banner
LightNews
thirstygecko.bsky.social
Kevin Anchukaitis
@thirstygecko.bsky.social
4.2K followers 650 following 420 posts

Climate scientist, paleoclimatologist, dendrochronologist, University of Arizona | https://kanchukaitis.github.io/ | Opinions are mine and not that of my employer

Videos
Environmental science 51%
Geology 21%
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Reposted by Neil Pederson

thirstygecko.bsky.social
Kevin Anchukaitis @thirstygecko.bsky.social · 1h
Job: Assistant/Associate Professor, Earth System Modeling, Yale University apply.interfolio.com/174637
Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
apply.interfolio.com
6 6

Reposted by Peter Thorne, Kevin J. Anchukaitis, J. Brian Houston

nytimes.com
The New York Times @nytimes.com · 15h
Months before catastrophic floods swept through an Alaska Native village on Sunday, the Trump administration canceled a $20 million grant meant to protect the community from extreme flooding. At the time, the EPA administrator said he was eliminating "wasteful DEI and Environmental Justice grants."
E.P.A. Canceled $20 Million Flood Protection Grant to Alaska, Parts of Which Just Flooded
The remote village of Kipnuk planned to use the money to protect against flooding. On Sunday, it was inundated.
nyti.ms
55 620 1K

Reposted by Joanna Bryson, Anna O. Law, Marc Lynch , and 13 more

robertkelchen.com
Robert Kelchen @robertkelchen.com · 1d
After getting zero firm commitments to this point from the first nine invitees, the Trump administration is extending its proposed compact to all colleges. Expect some red-state publics to say yes.
Trump Offers All Colleges Preferential Funding Plan Rejected by MIT
The Trump administration is inviting all US colleges to participate in a compact — initially rejected by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology — that would grant preferential federal funding in re...
www.bloomberg.com
27 170 400

Reposted by Kevin J. Anchukaitis, Neil Pederson

lamont.columbia.edu
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory @lamont.columbia.edu · 1d
🏆 Congratulations to @lamont.columbia.edu tree ring scientist Ed Cook, recipient of the Roger Revelle Medal from @agu.org for outstanding contributions in climate science! #AGU25 ➡️ Learn more about Cook and this prestigious honor: www.agu.org/user-profile...
Ed Cook in Nepal. Credit: Paul Krusic
7 26

Reposted by Monica G. Turner, Ben Bond‐Lamberty

thirstygecko.bsky.social
Kevin Anchukaitis @thirstygecko.bsky.social · 2d
Increasing wildfire frequency decreases carbon storage and leads to regeneration failure in Alaskan boreal forests fireecology.springeropen.com/articles/10....
Increasing wildfire frequency decreases carbon storage and leads to regeneration failure in Alaskan boreal forests - Fire Ecology
Background The increasing size, severity, and frequency of wildfires is one of the most rapid ways climate warming could alter the structure and function of high-latitude ecosystems. Historically, boreal forests in western North America had fire return intervals (FRI) of 70–130 years, but shortened FRIs are becoming increasingly common under extreme weather conditions. Here, we quantified pre-fire and post-fire C pools and C losses and assessed post-fire seedling regeneration in long (> 70 years), intermediate (30–70 years), and short (< 30 years) FRIs, and triple (three fires in < 70 years) burns. As boreal forests store a significant portion of the global terrestrial carbon (C) pool, understanding the impacts of shortened FRIs on these ecosystems is critical for predicting the global C balance and feedbacks to climate. Results Using a spatially extensive dataset of 555 plots from 31 separate fires in Interior Alaska, our study demonstrates that shortened FRIs decrease the C storage capacity of boreal forests through loss of legacy C and regeneration failure. Total wildfire C emissions were similar among FRI classes, ranging from 2.5 to 3.5 kg C m−2. However, shortened FRIs lost proportionally more of their pre-fire C pools, resulting in substantially lower post-fire C pools than long FRIs. Shortened FRIs also resulted in the combustion of legacy C, defined as C that escaped combustion in one or more previous fires. We found that post-fire successional trajectories were impacted by FRI, with ~ 65% of short FRIs and triple burns experiencing regeneration failure. Conclusions Our study highlights the structural and functional vulnerability of boreal forests to increasing fire frequency. Shortened FRIs and the combustion of legacy C can shift boreal ecosystems from a net C sink or neutral to a net C source to the atmosphere and increase the risk of transitions to non-forested states. These changes could have profound implications for the boreal C-climate feedback and underscore the need for adaptive management strategies that prioritize the structural and functional resilience of boreal forest ecosystems to expected increases in fire frequency.
fireecology.springeropen.com
1 15 40

