropics, ZHANG et al., Nature Geoscience 10.1038/s41561-026-01984-5

Nitrogen limitation amplifies future warming by weakening terrestrial carbon cycle feedbacks and sink capacity, Tang et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-026-03736-0

Rapid artificial intelligence deployment increases near-term pressure on global carbon budgets, Charabi, Communications Earth & Environment Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-026-03746-y

Reply to: The size of tropical vegetation gross primary production, Lai et al., Nature 10.1038/s41586-026-10561-0

Sedimentary insights into organic matter alteration in Arctic Alaska's saline permafrost, Seemann et al., Biogeosciences Open Access pdf 10.5194/bg-23-3675-2026

The Importance of Scale in the Future of Mangrove Blue Carbon Under Sea-Level Rise, Iwantoro et al., Earth s Future Open Access 10.1029/2025ef006984

Wood Decomposition in European Rivers Increases With Temperature but Decreases With Human Population Density, Jonsson et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access 10.1002/ece3.73821

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
The Growth and Carbon Sink of Tundra Peat Patches in Arctic Alaska, Journal of Geophysical Research Biogeosciences, 10.1029/2023jg007890 19 cites.

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CO2 capture, sequestration science & engineering

Accelerating weathering, lessons from a century of soil rejuvenation, Minasny & Dupla, Frontiers in Climate Open Access pdf 10.3389/fclim.2026.1824420

Analysing policy signals from the US, EU and UN regulations for the deployment of marine carbon dioxide removal, Seralta et al., Climate Policy 10.1080/14693062.2026.2678303

Early engagement with First Nations in British Columbia, Canada: a case study for assessing the feasibility of geological carbon storage, Steinthorsdottir et al., Geoscience Communication Open Access pdf 10.5194/gc-8-151-2025

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Graphene membranes with pyridinic nitrogen at pore edges for high-performance CO2 capture, Nature Energy, 10.1038/s41560-024-01556-0 68 cites.

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Decarbonization

Aquavoltaics knowledge gaps undercut benefits, Liu et al., Science 10.1126/science.aeh2751

Climate (im)mobility justice under transboundary hydropower: evidence from Northeast Thailand, Steiner et al., Figshare Open Access 10.6084/m9.figshare.32609872.v1

Dynamic and probabilistic material flow analysis for circular economy strategies in the photovoltaic sector, Jorio et al., Environment Development and Sustainability Open Access pdf 10.1007/s10668-026-07730-6

From climate goals to energy security: Mapping Europe's biomethane implementation gap, with Greece as a case in point, Giannakis et al., Energy Research & Social Science Open Access 10.1016/j.erss.2026.104799

UK Government support for nuclear power compared with that of tidal lagoons, Allsopp, Energy Policy Open Access 10.1016/j.enpol.2026.115400

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Skillful seasonal prediction of wind energy resources in the contiguous United States, Communications Earth & Environment, 10.1038/s43247-024-01457-w 18 cites.

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Geoengineering climate

Sulfur Exposure for Airplane Passengers From Stratospheric Aerosol Injection, Robock et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access pdf 10.1029/2026gl122804

The deployment length of solar radiation modification: an interplay of mitigation, net-negative emissions and climate uncertainty, Baur et al., Earth System Dynamics Open Access pdf 10.5194/esd-14-367-2023

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Investigating the effect of silicate- and calcium-based ocean alkalinity enhancement on diatom silicification, Biogeosciences, 10.5194/bg-21-2777-2024 32 cites.

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Black carbon

China's Contribution to Arctic Black Carbon Declined From 2009 to 2022, Deng et al., Earth s Future Open Access 10.1029/2025ef007441

Aerosols

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Aerosol?Cloud Interactions From Aviation Soot Emissions, Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres, 10.1029/2023jd040277 4 cites.

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Climate change communications & cognition

Comparing households’ perception of flood hazard with historical climate and hydrological data in the Lower Mono River catchment (West Africa), Benin and Togo, Dossoumou et al., PLOS Climate Open Access pdf 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000123

Coping with the climate crisis: Text-derived coping profiles reveal a tension between burden, engagement, and mental well-being in four countries, Zauner et al., Journal of Environmental Psychology 10.1016/j.jenvp.2026.103102

Do low-income groups respond more positively to “climate justice” than to other terms from the public discourse about climate change and sustainability? Evidence from a survey-based wording experiment with a representative Los Angeles County sample, Blyler et al., PLOS Climate Open Access 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000905

Environmental and climate news in the eyes of parents as audiences: disconnection, uncertainty and anxiety in evaluating news about environmental change, Roberts et al., Environmental Sociology 10.1080/23251042.2026.2684455

Hello world! An interdisciplinary climate modelling course, Proske & Staab, Geoscience Communication Open Access pdf 10.5194/gc-9-239-2026

The impact of green space perception, trust in scientists and climate anxiety in predicting the perception of air pollution health effects, Monge et al., PLOS Climate Open Access 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000683

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
From Denial to the Culture Wars: A Study of Climate Misinformation on YouTube, Environmental Communication, 10.1080/17524032.2024.2363861 31 cites.

