climate scientists

A new report says global temperatures have reached record highs as the El Niño climate pattern strengthens in the Pacific. El Niño, which warms ocean surface waters and alters weather worldwide, is adding to the underlying warming trend driven by greenhouse gas emissions. Scientists warn the combination could push average temperatures to new extremes in the coming months, with implications for heatwaves, droughts and storms across many regions.

A UK climate minister has warned that the global food system is vulnerable to El Niño, the periodic warming of Pacific Ocean waters that disrupts weather patterns and can damage harvests. The warning, reported by New Scientist, highlights concerns that extreme weather linked to El Niño could hit crop yields and push up food prices worldwide.

Scientists in Germany are preparing to copy and store vast troves of American climate data, fearing the Trump administration could alter, restrict, or remove federal climate records. The effort has been likened to building an ark, preserving scientific information outside the United States in case it becomes unavailable at home, and has drawn attention as researchers weigh risks to publicly funded datasets.

In an interview, political scientist Norman Finkelstein responded to Harvard's antisemitism inquiry, which found that Israeli and Jewish students "don't feel wanted at Harvard." The university said it must correct for antisemitism by embracing everyone, and Finkelstein, while voicing support for inclusivity, went on to take issue with the inquiry's framing, drawing attention and debate online.

Peter Barrett, a leading figure in Antarctic science in New Zealand and internationally, has died. Colleagues describe him as a legend in the field, noting that even in death he left behind a list of tasks and challenges, reflecting his lifelong commitment to Antarctic research and climate issues. Tributes have come from across Aotearoa and the wider scientific community.

Scientists and news outlets are raising alarms about a slow-moving Kelvin wave — a vast, planetary-scale oceanic phenomenon — that is travelling toward the California coast. Such waves can shift warm water across the Pacific and influence coastal sea levels and weather patterns, prompting concerns about potential impacts on the US West Coast.

PBS NewsHour reports on scientists developing new ways to control mosquito populations as rising global temperatures expand the habitats where the insects and the diseases they carry can spread. The segment examines research approaches to targeting mosquitoes as warming climate conditions push the public health threat into previously unaffected regions.

New coverage warns that Earth's magnetic poles could be heading toward another reversal, an event where the planet's north and south magnetic poles swap places. Reports focus on what such a flip could mean for climate, navigation systems, satellite operations and the shielding that protects Earth from solar radiation, though scientists note reversals happen gradually over thousands of years.

NASA scientists are mapping vast valleys buried beneath the Greenland ice sheet, revealing dramatic hidden landscapes that were shaped before ice covered the island. The research helps scientists understand how the bedrock terrain influences ice flow and could improve predictions of how the ice sheet will respond to climate change and contribute to global sea-level rise.

Germany is reportedly creating an archive to preserve United States climate data, described as a digital Noah's Ark. The project is understood as a safeguard against the potential loss or removal of federal climate datasets, allowing scientists to keep access to long-term environmental records regardless of what happens to US government databases.

Scientists have observed that the amount of dust in Earth's atmosphere has declined, reversing a previous trend. NBC News reports the shift is described as mysterious, with the cause of the reversal not yet explained. Dust in the atmosphere affects climate, air quality and weather patterns, so researchers are paying close attention to what is driving the change.

Scientists at a Colorado cold laboratory are working to better understand hail as the damage it causes continues to grow. Hail already causes billions of dollars in losses each year in the United States, and researchers warn that a warming climate could make severe hailstorms more frequent or more destructive. The reporting by Hannah Covington in High Country News highlights how little is still known about how hailstones form and grow inside storms, and why improved forecasting matters for insurers, farmers and homeowners across hail-prone regions.

A new study questions the widely held idea that climate change is driving a boom in global squid populations. Researchers challenge assumptions that warming oceans have benefited squid, suggesting earlier conclusions may need revision. The findings matter for fisheries and marine ecosystems, where squid play a key role and where management decisions have partly relied on expectations of continued growth.

Billionaire investor Mark Cuban asked Elon Musk's chatbot Grok which risks are most likely to cause human extinction within 25 years. According to reports, the AI responded that artificial intelligence is roughly 3,000 times more likely than climate change to be the cause. The claim has drawn attention because both figures are speculative model outputs rather than established scientific estimates, and climate scientists generally rank climate change among the most serious long-term global threats.

Bulgarian National Radio reports that night-time temperatures in Bulgaria have risen sharply over the past two decades. The finding points to warming that is most visible after dark, a pattern scientists link to climate change because it reduces nighttime cooling and puts additional strain on health, agriculture and energy use. The report is drawing attention as heat records continue to fall across the region.

A new interactive map charting glacier extinction has been launched, tracking which of the world's glaciers are projected to disappear and when. The tool comes as scientists warn that glacier loss is accelerating worldwide, threatening water supplies for millions and raising concern among skiers, mountain communities and climate researchers.

An article examining the environmental impact and greenwashing of artificial intelligence includes a fact check of Donald Trump's climate remarks. It explains that his references to people warning "we'll all be dead in twelve years" stem from media coverage of a 2018 United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, rather than scientists' actual statements. Readers are sharing it as a useful example of climate misinformation being corrected within broader tech-environment reporting.

Scientists are urging that funding for the USDA Climate Hubs be extended. The regional hubs help farmers, ranchers and land managers adapt to climate change by translating research into practical guidance. Supporters argue the network delivers value on the ground and should not lapse, though details of the funding request and the response from policymakers remain unclear.

A weather explainer is looking at the satellites used to study the world's oceans and monitor El Niño. Coverage focuses on how these spacecraft measure sea surface temperatures and other ocean conditions, which scientists use to track the climate pattern and improve forecasts of its effects on weather around the globe.

Colorado's glaciers are shrinking, and researchers say their retreat is a visible signal of a warming climate. Reporting from Colorado focuses on what the loss of these ice masses means for the state's water supplies, ecosystems and mountain landscapes. Coverage highlights the glaciers as local indicators of broader climate change, drawing attention from residents and scientists alike.

Scientists say autumn foliage across the United States is shifting, with peak colors arriving later or appearing less vivid in many regions. Experts attribute the changes to warming temperatures, altered rainfall patterns and longer growing seasons, which stress trees and disrupt the usual timing of leaf color change, raising concern among ecologists and leaf-peeping communities.

Researchers report that a Siberian lake underwent a rare full overturn, a complete mixing of its water layers, and the event offers a natural experiment in how microbial communities recover afterward. The findings shed light on ecosystem resilience and how lake biology responds to sudden physical disturbance, drawing attention from scientists studying climate-sensitive freshwater systems.

Smithsonian Environmental Research Center scientists deliberately flood a forest in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, every summer as part of a long-running experiment. By pumping water into the wetland forest, researchers simulate sea-level rise to study how coastal ecosystems and carbon storage respond to climate change. The unusual project draws attention for its hands-on approach to understanding what rising seas will do to Maryland's tidal forests.