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Barry Saxifrage

@bsaxifrage

Reporting about climate change at http://nationalobserver.com/u/barry-saxifrage and http://VisualCarbon.org

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Latest posts by Barry Saxifrage @bsaxifrage

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‘Everywhere I Looked, Climate Change Bled’: Abi Daré on Writing Climate Fiction Bestselling novelist and winner of the Climate Fiction Prize joins Zero to discuss why she couldn’t ignore climate change as she told the story of girls in Nigeria.

Bestselling novelist and winner of the Climate Fiction Prize Abi Daré joins Bloomberg Green's Zero podcast to discuss why she couldn’t ignore climate change as she told the story of girls in Nigeria.

12.03.2026 06:00 👍 15 🔁 6 💬 0 📌 0

Corpus Christi has gotten about a foot less rain than usual the past year, so “the city is resorting to a millennia-old tactic: praying for rain.”

11.03.2026 14:46 👍 40 🔁 19 💬 1 📌 0
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We just had the second-warmest winter in U.S. history, despite icy blasts » Yale Climate Connections Record-smashing Western warmth far outperformed a memorable Eastern stretch of cold waves and winter storms.

Precip overall was quite sparse this winter: it was the fifth driest in U.S. records going back to 1895. More here:

yaleclimateconnections.org/2026/03/we-j...

11.03.2026 14:47 👍 2 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
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From these maps alone, I'm struggling to see how this month *doesn't* end up as the warmest March in contiguous U.S. history, perhaps by a long shot.

11.03.2026 05:52 👍 128 🔁 32 💬 9 📌 2

400 million barrels of oil = approximately 172 million tonnes of CO2*

* Using 0.43 tonnes CO2/barrel (US EPA www.epa.gov/energy/green...)

11.03.2026 14:53 👍 3 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 1
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the warmest it's ever been in March in Fort Collins is 81°F. at this point, it seems like the question is not whether this will be broken next week, but how many times and by how much. 🫠#cowx

11.03.2026 14:53 👍 45 🔁 17 💬 3 📌 6

Increasing energy dependence on a volatile, globally traded commodity delivers neither energy security nor affordability. Hope that helps. 🫡

11.03.2026 03:40 👍 193 🔁 51 💬 4 📌 4

Who's ready to make another run at record global temperatures? 🔥

05.03.2026 23:10 👍 76 🔁 17 💬 10 📌 2
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Canada is one of the top ten CO2 emitters in the world. But that's not the whole story. Canada exports fossil fuels to other countries, increasing their CO2 emissions. Alberta is intent on building more pipelines and BC is intent on shipping LNG. It is past time to #keepitintheground.

08.06.2025 23:00 👍 48 🔁 26 💬 1 📌 1
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Dec-Feb was the 2nd warmest winter for the Contiguous U.S. according to ERA5 Reanalysis. 31% of the Contiguous U.S. had their warmest winter on record (since 1940), 53% were much above average, and only 1% was much below average (both compared to the 1991-2020 baseline).

05.03.2026 04:13 👍 67 🔁 24 💬 1 📌 1
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Biggest study yet shows plug-in hybrids use over 300% more fuel than claimed As EU mulls new regulations, a real-world study of a million PHEVs shows even when charged up, they still use 3x as much gas as claimed.

New study from the Fraunhofer Institute based on nearly 1M PHEVs in Europe concludes that they use much more fossil fuels than advertised. 🧪🔌💡☀️💨💧🔋 a 🧵 electrek.co/2026/02/19/b...

21.02.2026 19:26 👍 136 🔁 50 💬 12 📌 13
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‘Don’t go to the US – not with Trump in charge’: the UK tourist with a valid visa detained by ICE for six weeks Karen Newton was in America on the trip of a lifetime when she was shackled, transported and held for weeks on end. With tourism to the US under increasing strain, she says, ‘If it can happen to me, i...

A retired British primary school administrator with a British passport and a valid visa was shackled, chained and detained for six weeks by ICE

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

21.02.2026 06:54 👍 7238 🔁 4210 💬 249 📌 632
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Electric Vehicle Sales Boom as Ethiopia Bans Fossil-Fuel Car Imports The East African country is making use of cheap hydropower and Chinese electric vehicles to ditch the internal combustion engine.

Two years ago, Ethiopia did something no other rich country has yet. It banned the import of new fossil fuel cars. In that time, the country went from less than 1% of its vehicles being electric to more than 6% — higher than the global average. Read our feature:

🎁🔗 www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

18.02.2026 06:04 👍 145 🔁 57 💬 0 📌 11

A green transition deal was worked out in Spain...