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Agronomy, animal husbundry, food production & climate change

Beyond temperature: Why climate adaptation in agriculture needs a systems approach, Basso, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Open Access 10.1073/pnas.2614201123

Climate Change, Animal Agriculture, and Ethics, Donoso & Mittiga, Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews Climate Change Open Access 10.1002/wcc.70047

Editorial: Regenerative agriculture for soil health, greenhouse gas mitigation, and climate action, Lenka et al., Frontiers in Environmental Science Open Access pdf 10.3389/fenvs.2026.1872013

Impact of climate change on plantation crops with special reference to tea (Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze) in India, Babu et al., Frontiers in Climate Open Access pdf 10.3389/fclim.2026.1829924

Impacts of climate change on the phenology and distribution range of Castanea sativa (Mill.) varieties in the Cévennes mountainous region, Southern France, Ponsa et al., Regional Environmental Change Open Access pdf 10.1007/s10113-026-02605-y

Investigating Methane Emissions From Cattle Facilities in Northeastern Colorado, Steinmann et al., Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres 10.1029/2025jd046146

Low hanging fruit: climate change and tobacco endgame measures, Bostic et al., Frontiers in Environmental Science Open Access pdf 10.3389/fenvs.2026.1606133

Multidimensional assessment of farmers’ climate resilience in the lower Gangetic Region of India, Biswas et al., Discover Sustainability Open Access 10.1007/s43621-026-03679-8

Pollinator Dependency and Regional Climate Affect Crop Yield Development Under Climate Change, Prucker et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access 10.1002/ece3.73751

Regenerative agriculture for soil health, greenhouse gas mitigation, and climate action, Lenka et al., Frontiers in Environmental Science Open Access pdf 10.3389/fenvs.2026.1872013

Shifting hail hazard under global warming and effects on crop hail risk, Raupach et al., Nature Climate Change Open Access 10.1038/s41558-026-02660-7

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Deforestation and climate risk hotspots in the global cocoa value chain, Environmental Science & Policy, 10.1016/j.envsci.2024.103796 17 cites.

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Hydrology, hydrometeorology & climate change

Climatology and Trends of Sub-Daily Precipitation Extremes in Croatia, Star?evi? et al., International Journal of Climatology Open Access 10.1002/joc.70463

Flood Hazard in Aotearoa New Zealand Under Current and Future Climates, Harang et al., Geoscience Data Journal Open Access 10.1002/gdj3.70083

Hydrological transition from natural locking to artificial locking in the Indus River Basin (IRB) under warming climate, Jeelani et al., Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 10.1016/j.cosust.2026.101666

The Fate of Western Headwaters: Climate Controls on Base-Flow Decline, Mroczek et al., Earth s Future Open Access 10.1029/2025ef007971

The Growing Threat of Flooding on Transportation Infrastructure Across Texas Through 2100, Ahasan et al., Earth s Future Open Access 10.1029/2026ef008207

The Shrinking Caspian Sea: Eco-Hydrological Responses to Human and Climate Pressures, Duku et al., Earth s Future Open Access 10.1029/2025ef008028

Trends in Subdaily to Daily Rainfall in Florida, 1990–2022, Haider et al., Journal of Hydrometeorology 10.1175/jhm-d-25-0112.1

Warming Drives Streamflow Reductions and Intensifies Hydrologic Whiplash, Threatening California's Water Supply, Graves et al., Earth s Future Open Access 10.1029/2025ef006985

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Anthropogenic Intensification of Cool?Season Precipitation Is Not Yet Detectable Across the Western United States, Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres, 10.1029/2023jd040537 12 cites.

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Climate change economics

Early signs that the EU carbon border adjustment mechanism is reshaping EU–India steel trade, Vriz et al., Nature Climate Change Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41558-026-02607-y

Operationalizing publicly managed decline: Public asset acquisition in the Powder River Basin, Wyoming, Mijin & Grubert, Energy Research & Social Science 10.1016/j.erss.2026.104772

Operationalizing the loss and damage fund: a case for equity and justice in India's climate response, Lama et al., Climate and Development 10.1080/17565529.2026.2674796

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Greening to shield: The impacts of extreme rainfall on economic activity in Latin American cities, Global Environmental Change, 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2024.102857 5 cites.

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Climate change mitigation public policy research

Forecasting Ireland's retrofit trajectory: Overcoming policy gaps to meet climate action goals, Essien-Thompson et al., Energy Policy Open Access 10.1016/j.enpol.2026.115135

Fossil lock-in, resource dependence, and energy transition policy in the Global South, Bigerna et al., Energy Policy Open Access 10.1016/j.enpol.2026.115281

Leveraging agency for climate change mitigation, Kukowski et al., Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-026-02644-7

Rethinking energy transition strategies for the European Union amid rising energy prices, Meng et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Open Access 10.1073/pnas.2609606123

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
The transition towards solar energy storage: a multi-level perspective, Energy Policy, 10.1016/j.enpol.2024.114209 27 cites.