Reposted by Kevin J. Anchukaitis

monicagturner.bsky.social
Monica G. Turner @monicagturner.bsky.social · 4d
My heart goes out to my federal colleagues who work so hard and are committed to their mission.
science.org
Science Magazine @science.org · 4d
Federal researchers are confronting growing uncertainty about their future, as the 10-day-old shutdown of the U.S. government is now poised to extend into at least next week. https://scim.ag/4n1uy22
As U.S. shutdown drags on, ‘it’s just one blow after another’
Federal researchers confront growing uncertainty about future
scim.ag
6 40

Reposted by Nandita Sharma, Kevin J. Anchukaitis, Henrik Skaug Sætra

mollyjongfast.bsky.social
Molly Jong-Fast @mollyjongfast.bsky.social · 4d
This is the way

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/u...
M.I.T. Rejects a White House Offer for Special Funding Treatment
www.nytimes.com
180 2.3K 11K

Reposted by Jennifer Bussell, Kevin J. Anchukaitis

joshuasweitz.bsky.social
Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 5d
MIT says no to the Trump admin higher-ed compact clearly and emphatically. Other universities would be well served to read, remix, and respond similarly.

"In that free marketplace of ideas, the people of MIT gladly compete with the very best, without preferences."

orgchart.mit.edu/letters/rega...
4 26 57

Reposted by Gavin A. Schmidt, Kevin J. Anchukaitis, Julie L. Lockwood , and 1 more

jameeljaffer.bsky.social
Jameel Jaffer @jameeljaffer.bsky.social · 5d
MIT's response to the Trump admin's proposed "compact" is excellent and should be a model for other universities. orgchart.mit.edu/letters/rega...
9 220 580

Reposted by Kevin J. Anchukaitis

ketanjoshi.co
Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 5d
Roger Pielke Jr spent years moaning about being "cancelled", and now he's just spending his days at a fossil-funded think tank directly attacking climate scientists, and he has a fascist dictatorship to help him out now too

So seriously gross

www.eenews.net/articles/cli...
E&E News by POLITICO Publications Subscription About Free Trial Login Search Full access to essential energy & environment news for professionals. Learn more 7-DAY UNLIMITED ACCESS FREE TRIAL Climatewire Climate critics try to discredit IPCC author for linking disasters to global warming By Lesley Clark, Sara Schonhardt, Chelsea Harvey | 10/09/2025 06:22 AM EDT Roger Pielke Jr. and oil industry supporters are attacking climate scientist Friederike Otto, whose work has been used in lawsuits against polluters. Friederike Otto. Fossil fuel industry allies have launched a campaign against the inclusion of scientist Friederike Otto in the next United Nations climate review. They say her work to attribute extreme weather to human-caused global warming is bolstering climate lawsuits against oil companies. The First/Facebook | The First/Facebook Critics of mainstream climate science and allies of the fossil fuel industry are taking aim at a prominent expert who’s helping coordinate the next United Nations review of global climate research, arguing that her work aims to bolster multibillion-dollar lawsuits against oil and gas companies. In an August New York Post op-ed, Roger Pielke Jr., a political scientist at the conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute, raised concerns about the appointment of Friederike Otto as a coordinating lead author for the seventh assessment report of the influential Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The criticism is aimed at extreme weather attribution, a popular field of research that studies whether and to what degree human-caused global warming has made an extreme weather event, such as a heat wave or heavy rain, more severe or likely to occur. Otto co-founded World Weather Attribution, which develops analyses showing climate’s role in extreme weather events. Advertisement Attribution science has been cited in congressional hearings and included in legislation to highlight the links between extreme weather event… UN Abandons Science and Hires Climate Change Zealots Who Damn the Facts By Roger Pielke Jr. New York Post August 22, 2025 Life would be impossible without experts — doctors help us when we get sick, mechanics fix our cars when they break down, farmers produce our food, to name just a few. But we live in a time when too many of these roles have become politicized. President Trump recently fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics after the agency released a jobs report he did not like. Similarly, soon after his election, President Joe Biden fired the climate scientist leading the US National Climate Assessment and replaced her with a communications professional. Not surprisingly, public confidence in medical and scientific institutions has dropped overall and become more partisan as politicians increasingly select experts to advise them based on their politics rather than their willingness to call things as they see them. The ongoing politicization of scientific institutions is not limited to politicians or to the United States. Now we’re seeing it in the organization tasked with periodically assessing climate science under the United Nations, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which distills the thousands and thousands of research papers on climate change to help inform decision-makers on the nature of the problem and possibilities for response. The IPCC is so important for clarifying what we know and don’t know about climate that I have testified before Congress that if it didn’t exist, we would have to invent it. Last week, the IPCC announced its list of authors for its seventh assessment report, which is just getting underway and will take several years to produce. One of its most important chapters is on extreme weather events — how they may have changed over time, and understanding the reasons for any identified changes.
1 24 82