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

12.02.2026 05:57 👍 36 🔁 10 💬 1 📌 2
A mountain-top pavement comprised of glacier-polished brownish cross sections of cabbage-like concentric fossilized blue-green algae.

A mountain-top pavement comprised of glacier-polished brownish cross sections of cabbage-like concentric fossilized blue-green algae.

If you take a breath today remember to be grateful to the bottom of your lungs to these guys that made it all possible. Ice-polished ~1.5 billion yo Proterozoic fossil cyanobacterial stromatolite pavement, at Grinnell Glacier, Glacier NP, MT. Oldest fossils I have ever seen!

07.02.2026 14:11 👍 1314 🔁 158 💬 31 📌 8
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Opinion: What’s the future of electric vehicles when even Elon Musk wants out? The Tesla founder and CEO said last week the company would stop production of its model S and X cars

C'mon, @theglobeandmail.com. Are you kidding us with this nonsense?

www.theglobeandmail.com/business/com...

05.02.2026 02:46 👍 209 🔁 46 💬 29 📌 9
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Thinking about lying Climate denial taught our leaders shamelessness

“Where the GOP learned to lie as a matter of course is an interesting question, and I’m afraid I’ve had a front row seat. I think it’s the climate fight, more than anything else, that taught them to regard reality as optional.”

Read @billmckibben.bsky.social on how we reached this moment

05.02.2026 04:32 👍 188 🔁 75 💬 4 📌 5
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Breaking: Washington Post gutting its climate team Clean energy dies in darkness. Courtesy of Jeff Bezos.

I don't say this often but: I'm so proud to be a climate and environment reporter. We cover an issue that is vitally important to humanity and the natural world. 14 of my climate colleagues at the Post were laid off today and I'm devastated.

www.climatecoloredgoggles.com/p/washington...

05.02.2026 02:17 👍 1950 🔁 580 💬 51 📌 42
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How Environmental Enforcement Has Dropped Under Trump Federal officials have been going after fewer polluters in court, according to a new report by an environmental watchdog group.

So far, the Trump administration has filed about 80% fewer court cases against polluters than during the president's first term.

05.02.2026 07:00 👍 35 🔁 37 💬 2 📌 1

“There’s a tendency in certain government departments to trivialise the impacts of #climate on the economy so as to avoid making difficult choices today. This is a big problem – the consequences of delay are catastrophic.” - Mark Campanale, CEO of @carbontracker.bsky.social

05.02.2026 06:44 👍 67 🔁 23 💬 2 📌 1
Figure of Western U.S. snow cover area from 2001 to 2026 illustrates a staggering decline in current coverage compared to historical norms. While the historical data for mid-January typically clusters between 400,000 and 600,000 square miles, the line for 2026 sits in unprecedented territory at the very bottom of the graph. On January 15, 2026, the snow cover area plummeted to a record low of 142,700 square miles—less than one-third of the median and the lowest point in the entire 25-year satellite record. This visual gap emphasizes a severe "snow drought," with the 2026 data point trailing significantly behind even the previous record lows, highlighting an extreme and alarming anomaly in winter precipitation.

Figure of Western U.S. snow cover area from 2001 to 2026 illustrates a staggering decline in current coverage compared to historical norms. While the historical data for mid-January typically clusters between 400,000 and 600,000 square miles, the line for 2026 sits in unprecedented territory at the very bottom of the graph. On January 15, 2026, the snow cover area plummeted to a record low of 142,700 square miles—less than one-third of the median and the lowest point in the entire 25-year satellite record. This visual gap emphasizes a severe "snow drought," with the 2026 data point trailing significantly behind even the previous record lows, highlighting an extreme and alarming anomaly in winter precipitation.

The western U.S. faces its lowest snowpack on record despite average or above-average rainfall. Warmer temperatures mean more precipitation falls as rain rather than snow, and will worsen droughts in areas like the Pacific Northwest and the Colorado River Basin.

science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-...

03.02.2026 06:26 👍 298 🔁 149 💬 3 📌 24
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How cold has this winter been so far? The first 2/3 of winter 2025-26 is the 7th warmest on record for the Contiguous U.S.

02.02.2026 03:22 👍 104 🔁 38 💬 7 📌 7
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LNG Canada has been flaring up to 15 times more gas than expected, documents reveal Problem with the Kitimat facility’s flaring equipment has resulted in LNG Canada burning significantly more gas — and it could take three years to fix

Flaring Hell 🔥

LNG Canada has been flaring up to 15 times more gas than expected, Vancouver Sun
share.google/GsdDR3S23vwT...