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Climate change adaptation & adaptation public policy research

African cities apply new planning tool to guide urban NbS action for climate resilience: insights from Addis Ababa and Kigali, Beyer et al., Environmental Research Infrastructure and Sustainability Open Access 10.1088/2634-4505/ae6acd

Brief communication: Sea-level projections, adaptation planning, and actionable science, Lipscomb et al., cryosphere Open Access pdf 10.5194/tc-19-793-2025

Building resilient Arctic futures through Indigenous Knowledge and self-determination, Vural & Hall, PLOS Climate Open Access 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000943

Climate change at the margins of the megacity: informal settlements’ adaptation infrastructures, Castro, Climate and Development Open Access 10.1080/17565529.2026.2679005

Exploring the Role of Strategic Place-Based Risk Assessment as a Framework to Support System-Based Climate Adaptation Planning, Jenkins et al., Earth s Future Open Access 10.1029/2025ef007417

Informing adaptation strategy through mapping the dynamics linking climate change, health, and other human systems: Case studies from Georgia, Lebanon, Mozambique and Costa Rica, Loffreda et al., PLOS Climate Open Access pdf 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000184

Norms and climate change adaptation behaviour: a systematic literature review using TCCM framework and future research agenda, Vinchurkar & Gaurav, Climate and Development 10.1080/17565529.2026.2674797

Relevant climatic impact-drivers for port functionality in a changing climate – an evaluation based on German seaports, Lankenau et al., Climate Risk Management Open Access 10.1016/j.crm.2026.100832

Translating community perceptions and concerns into planning: climate change adaptation in Hooper Bay, Alaska, Molina et al., Regional Environmental Change 10.1007/s10113-026-02612-z

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Navigating tensions in climate change-related planned relocation, AMBIO, 10.1007/s13280-024-02035-2 20 cites.

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Climate change impacts on human health

Climate change, inequality, and childhood stunting in African countries, Pradhan et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Open Access 10.1073/pnas.2518179123

Emergence of Uncompensable Heat Stress During Monsoon Season in India, Chuphal et al., AGU Advances Open Access 10.1029/2025av001945

Emergency Department Presentations During Dry and Humid Heatwaves: A Case-Crossover Study in the Northern Territory, Australia, Boyd et al., GeoHealth Open Access pdf 10.1029/2025gh001562

Evaluating the potential for heat warning systems to account for intra-urban variability, Ludwig et al., PLOS Climate Open Access 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000941

Global, regional, and national trends in disease burden attributable to high temperature exposure in adults aged 65 years and older from 1990 to 2021, Zhu et al., Frontiers in Climate Open Access pdf 10.3389/fclim.2026.1811293

Governing climate change adaptation in urban Tanzania: health system capacity gaps and implications for resilience, Mushi et al., Frontiers in Climate Open Access 10.3389/fclim.2026.1801864

Heat, Humidity, and Adverse Birth Outcomes: Quantification of Projected Risks in the Contiguous United States, Sheahan et al., GeoHealth Open Access 10.1029/2025gh001643

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Climate changes and food-borne pathogens: the impact on human health and mitigation strategy, Climatic Change, 10.1007/s10584-024-03748-9 74 cites.

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Climate change & geopolitics

Analysing policy signals from the US, EU and UN regulations for the deployment of marine carbon dioxide removal, Seralta et al., Climate Policy 10.1080/14693062.2026.2678303

 

Other

Cloud-Radiative Feedback Intensified Yunnan's Record-Breaking 2023 Spring Drought-Heatwave, Zhou et al., Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres 10.1029/2025jd046196

Peatland fire ecology and management in Malaysia: hydrological controls, empirical insights and pathways to climate resilience, Nawang et al., Fire Ecology Open Access 10.1186/s42408-026-00505-4

Informed opinion, nudges & major initiatives

Opinion: The Scientific and Community-Building Roles of the Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP) - Past, Present, and Future, Visioni et al., Atmospheric chemistry and physics Open Access pdf 10.5194/acp-23-5149-2023

White House defangs NSF watchdog unit, Mervis, Science 10.1126/science.aej3864

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
The climate benefits from cement carbonation are being overestimated, Nature Communications, 10.1038/s41467-024-48965-z 77 cites.

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Articles/Reports from Agencies and Non-Governmental Organizations Addressing Aspects of Climate Change

The Demand Stack: An Assessment of the Benefits, Hledik et al., Uplight

The authors analyzed the potential for Demand Stack implementation to unlock new demand response (DR), time-of-use (TOU) rate, and energy efficiency (EE) capabilities for a representative SPP utility’s service territory. The “Demand Stack” represents a set of strategic initiatives to expand the impact and effectiveness of each individual utility’s demand-side management (DSM) portfolio through a more integrated approach to program design and implementation. Operationally, the Demand Stack allows a portfolio of demand-side programs to be collectively deployed and dispatched to reliably address system needs, similar to conventional supply-side resources. The range of Demand Stack strategies includes regulatory, operational, and behavioral measures that can enable new program offerings, increase enrollment, and improve the performance and cost-competitiveness of the portfolio. The authors focus exclusively on the quantifiable impacts that Demand Stack strategies could have by 2030 for a representative portfolio of demand-side offerings.

Americans Oppose AI Data Centers in Their Area, Jeffrey Jones, Gallup

Seven in 10 Americans oppose constructing data centers for artificial intelligence in their local area, including nearly half, 48%, who are strongly opposed. Barely a quarter favor these projects, with 7% strongly in favor. These results, from a March 2-18 Gallup survey, represent the first time Gallup has asked about data center construction, a topic that has met fierce opposition from local residents in many parts of the country. The March survey asked people to rate their level of concern about the environmental impact of AI data centers. Forty-six percent say they worry a great deal and 24% a fair amount, largely mirroring the degrees of opposition to data center construction. Half of opponents mention data centers’ excessive use of resources, including 18% each mentioning their use of water and energy. Sixteen percent mention a related environmental concern of pollution, including noise pollution and air and water pollution.

