@laurarouth
On break from writing about climate change at https://www.thestatesclimateproject.com/ and elsewhere, too. Born 316.91 ppm. Caregiver to a loved one. Following posts on climate, economics, and mental health.
Correction: Heard through @70sbachchan.bsky.social Quote is from the Polycrisis Dispatch, a newsletter by @katemac.bsky.social and Tim Sahay
Also @thepolycrisis.bsky.social
“Unless you, the state, can control the industry enough to enact something like actual export bans or quotas, you will have to pay the international market price to your local suppliers.” @70sbachchan.bsky.social buttondown.com/polycrisisdi...
39/ Coz Strait of Hormuz is not US pvt property!
There are few such oil chokepoints ..."5 keys lock up the world"
-Malacca, Hormuz, Bab el-Mandeb, Suez, Dardanelles, Panama
You can read my ESCAPING THE PERMANENT SUEZ for history of geopolitics of energy.
www.atlanticcouncil.org/wp-content/u...
I'm not sure if the average Dem or even the average climate type has really caught on to the fact that ALL the big money guys in DC are absolutely banking on a huge renaissance of natural gas demand. They are looking at more gas, more pipelines, more more more, with no upper limit. They're giddy.
Map snapshot depicting the predicted relative anomalousness of 500mb GPH from the ECMWF ensemble over the Western U.S. in about a week from now. A large anomalous ridge, featuring a huge region of bright orange and red colors (depicting extremely high positive GPH anomalies) is centered right in the middle of the map.
Current indications are that late spring or even mid-summer-like (in some places) heat will arrive and persist for a fairly extended duration across a wide swath of the American West, centered on the Four Corners to Southern CA region. This will induce rapid melt of remaining snowpack.
EXCEPTIONAL HEATWAVE BREWING FOR NEXT WEEK IN COLORADO
A powerful ridge is about to park itself over the West next week -- stronger and closer to Colorado than anything we’ve seen in a long time.
#COWX #Colorado #Snowpack #Heatwave #COsnow
“Reactions are also likely to vary by region, pushing countries in Asia and Europe that do not produce much oil or natural gas to adopt renewable energy faster.” www.nytimes.com/2026/03/09/b...
From March 2023 but still very much relevant: “The results were even more striking for a subset of the total deaths—the 280 that the provincial coroner’s service certified as being heat related. Thirty-seven people who died—more than 13%—had schizophrenia.” www.science.org/content/arti...
The state’s leaders have pledged their fealty to fossil fuels, but we’re first in utility-scale solar. Wonder if that annoys them? Hope so. insideclimatenews.org/news/0503202...
Time series plot depicting predicted Nino 3.4 region ocean temperature anomalies from the latest (Mar 2026) ECMWF ensemble. It depicts an extremely rapid rise in such temperatures, from modest negative anomalies to strong positive anomalies, by mid-summer 2026--indicative of a transition from weak-moderate La Nina conditions to moderate-strong El Nino conditions over just a few months.
Whew.
All signs are increasingly pointing to a significant, if not strong to very strong, El Niño event. I'll have more to say in coming weeks & months, but for now I'll just say that this is increasingly likely to become a major regional-to-global climate driver in 2026-2027.
More info on this: 1)The market in general is trending away from risk. 2)Uncertainty over inflation and higher interest rates affects the funds that renewable energy projects must borrow to get built. 3)And, “political leaders often opt to try to maintain stability, even if it’s very expensive.”
You would think (hope?) that at a time when fossil fuel supplies are at risk due to war in the Middle East, investments in renewable energy would rise. But that’s not what’s happening, and Matthew Zeitlin explains why in this must-read piece. heatmap.news/energy/why-i...
“Overall, the top 1 percent now control $55.8 trillion in assets — more than the G.D.P. of the United States and China combined.” www.nytimes.com/2026/03/02/u...
This thread shows a deliberate defunding of U.S. science, engineering, social science, innovation, and education excellence. It’s a U.S. national security, competitiveness, and economic disaster.
In 1966 I was 6 and singing “I Want to Hold Your Hand” at the top of my lungs at the grocery store. Yikes.
A lot of rain earlier, more tomorrow and Thursday. It’s not too bad.
I'll have a "late-breaking" livestream session tomorrow (Wed, Feb 18) at 2pm PT to discuss multiple topics, including: Recent switch to colder/wetter conditions (including news re: major avalanche) & updates re: EPA GHG regs & efforts to save NCAR. #CAwx
I don't know what to do but just keep repeating it so I don't go insane: the rise & eventual total domination of RW media is the single most significant political development of my lifetime and the entirely of the US political & media elite resolutely refuse to discuss or even acknowledge it.
Running the air fryer with the electric kettle trips the breaker.
We’re experiencing similar issues in our rented 1965 townhouse in Davis. I have two electric heaters running, one of them oil filled. It kinda works, but my last bill was $588. And no grounded outlets in the kitchen except for the fridge.
A must-read piece on increasing fire risk in the Eastern and Southern U.S. states
“One fire manager warned Smithwick that a worst-case-scenario wildfire could run across the entirety of New Jersey, the most densely populated state in the nation, in just 48 hours.”
(Reposting with author’s fix)
Your concern for politeness is appreciated!
And I’m pretty sure the publication would appreciate knowing about it.
I didn’t take it that way. But I felt some clarification was in order. And also meant to credit you for the catch!
The American Academy of Actuaries warns that dismantling NCAR would degrade the catastrophe models insurers depend on to price climate risk—driving up premiums and threatening coverage availability nationwide.
"Uncertainty carries a positive cost."
www.riskmarketnews.com/trumps-clima...
I copied and pasted from the article. Hoping they catch and fix it.
Good catch! Because it doesn’t seem to be. Ah, the most populously dense.
“One fire manager warned Smithwick that a worst-case-scenario wildfire could run across the entirety of New Jersey, the most populous state in the nation, in just 48 hours.” Important read from @jeva.bsky.social
Heard through @billmckibben.bsky.social ‘s newsletter heatmap.news/adaptation/e...
What we know (and still don’t know) about the Trump admin’s most significant attack ever on US climate law: heatmap.news/climate/enda...
Our family is living this. At present, thankfully, the outcome is mostly favorable. But it’s been a tumultuous journey. Medications, and my family member’s eventual compliance to them, have made caregiving workable. Stopping them would return us to the nightmare that was once our lives.