02.02.2026 05:04 👍 7 🔁 5 💬 0 📌 0
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A Secret Panel to Question Climate Science Was Unlawful, Judge Rules

Oh! “A federal judge on Friday ruled the Energy Department violated the law when Secretary Chris Wright handpicked five researchers who reject the scientific consensus on climate change to work in secret on a sweeping government report on global warming.”

30.01.2026 23:07 👍 373 🔁 144 💬 5 📌 6
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La Niña is Dissolving Rapidly, Marking the Start of a Major Atmospheric and Oceanic Shift for 2026 La Niña is now starting to dissolve, signaling a major weather shift for the United States and Canada from Summer into Winter 2026/2027

#HeadsUp La Niña is Dissolving Rapidly 🔥

La Niña is Dissolving Rapidly, Marking the Start of a Major Atmospheric and Oceanic Shift for 2026 » Severe Weather Europe share.google/gP8VXKYfnR11...

30.01.2026 03:33 👍 17 🔁 6 💬 2 📌 0
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The accidental climate scientist who uncovered an unexpected force of global warming | CNN The Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences has awarded the Crafoord Prize to climate scientist Veerabhadran Ramanathan. He discovered a powerful force of global warming.

One molecule of a CFC could have the same warming effect as up to 10,000 molecules of carbon dioxide

www.cnn.com/2026/01/29/s...

30.01.2026 06:44 👍 10 🔁 3 💬 0 📌 0
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‘Creeping snow drought’: Canadian research shows less snowpack a concern New research shows less snowpack in certain regions of Canada can have wide-ranging effects on everything from farms and wildlife to the broader economy.

ICYMI: “New research shows less snowpack in certain regions of Canada can have wide-ranging effects on everything from farms and wildlife to the broader economy.” www.ctvnews.ca/climate-and-... - CTV News

#Canada #CanadianRockies #Environment #GreatLakes #Hydrology #Okanagan #Quebec #SnowDrought

30.01.2026 06:47 👍 11 🔁 10 💬 0 📌 0
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‘Situation is dire’ for Sicily town teetering on cliff edge after landslide 1,500 people evacuated from Niscemi after battering by Cyclone Harry triggers 4km-long chasm in hillside

"The Italian gov on Mon declared a state of emergency for southern regions battered by Cyclone Harry last week. The powerful storm brought relentless rain & waves as high as 9m...[destroying] roads &coastal defences, sweeping away beach resorts. The cost of the damage is estimated at more than €1bn"

28.01.2026 02:27 👍 48 🔁 24 💬 0 📌 2
Chaetoceros socialis - a colonial diatom- imaged with the lisst holo2, an underwater camera that takes 3D images of microscopic particles. The squiggly chains of individual cells grow together in balls that are actually visible by eye if you hold the seawater up to the light. Images are black and white because a laser is used to take 3D images.

Chaetoceros socialis - a colonial diatom- imaged with the lisst holo2, an underwater camera that takes 3D images of microscopic particles. The squiggly chains of individual cells grow together in balls that are actually visible by eye if you hold the seawater up to the light. Images are black and white because a laser is used to take 3D images.

The lisst -holo2, an underwater camera that takes 3D images of microscopic particles getting ready for deployment in the land aboard the RV Sikuliaq

The lisst -holo2, an underwater camera that takes 3D images of microscopic particles getting ready for deployment in the land aboard the RV Sikuliaq

The CTD rosette (the workhorse of oceanography) getting ready to be sent to the bottom of the ocean. The lisst holo2 is mounted on the bottom of the rosette and saves 1 image/second as the rosette descends

The CTD rosette (the workhorse of oceanography) getting ready to be sent to the bottom of the ocean. The lisst holo2 is mounted on the bottom of the rosette and saves 1 image/second as the rosette descends

To study the distribution of phytoplankton🦠 and marine snow❄️, we are sending a holographic camera down on the CTD rosette to a take a 3D image every second. Then we can reconstruct bio volume and export! The most common phytoplankton on this cruise has been Chaetoceros socialis (⬇️) #oceanography 🇦🇶🐧🌊

28.01.2026 03:41 👍 42 🔁 6 💬 2 📌 0
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Ventilation of the North Atlantic is Weakening 20 January 2026 / Kiel. The renewal of deep waters in the North Atlantic has slowed markedly over the past three decades. This is shown by a new study from the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Resear...

"The results also indicate that current #climate models underestimate the magnitude of the observed changes. This is caused most likely by a too simplistic representation of deep mixing processes in the ocean in numerical models"

#AMOC
#FasterThanExpected

26.01.2026 02:35 👍 116 🔁 60 💬 1 📌 4