The Environmental Cost of Artificial Intelligence: Carbon, Water, and Land Footprints, Aczel et al., United Nations University

The authors examine one of the most underexplored consequences of AI’s rapid expansion: the environmental footprints of the energy required to power it. As artificial intelligence becomes embedded in economies, public services, research, communication, and everyday life, it depends on a growing physical infrastructure of data centers, advanced chips, cooling systems, electricity grids, water resources, land, and critical mineral supply chains. The report shows that AI is not only a digital technology, but also a material system with measurable environmental costs. The authors frame AI’s environmental footprint as a governance and justice challenge, not only a technical problem. The benefits of AI often flow across borders and sectors, while the environmental burdens of data center siting, electricity demand, water withdrawals, land use, mineral extraction, and e-waste can be concentrated in specific communities and regions. To address these risks, the authors call for a responsible AI ecosystem grounded in transparency, efficiency by design, equity and environmental justice, lifecycle responsibility, global cooperation, and sustainable use. By making AI’s carbon, water, and land footprints visible and comparable, the authors provide a practical basis for integrating AI into energy, climate, water, and land-use planning, ensuring that innovation advances without shifting environmental costs onto vulnerable communities.

Advancing Industrial Electrification in Pennsylvania, Quinn et al., The 2035 Initiative, University of California, Santa Barbara

Pennsylvania has one of the largest and most energy-intensive manufacturing sectors in the country, making it a major source of greenhouse gas emissions and local air pollution. This also makes it one of the best near-term opportunities to deploy cleaner, more efficient manufacturing technologies. The Reducing Industrial Sector Emissions in Pennsylvania (RISE PA) program has allocated $396 million to industrial decarbonization, making the Commonwealth an early leader in this area. The authors explore one way the state can effectively deploy its resources: low- and medium-temperature (LMT) process heat electrification. Building on national-scale engineering models, the authors identify how electrification of Pennsylvania’s industrial sector can deliver cost-effective emissions reductions, long-term health benefits for Pennsylvanians, and economic growth in the manufacturing sector.

Global Justice Report, Aggarwal et al., World Inequality Lab

The authors attempt to set out a new vision for global progress in the 21st century: grounding human development and equality in planetary habitability. They explore the conditions under which the world could move toward this horizon and traces an economically and ecologically consistent transition path from 2026 to 2100. Their main conclusion is simple: it is possible to reconcile planetary habitability and high well-being for all, but only if the transformation rests on three pillars simultaneously. Fast decarbonization of energy systems is necessary. But we also need a major shift toward sufficiency – understood as a sharp reduction in labor hours and material footprint and large changes in consumption patterns, food habits, land use, and forest cover. In addition, neither decarbonization nor sufficiency can be financed and politically sustained without a drastic reduction in inequality of income, wealth and power, both between countries and within them. The compression of global inequality is not only compatible with deep decarbonization; it is a necessary condition for shared prosperity on a finite planet.

Temperature Check 2025–26, The Center for Climate Journalism and Communication, University of Southern California

Even though fewer Americans now hear about global warming and climate change through news, newspapers are still the top source of information for climate communicators. Climate communicators still prefer LinkedIn as their go-to social media platform for climate information, followed by Instagram and BlueSky. The use of X/Twitter for engaging in climate media continues to drop even more among climate communicators. Climate communicators are most concerned about the lack of climate action, global warming and the health impacts of climate change this year. Yet, the authors' survey shows climate communicators are also increasingly avoiding terms and phrases such as “climate change” and “global warming,” likely due to increasing politicization of the terms as well as pushback from the government as well as the public.

The New Geopolitics of LNG: Asia’s Energy Security in a Divided World, Andrews-Speed et al., The National Bureau of Asian Research

Liquefied natural gas constitutes a growing share of the global energy mix and is an increasingly important element of the energy mix in Asia. The authors examine the role of liquefied natural gas in the energy strategies of the United States, Japan, and China and assess the implications of deepening geopolitical divides for Asia’s future energy security.

Drivers of supply and demand of terrestrial animal source food, Tak et al., Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Diverse foods derived from livestock production systems, including grazing and pastoralist systems, and from the hunting of wild animals, provide high-quality proteins, important fatty acids and various vitamins and minerals – contributing to healthy diets for improved nutrition and health. Challenges related to high resource utilization and pollution, food–feed competition, greenhouse gas emissions, antimicrobial resistance and animal welfare, as well as zoonotic and food-borne diseases, accessibility and affordability, need to be solved if agrifood systems are to become more sustainable.

Clean industry rising: the foundation of resilient value chains, Mission Possible Partnership

The authors highlight the acceleration in the shift to decarbonized industrial production. The latest wave of projects includes clean fuels, chemicals, fertilizers and metals: the industrial essentials needed to grow food, build infrastructure, manufacture goods and move the products that underpin modern economies. As the need for more resilient industrial systems intensifies, clean industry is emerging as a strategic advantage. The authors explore the trends in detail, including country progress, analysis of which projects are progressing along the announced pipeline and the new clean industry value chains that are taking shape worth an estimated $4.7 trillion.

