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Brett Simpson

@brettvsimpson

Climate and human rights journalist. Current Institute of Current World Affairs fellow based in the Norwegian Arctic. Words: The Atlantic, NYT, Foreign Policy, Nat Geo, the Nation, The World, and more.

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06.12.2024
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Latest posts by Brett Simpson @brettvsimpson

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The Blind Spot at the Top of the World Slashing Arctic climate science will limit how clearly the U.S. can understand the region.

Slashing Arctic climate science will limit how clearly the U.S. can understand the region, Peter Bird Martin fellow @brettvsimpson.bsky.social writes for @theatlantic.com:
www.theatlantic.com/science/2026...

18.02.2026 23:38 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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The World Has Laws About Land and Sea, But Not About Ice As the Arctic melts and people spend more time there, defining our relationship to sea ice becomes more necessary.

Some polar-law scholars argue that curbing climate catastrophe may require a radical reimagining of sea ice, Brett Simpson reports:

28.12.2025 12:15 πŸ‘ 44 πŸ” 14 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1
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Welcome to Stories from the Edge A newsletter about Arctic people, politics, place.

After a year+ living in the Norwegian Arctic (69Β°N) writing on an @icwa.org fellowship, I’ve finally joined friends on Substack.

For a view from the world’s fast-warming region, follow here:

open.substack.com/pub/brettvsi...

10.11.2025 16:56 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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We’re Touching 1.9Β°C - And It’s Only 2025 Real time data coming out of the world’s climate measurement systems should be stopping us in our tracks. The latest estimate by climate scientist Dr Karsten Haustein shows that, this week, the Earth ...

Real time data coming out of the world’s climate measurement systems should be stopping us in our tracks. The latest estimate shows that, this week, the Earth is 1.9Β°C warmer than before we began burning fossil fuels.
#climatecrisis #ClimateEmergency #auspol www.lyrebirddreaming.com/post/we-re-t...

20.10.2025 00:29 πŸ‘ 3624 πŸ” 1632 πŸ’¬ 194 πŸ“Œ 114
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Destroying the evidence - ICWA With the defunding of NOAA, the world's critical climate data is disappearing, Brett Simpson reports for ICWA.

NOAA produces some of the world’s most powerful climate models and is sustained by thousands of employees. Recent and future staffing cuts put NOAA’s computational power at risk, @brettvsimpson.bsky.social reports from Norway: www.icwa.org/arctic-ice-u...

28.08.2025 08:08 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Greenland chairs the Arctic Council - ICWA At a precarious moment for the Arctic Council, Greenland takes the helm for the first time, ICWA fellow Brett Simpson reports.

While Indigenous "permanent participants" are considered equal stakeholders to nation-states at the @arcticcouncil.bsky.social, political jockeying often overshadows their interests. This may change w Greenland's chairship, ICWA fellow @brettvsimpson.bsky.social reports: www.icwa.org/greenland-ch...

20.06.2025 19:24 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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@brettvsimpson.bsky.social sent these stunning photos from aboard the Dana, a Danish research vessel that sailed for 3 weeks on the ice-edge east of Greenland. "Seeing so much Arctic ocean & wildlife from the confines of a ship is both world expanding and contracting," she reports.

06.06.2025 12:02 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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On thinning ice - ICWA A long Arctic winter abates in TromsΓΈ, Norway, but the weather remains a force to be reckoned with, ICWA fellow Brett Simpson writes.

Arctic temperatures are rising 4x faster than on the rest of the planet. The last few years, TromsΓΈ winters have been going off-book. December brought record-setting precipitation. Unpredictable melts triggered more avalanches, @brettvsimpson.bsky.social reports: www.icwa.org/norway-arcti...

17.06.2025 11:41 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Top 20 countries by extraction emissions per capita in 2022 (latest data). In megatonnes per person. Quatar and Kuwait leading over Norway.

Top 20 countries by extraction emissions per capita in 2022 (latest data). In megatonnes per person. Quatar and Kuwait leading over Norway.

Extraction emissions (MT/per capita) for Norway (blue line) and how many countries with larger emissions per capita in red curve.

Extraction emissions (MT/per capita) for Norway (blue line) and how many countries with larger emissions per capita in red curve.

@robbieandrew.bsky.social has a page on National Extraction-based Emissions, and also provides the per capita data, but no plot (that I could find)... so I decided to have a look.

Solid 3rd place for Norway in 2022 (latest), steadily moving up the "ranks".

robbieandrew.github.io/GCB2023/extr...

10.05.2025 21:05 πŸ‘ 13 πŸ” 7 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 3
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The Truth About Trump’s Greenland Campaign When the president talks about security in the Arctic, he’s talking about climate change.

The Trump administration doesn’t want to talk about climate change. But it is a military reality in the Arctic, @brettvsimpson.bsky.social reports:

29.03.2025 20:46 πŸ‘ 387 πŸ” 110 πŸ’¬ 14 πŸ“Œ 7
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When Trump Talks About Greenland, He’s Talking About Climate Change The U.S. had started to treat global warming in the Arctic as a military concern. Will the Trump administration?

Even if no one in the administration will say it out loud, the Greenland thing is a climate thing. By @brettvsimpson.bsky.social; gift link: www.theatlantic.com/science/arch...

28.03.2025 15:09 πŸ‘ 48 πŸ” 24 πŸ’¬ 4 πŸ“Œ 2

Last August, I moved to the Arctic as an @icwa.org fellow. From here, it’s obvious that Trump wants Greenland for β€œsecurity” threats caused by Arctic warming. But I was surprised to learn how seriously the DoD and NATO have been taking CC as a threat of its own. Now, that may be changing. My latest:

28.03.2025 17:33 πŸ‘ 11 πŸ” 5 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Acting on Trump's order, federal officials opened up two California dams The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers just opened up two California dams. A spokesperson says the flows are 'controlled' and being coordinated with local officials.

Dear California farmers and Congressional representatives:
Trump has just literally thrown millions of gallons of #water away that farmers were counting on this summer, purely to brag that he could.
That #cawater cannot be captured or used now by anyone.

www.latimes.com/environment/...

01.02.2025 01:30 πŸ‘ 1178 πŸ” 630 πŸ’¬ 61 πŸ“Œ 83
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"Climate change is the real threat to Arctic defense and security," @brettvsimpson.bsky.social says at the @arcticfrontiers.bsky.social panel "Arctic Security Seminar: Adapting to Geopolitical Uncertainty" this week in TromsΓΈ, Norway. arcticfrontiers.com

31.01.2025 16:48 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0