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, Kevin J. Anchukaitis, Rosemary A. Joyce , and 9 more

qjurecic.bsky.social
Quinta Jurecic @qjurecic.bsky.social · 6d
he's going to come after you either way, so you might as well act with integrity
38 1.1K 5.3K

thirstygecko.bsky.social
Kevin Anchukaitis @thirstygecko.bsky.social · 6d
Very cool new research from @mekevans.bsky.social and Jamie Yazzie - 'Drought stress detected in tree rings suggests an impending tipping point for forests on the Navajo Nation' www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Drought stress detected in tree rings suggests an impending tipping point for forests on the Navajo Nation
Forests across the southwestern U. S. face escalating challenges from changing climate. The objective of this study, conducted in partnership with the…
www.sciencedirect.com
10 22

thirstygecko.bsky.social
Kevin Anchukaitis @thirstygecko.bsky.social · 6d
This is cool - new paper from Hali Kilbourne et al. 'Dating a Medieval Tsunami With Uranium-Series Techniques on Caribbean Corals' agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/...
Dating a Medieval Tsunami With Uranium‐Series Techniques on Caribbean Corals
Uranium-series analyses provide dates for 15 annually banded coral skeletons on the low Caribbean island of Anegada A subset of the corals was likely washed ashore in a Puerto Rico Trench tsunami...
agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
2 11 42

Reposted by Scott C. Doney, Adam H. Sobel, Benjamin I. Cook , and 1 more

lamont.columbia.edu
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory @lamont.columbia.edu · 8d
📣 Postdoc opportunity alert! Join our dynamic community of Earth, environmental, and climate scientists as LDEO postdoctoral fellow. Principal criteria: scientific excellence + clear plan to investigate problems at forefront of Earth science. ➡️ Apply by Nov 7: lamont.columbia.edu/about/postdo...
LDEO postdocs traversing a volcanic dike on the Olomana Trail in Oahu. Credit: Brandon Shuck
1 8 10

Reposted by Kevin J. Anchukaitis

jeremymberg.bsky.social
Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 8d
6/14
In communicating with some of the scientists affected by grant terminations, it was striking (but not surprising) that many felt abandoned by their institutions and the scientific establishment at large. This was fueled, in part, by the contrast between this acquiescence and the rapid institutional responses, including lawsuits, after the administration had proposed a cap on the rate of reimbursement for so-called indirect costs of research. The scientific establishment had the capacity to push back vigorously when some of their values (financial viability) were threatened but could not seem to muster much energy when other principles were under assault.
1 5 16

thirstygecko.bsky.social
Kevin Anchukaitis @thirstygecko.bsky.social · 9d
🧐
3

Reposted by Kevin J. Anchukaitis, Julie L. Lockwood

susancosier.bsky.social
Susan Cosier @susancosier.bsky.social · 11d
USGS scientists tell us about the effects of invasive species & climate change. Yet their fate, like many other federal employees who work in science & the environment, is unknown. My latest for @nrdc.org. Thank you to @meadekrosby.bsky.social, John Organ, Ed Arnett, and others for speaking with me.
The Attacks on Science Continue—This Time at the USGS
From sea level rise to bee populations, the agency’s wildlife and climate programs shed light on the world around us.
www.nrdc.org
3 31 72

Reposted by Gavin L. Foster, Kevin J. Anchukaitis, Juan Rocha

science.org
Science Magazine @science.org · 11d
Anticipating steep cuts to its budget, the National Center for Atmospheric Research, one of the world’s leading climate research centers, has laid off 29 employees and decided not to fill 21 vacant positions. https://scim.ag/46yaM9g
Renowned U.S. climate center trims staff ahead of expected budget cuts
NSF-funded National Center for Atmospheric Research is already shuttered during shutdown
scim.ag
1 38 48