China Carbon Neutrality Tracker 2025 Annual Report Green and Low-Carbon Transition in China's Provincial Level Regions: A Decade in Review, Li et al., Institute for Global Decarbonization Progress

As China's "dual carbon" targets have been enshrined as national strategy and the "1+N" policy framework continues to take shape, the country's green and low-carbon transition has moved into a phase of accelerated implementation at the subnational level. Given China's vast territory and the significant differences among provincial level regions1 in economy, energy mix, and resource endowments, the transition varies notably across regions in terms of starting points, pathways, and outcomes. Therefore, systematically tracking subnational climate action carries significant potential to inform policymaking and ensure the timely achievement of China's "dual carbon" goals. The authors apply Subnational Low-Carbon and Green Index for China (Subnational LOGIC), an indicator tool developed by iGDP, to track and quantitatively assess the low-carbon transition of 30 provincial level regions between 2013 and 2022. Subnational LOGIC encompasses 26 specific indicators under four categories: carbon productivity; carbon emissions including six sub-categories covering energy, power, industry, buildings, transport, and agriculture; environmental conditions and land use; and policy systems and public participation, together capturing the overall quality of regional economic growth and progress on sectoral emission reductions.

Gas share in global power mix has declined for a fifth consecutive year, Malgorzata Wiatros-Motyka, Ember

The author examines how the role of gas in the global power sector is changing as renewable electricity expands across major economies. She explores long-term trends in gas-fired generation globally and across key markets, including the G7, China, India and Brazil.

Climate Change in the American Mind: Politics & Policy, Spring 2026, Leiserowitz et al., Yale University and George Mason University

With the primaries in the 2026 midterm elections underway, the authors found that 58% of registered voters prefer to vote for a candidate for public office who supports action on global warming, while 14% prefer to vote for a candidate who opposes action. 42% would like to hear from political candidates more often about efforts to reduce global warming, while 23% would like to hear about this less often. 31% will only vote for a congressional candidate who supports increasing the use of renewable energy, while 7% will only vote for a candidate who supports decreasing the use of renewable energy. 25% will only vote for a candidate who supports decreasing the use of fossil fuels, while 14% will only vote for a candidate who supports increasing the use of fossil fuels.

The Intersection of Data Center Development, Water Availability, and Environmental Justice In California, Stewart-Frey et al., NEXT 10

The authors assess the intersection of direct water use by data centers with water availability and distribution in California, focusing on the potential effect of large-scale data center operations on local water resources. The authors also evaluate how data centers might affect the water access and sustainability for communities located near these facilities, highlighting potential disparities in water access for particularly vulnerable communities. As part of this assessment, the authors developed a comprehensive database of California data centers, as well as a newly developed index to evaluate water scarcity and community vulnerability.

Banking on Climate Crisis. Fossil Fuel Finance Report 2026, Lusiani et al., Banking on Climate Chaos Coalition

Affordable energy, environmental justice, respect for human rights, and a livable climate are all critical pillars of society, and all profoundly influenced by choices made by the world’s largest banks. Many of these banks continue to put their — and others — money into the fragile fossil fuel energy system, which has become a source of great wealth for the few and a deepening fault line of vulnerability for everyone else. At a time of great change in the global energy sector, this 17th edition of the Banking on Climate Chaos report tracks these financing choices by the world’s largest banks and provides a roadmap of how to phase out bank financing for fossil fuels.

SLCP Impact Report: A decade of driving decent working conditions, The Social and Labor Convergence Program

In 2025, SLCP added new climate data points to the Converged Assessment Framework (CAF) ensuring alignment with Human Rights Due Diligence requirements and recognizing that climate change is no longer solely an environmental sustainability issue, but that it directly affects worker wellbeing too. The authors who that 69% of facilities are not preparing for climate effects and have not yet made a formal plan for dealing with climate change. This is particularly urgent given that 16% of SLCP facilities maintain indoor temperatures exceeding 31°C, a level that sits dangerously close to or above recognized safe heat thresholds for workers. About New Research

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In the largest agricultural state in the U.S., Regenerative California is creating new pathways to help new and beginning farmers build a different future for global food and agriculture systems.

The nonprofit, based in Monterey County, California, uses their demonstration farm to prove that regenerative agriculture is viable. Now in its second year, Regenerate 68! Farm grows berries and vegetables. The site is currently Certified Organic, and Kristin Coates, the organization’s Co-Founder and CEO, says they’re working toward Regenerative Organic certification.

As the farm evolves further Regenerative California is hoping to bring students onto the land to encourage more people to see a future in agriculture.

Coates explains that her children have no interest in farming. “They see this dead end,” she says. “I’m around all these synthetic fertilizer and pesticides. Why would they choose [this path]?” But, she says, “it doesn’t have to be business as usual.” Regenerative California wants to prove that there’s another way.

“We’re in conversations with local universities that are training the next generation of ag and farm workers,” Coates tells Food Tank, so they can serve as “a living classroom for regenerative agriculture.”  The organization is also working with vocational schools in the area.

Coates says she’s particularly excited about young people’s interest in gathering data, measuring the impact of climate-friendly farming practices, and improving biodiversity. “The other piece we’re seeing is this entrepreneurial spirit,” she tells Food Tank. “Young people are seeing that ‘I can have my autonomy, I can have independence, I can grow my own business.’”

One vocational school, Rancho Cielo, works with youth between the ages of 16 and 24, who learn skills in sectors including welding, hospitality, or agriculture. When they come to the farm, Coates explains, “we’re seeing this is a place to create an entirely new livelihood, and there’s a lot of enthusiasm to do that.”

Listen to or watch the full conversation with Kristin Coates on “Food Talk with Dani Nierenberg” to hear more about how Regenerative California plans to share their model with other counties, their work on blue food systems, and what it looks like to build trust and drive community engagement.

Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members. Can we please count on you to be part of our growing movement? Become a member today by clicking here.

Photo courtesy of Andrea D, Unsplash

The post In Monterey County, this Farm Is Building a Path to a Regenerative Food Future appeared first on Food Tank.

The Trump administration has awarded nearly $103 million in federal contracts and grants for the nation’s 250th anniversary celebrations to a network of politicized entities under the control of Trump administration officials and political allies, according to a new report released today by Public Citizen and the Revolving Door Project.

Of the $126 million in grants awarded to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, over 80% of the awards have gone to build out a politicized series of events, at the public’s expense, according to the report. Among the recipients of the federal grants are entities controlled or influenced by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Trump’s former campaign manager Chris LaCivita, and Meredith O’Rourke, Trump’s former presidential campaign finance director.

Trump has spent the first years of his second administration turning the 250th celebrations into a celebration of his supporters and of himself — as evidenced by this weekend’s White House lawn cage match fight on Trump’s birthday.

After an unsuccessful attempt to take over the bipartisan, Congressionally-authorized America 250 nonprofit, the Trump administration bypassed the entity, creating a new, opaque organization known as Freedom 250.

Freedom 250 displaced America 250 as the Trump Administration’s preferred partner in the 250th anniversary celebrations, a preference made clear by actions like linking to Freedom 250 at the bottom of the White House’s landing page.

Freedom 250 is also gaining financial support from a host of large corporations. Among the donors to Freedom 250, corporations that face major federal regulatory issues, including ExxonMobil, Oracle, Lockheed Martin, Palantir, and United Airlines have contributed undisclosed sums with no oversight.

Freedom 250, for its part, has been directly allocated at least $79 million in federal funds, with one $10 million grant dispensed to the National Park Foundation to support a “Freedom Trucks” mobile museum exhibit created in partnership with conservative PragerU and Hillsdale College, a Christian university in Michigan. Another $5 million grant was originally obligated to the organization in December to support “A250 Events,” but increased to $68.3 million in obligated funds in March of 2026.

“This Trumpified version of the 250th anniversary is mostly about lionizing Trump and catering to his political base,” said Alan Zibel, research director with Public Citizen. “The 250th anniversary of the country should be a moment to reflect on the values of the nation. Apparently, the Trump administration is replacing those values with grift, self-dealing, and enriching friends with taxpayer dollars.”

“Donald Trump has spent his life obsessively scarring everything in his path with his likeness, his name, and his gaudy, dictatorial taste in faux gilding,” said Toni Aguilar Rosenthal, program director with the Revolving Door Project. “Ultimately, the rings of ethical impropriety cascading from Trump’s Freedom 250 contracting scandals are just another manifestation of elite impunity. The Trump administration has once again found an avenue to tilt the scales in favor of corporate interests even as millions struggle to believe in the dream of America 250 years after the signing of the Declaration.”

Welcome to Carbon Brief’s China Briefing.

China Briefing handpicks and explains the most important climate and energy stories from China over the past fortnight. Subscribe for free here.

Key developments Trade tensions intensify

AUTHORITY TO RETALIATE: China has issued “sweeping” new rules that increase “controls over the overseas transfer of domestic technology”, while also giving the government “explicit” authority to retaliate against governments that restrict Chinese investments, reported finance news outlet Caixin. The rules are a “shield for Chinese enterprises”, argued an editorial in the state-run newspaper China Daily, as well as a way to “protect” China’s “development interests”. Cosimo Ries, an analyst at Trivium China, told Carbon Brief that protecting China’s lead in cleantech manufacturing is one of the aims of the regulations. He said that language around restrictive foreign actions is, in his view, “clearly designed as a response” to the EU’s Industrial Accelerator Act. Ries added that the government is “increasingly working to prevent Chinese IP from being forcefully appropriated or handed away by its own companies seeking market access abroad”.

COMMISSIONERS MEET: The rules come as the EU debates plans to “broaden the use of its trade defences” to protect industries from what the EU industry commissioner described to the Financial Times as “unfair” Chinese competition. A meeting of EU commissioners reaffirmed the need for a “more robust and coherent” response to trade and investment from China, which is seen as “not sustainable”, according to a readout from the European Commission. In response, China said it will “resolutely” retaliate to any “discriminatory” EU trade measures, reported Bloomberg. Meanwhile, Chinese automaker SAIC has confirmed plans to invest €200m ($232m) to build a factory in Spain for vehicles including electric vehicles, said Caixin. Trade envoys from the EU and China backed further discussions after a meeting in early June, reported Reuters.

SURPLUS ‘WIDENED’: According to Chinese customs data covered by Bloomberg, China’s trade surplus with the EU “widened slightly” in May, though its exports to the bloc “slowed”. The outlet added ongoing EU-China trade tensions “could pose a risk to Beijing’s favoured ‘new three’ energy industries”, for which the EU was the “destination for about 40% of exports” in 2025. While country-specific data is not yet available, China’s global exports of “green products”, such as batteries and wind turbines, grew by around 40% in January-May, according to state news agency Xinhua.