Reposted by Kevin J. Anchukaitis

socialpixel.bsky.social
Beth Tellman @socialpixel.bsky.social · 12d
great writeup U Arizona did on my student Alex Saunders' new lead authored paper with @arbennett.bsky.social @thirstygecko.bsky.social @benamie.bsky.social + S. Islam, J. Giezendanner, S. Houssain news.arizona.edu/news/u-resea... paper here: agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/...
U of A researchers reveal the importance of data choice in effective flood insurance
After testing five sources of flood data, their analysis found that combining or comparing data could improve disaster response and recovery.
news.arizona.edu
1 4 14

Reposted by Kevin J. Anchukaitis

simonsfoundation.org
Simons Foundation @simonsfoundation.org · 12d
At our Presents event "Life on Earth Over Deep Time," microbiologist Arpita Bose and paleoclimatologist Jessica Tierney joined Quanta Magazine's Hannah Waters to discuss how life and climate have co-evolved across geologic time. #science #biology
Three people sit in front of a room Crowd sits in an auditorium Three people sit in front of an auditorium Three people stand and chat
1 6

Reposted by Richard S.J. Tol, Graeme S. Cumming, Stefan Rahmstorf , and 8 more

pyrogeog.bsky.social
Dr. Crystal A. Kolden @pyrogeog.bsky.social · 12d
Published today: our new paper showing a 44-year trend of increasing global wildfire disasters (fatalities and economic losses) due to climate change-induced extreme weather. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Climate-linked escalation of societally disastrous wildfires
Climate change and land mismanagement are creating increasingly fire-prone built and natural environments. However, despite worsening fire seasons, evidence is lacking globally for trends in socially ...
www.science.org
7 210 400

Reposted by Ben Bond‐Lamberty, Benjamin I. Cook, Kevin J. Anchukaitis , and 1 more

tessweiping.bsky.social
Tess Wei-Ping Jacobson @tessweiping.bsky.social · 12d
⚠️new(-ish) paper in Journal of Climate⚠️ i evaluated CMIP6 models' Pacific decadal SST variability and teleconnections... big takeaway is that models under-simulate temporal PDO/IPO variability on decadal timescales, likely affecting precip trends in the Southwest
journals.ametsoc.org/view/journal...
journals.ametsoc.org
6 10

Reposted by Benjamin I. Cook

thirstygecko.bsky.social
Kevin Anchukaitis @thirstygecko.bsky.social · 12d
Very cool work (with a very sobering result) led by Andy Jones (a paleoCAMP alumnus!) in Science Advances: 'Glaciers in California’s Sierra Nevada are likely disappearing for the first time in the Holocene' www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Glaciers in California’s Sierra Nevada are likely disappearing for the first time in the Holocene
The projected loss of glaciers in California’s Sierra Nevada is likely unprecedented in at least the past 30,000 years.
www.science.org
1 18 32

Reposted by Brian J. Enquist, Kevin J. Anchukaitis, Samantha Brennan , and 2 more

robertkelchen.com
Robert Kelchen @robertkelchen.com · 13d
Here is the full document that universities are being asked to sign. It's well worth your time to read.
5 40 52

Reposted by Anna O. Law, Lisa W. Fazio, Richard S.J. Tol , and 21 more

brendannyhan.bsky.social
Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 13d
Trump's higher ed ransom note is here - everyone would have to acquiesce to their unprecedented demands or not be "given priority for grants," plus they can demand "reimbursement" for "violations" www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...

A mechanism to enforce fealty. An attack on academic freedom and democracy
47 700 1.4K

Reposted by Kevin J. Anchukaitis, Richard Waite

zentouro.info
miriam nielsen @zentouro.info · 14d
this can't be good right?
screenshot of a NOAA webpage. the main text says: FACTS has been Discontinued
4 33 81

Reposted by Stephan Lewandowsky, Staffan I. Lindberg, Will Jennings , and 10 more

brendannyhan.bsky.social
Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 15d
An unprecedented violation of our civic and Constitutional traditions. Calling every military leader in the world back to the U.S. to hear a wildly inappropriate partisan campaign speech followed by a fascist call to use the military against Americans.
120 1.2K 3.2K

Reposted by Benjamin I. Cook

thirstygecko.bsky.social
Kevin Anchukaitis @thirstygecko.bsky.social · 15d
Disentangling climate and policy uncertainties for the Colorado River post-2026 operations www.nature.com/articles/s41... 'under existing policy, both reservoirs will face substantial risks (>80% likelihood) of reaching dead pool before 2060'
Disentangling climate and policy uncertainties for the Colorado River post-2026 operations - Nature Communications
Planning for the Colorado River is critical to secure water and hydropower for the western US under climate change. This study highlights how different policies may reduce but not eliminate the risk of losing water and energy supply altogether.
www.nature.com
1 9 23