Early heat tests China’s grid

PATTERNS BROKEN: China Southern Power Grid, which covers a number of provinces across southern China, reported that it saw a record electricity load of 259 gigawatts (GW) in late May, according to Shanghai-based outlet the Paper. It added that the new record – driven by “widespread cooling demand” due to high temperatures – came “nearly a month earlier” than usual, “breaking a seasonal pattern” where peaks occurred in June and July. High temperatures continued in early June across both northern and southern China, reported China Daily, with some regions reporting temperatures of almost 40C.

HEAVY RAINS: China also continued to see heavy rains across “multiple provinces in southern China”, reported China Daily, with “nearly 10,000 residents” evacuated in Guizhou after torrential rains caused flooding in the area. Flood-response measures have been activated in Hunan and Guangxi, said Bloomberg. The Communist party-affiliated People’s Daily said that floods were also expected in Yunnan, Guangdong and Fujian provinces. Meanwhile, northern China’s Hebei province experienced “dramatic” weather, including “thunderstorms, strong winds, hail and heavy downpours”, said Jing-Jin-Ji News Channel. 

CROP RISK: “Against the backdrop of intensifying global warming, northern China is seeing a clear trend of more frequent and severe extreme weather,” said the People’s Daily. Meteorologists attributed the unusually early and intense rain to shifting weather patterns that “reflects broader weather changes in China associated with global warming”, said Bloomberg. An article in the People’s Daily noted that extreme and unusual weather, driven by “climate change”, has “posed varying degrees of risks and challenges to agricultural production”. Another Bloomberg article said expected further rains in southern China could “inundat[e] crops and damag[e] rice fields”.

Mineral trade controls and concerns

EXPORTS BLOCKED: Elsewhere, the Chinese government has “penalised at least 11 companies this year for illegally exporting restricted rare earths and critical minerals”, reported Caixin. It said this included a subsidiary of solar manufacturer JA (formerly JA Solar) for “shipping unlicensed graphite parts to Vietnam”. The Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported that China’s rare-earth exports fell by 6.4% in May as “Beijing maintained tight control over shipments”. A new report on rare earths by the Center for Strategic and International Studies stated that “although China’s exports of rare earths and rare-earth magnets have resumed”, flows have been “highly volatile” and licensing has been “uneven”. This was echoed in a report by the Royal United Services Institute that said “China incentivises the export of final products containing rare earths…rather than rare earths themselves”, which could pose “risks” to electric vehicle (EV) and offshore wind supply chains.

EXPORTS CONTROLLED: Zimbabwe has announced that a Chinese company will establish a lithium-carbonate plant in the country, said Bloomberg. It said this followed a ban on lithium exports as the country aimed to “build up local processing capacity for the battery metal”. Meanwhile, Reuters reported that Chinese investors in Indonesia’s coal-dependent nickel industry are looking to other countries. It said this followed plans by the Indonesian government to plan nickel export controls, tighter quotas and tax hikes.

More China news

• ‘GEC’ GUIDANCE: A new set of trial guidelines has been issued to “unify” how clean-electricity consumption is measured, said state broadcaster CCTV. Ying (Jenny) Zheng, a researcher at the Tsinghua TianGong Thinktank, told Carbon Brief that the measures are more than just accounting guidelines. She said they provide a “foundation for one of the key control indicators within China’s emerging carbon-control framework” that should help boost consumption of low-carbon power.
• TOWNS AND TRACTORS: China called for “vigorous efforts” to develop low-carbon buildings in a new 15th five-year plan for “urban renewal”, said BJX News. A five-year plan for agriculture also listed “accelerating” the “green transformation” of agriculture as one of seven key tasks, said Xinhua.
• FUNDRAISING FIGURES: China raised 6bn yuan ($885m) in green sovereign bonds, reported Bloomberg. It said these have previously been used for emissions reductions and “biodiversity preservation”.
• SALES SLUMP: Sales of electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrids in China fell 7.5% year-on-year in May, reported Reuters. It said they nevertheless made up 62% of all sales, with the Associated Press noting that petrol-car sales fell 42%.
• UK DIALOGUE: UK foreign secretary Yvette Cooper told her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi that the UK is willing to “deepen cooperation” with China on energy and climate change, according to a readout by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
• MEASURING SUBSIDIES: The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) released a report saying Chinese companies received “three to eight times more government support than firms based in the OECD”, said Agence France Presse. China’s commerce ministry responded saying the report was “one-sided and arbitrary”, according to Xinhua.

Captured

China’s emissions in January-March 2026 rose 2% year-on-year, driven by growing “curtailment” of wind and solar in the power sector due to “inflexible grid management”, said new analysis for Carbon Brief.

Spotlight  What do China’s provincial five-year plans reveal about its energy transition?

China’s provincial-level governments have now all published their 15th five-year plans – economic and social development blueprints for 2026-2030. 

In this issue, Carbon Brief analyses what all 31 documents say about energy and climate.

Provinces remain focused on clean energy

At the broad level, the new provincial plans follow China’s overarching climate goals. All 31 provincial-level jurisdictions in mainland China pledged to peak carbon emissions before 2030. 

Every plan also mentioned the core elements of China’s energy transition strategy, including solar, wind, hydrogen, energy storage and upgrading the power grid.  

While solar featured in every plan, specific interests in the technology vary from province to province. 

Some set goals to add new solar capacity by 2030. Zhejiang province aims to add 90GW of solar capacity, while Shaanxi plans to “accelerate” construction of wind and solar “bases”. Several others mentioned developing offshore solar farms in the next five years.

However, others instead focused on recycling old solar panels or strengthening solar R&D. 

Almost every plan mentioned growing consumption and production of new-energy vehicles (NEVs). 

Around 15 provinces mentioned promoting NEV uptake. Jilin set a target for NEVs comprising more than 50% of new car sales by 2030, although its current rate is already thought to be 47%. 

While the central government is issuing directives to limit “overcapacity” in the sector, more than 20 provinces said they will continue developing their NEV industries, with many aiming to generate hundreds of billions – or even trillions – of yuan in value.

Meanwhile, 24 provinces will prioritise developing renewable power “direct connection” models, in which renewable generators supply industrial users via a dedicated line – a system that could boost consumption of clean energy.

Number of provinces that mention key climate and energy terms in their 15th five-year plans. Source: Carbon Brief analysis of provincial 15th five-year plans.

Provinces diverge in terms of what other technologies they name and how detailed their plans are. 

For example, offshore wind and nuclear are mentioned by 11 and 12 provinces respectively, with both technologies mostly targeted to be built in coastal provinces. 

But in general, variation reflects more than just geography or resources endowment, said Anders Hove, a senior research fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies.

“The differences between provinces reflect primarily differences in economic development capabilities and industrial structure,” he told Carbon Brief. 

Half of provinces to expand fossil-fuel production

Almost every province pledged to peak coal and oil consumption, in line with similar language in the national-level plan. 

However, 17 local governments also pledged to produce more fossil fuels – trying to peak consumption while also expanding output, opening new reserves or lifting production limits. 

Most of these are regions designated as national energy-supply bases, including Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Shaanxi, Gansu and Heilongjiang. 

Yang Li, deputy executive director at the Beijing-based thinktank Institute for Global Decarbonization Progress (iGDP), toldCarbon Brief this pattern reflects the “two dimensions of China’s [energy] transition”. These are a national-level push for peaking fossil-fuel consumption and a desire for energy security by provinces rich in energy resources. 

Provinces with significant fossil-fuel economies are also the most likely to mention carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS), which appears in 14 plans. 

Provinces jostle to take the lead on AI and hydrogen 

With the national government preparing to spend trillions of yuan on datacentres for the artificial intelligence (AI) industry in the next five years, provincial officials are also tying AI to their energy systems. 

More than 20 aim to use AI to help manage coal mines, power grids, oilfields and forecasting renewables output. 

Yang said that “AI+energy” represents a desire by policymakers to use AI to enhance energy governance, but adds that “large-scale commercialisation [of the technology] still has some way to go”.

Unlike AI, all provincial plans mention hydrogen, which is named as a “future industry” in the central-level five-year plan. 

For example, Hunan calls for promoting hydrogen trucks and rail transport and developing “renewable energy-based” hydrogen production, while Shandong pledges to focus on technological breakthroughs around hydrogen transport and storage, as well as production of green hydrogen. 

Similarly, 12 provinces named the other energy-related future industry – nuclear fusion, which remains an experimental technology – as a priority for the next five years. These provinces include Anhui, Guangdong, Hebei, Hubei and Shaanxi.

This spotlight is by freelance China analyst Lekai Liu for Carbon Brief.

Watch, read, listen

FUTURE-FOCUSED: Qiushi, China’s official journal for political theory, published an edition based on “future industries”, in which President Xi Jinping called for advancing hydrogen energy and nuclear fusion.

MIGHTY MANGROVES: The Grantham Research Institute explored China’s uptake of “blue carbon credits”, which could help preserve “powerful carbon sinks” in coastal ecosystems. 

IN THE LEAD: Mission Possible Partnership published a report saying China is “widening its lead” in developing a low-carbon industrial sector.

‘AUTOBESITY’: Blue Map examined “autobesity”, the trend towards larger Chinese EVs, and what this could mean for their carbon footprint

13

The number of Chinese solar companies that have joined forces to create the Space Energy Development Alliance, a new organisation to promote space solar energy, said Bloomberg.

5

Minutes devoted to the opening ceremony, which did not offer “any details” on the alliance’s objectives, according to the outlet.

New science 

• National and provincial planning scenarios for China’s solar and wind expansion until 2060 will present different trade-offs with biodiversity | Nature Ecology and Evolution
• Policies to decrease carbon emissions and declines in technology costs could together help achieve “deep” carbon emissions reductions by 2060 in China’s steel industry | PNAS

Recently published on WeChat

• 分析：因部分风光电力被弃，中国2026年初碳排放增加2%
• Q&A：中国能否将氢能发展为可行的清洁能源产业？

China Briefing is written by Anika Patel, with contributions from Lekai Liu, and edited by Simon Evans. Please send tips and feedback to china@carbonbrief.org 

China Briefing 28 May 2026: Deadly rains | China pushes back | Examining China’s carbon intensity metric 

China Briefing

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28.05.26

China Briefing 30 April 2026: Fossil fuel ‘strict controls’ | El Niño approaches | Why cleantech exports have surged

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30.04.26

China Briefing 16 April 2026: Billions for grid | Petrochemical plan | China’s high-seas bid

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16.04.26

China Briefing 2 April 2026: EV profits rise | Ming Yang rejected | Iran war

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02.04.26

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