Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Kelly Rigg

Chris Bataille @chrisbataille.bsky.social · 9h

This is the quiet, but slowly getting louder horror story taking place across the northern hemisphere

Kees van der Leun @sustainable2050.bsky.social · 20h

Netherlands Scientific Climate Council warns: under pressure from climate change, forests and soils are now taking up less CO2 from the atmosphere, accelerating climate change.
www.wkr.nl/adviezen/ove...

Graph showing diminishing uptake of CO2 by global forests, from around 9Gt/year in the beginning of this century to around 2 Gt/year now

22 32

Reposted by Kelly Rigg

Ryan Marino, MD @ryanmarino.bsky.social · 1d

Warming waters cause corals to “bleach” when these organisms expel symbiotic algae that provide nutrients, oxygen & vibrant colors.

The latest global bleaching event - researchers estimate >84% of the planet's coral ecosystems have been affected since Jan 2023 - has made it clear the crisis is now.

nature

NEWS

12 October 2025

Coral die-off marks Earth's first climate
'tipping point', scientists say

A surge in global temperatures has caused widespread bleaching and death of warm-water corals around the world.

By Jeff Tollefson

31 680 1.5K

Reposted by Kelly Rigg

PIK_climate @pik-potsdam.bsky.social · 1d

160 scientists, 23 countries, 1 report: The Global Tipping Points Report 2025, together with @exeter.ac.uk, highlights mounting risks across Earth’s systems, from melting glaciers & ice fields to slowing ocean currents, ice sheets & rainforests under pressure. Watch now👇
👉global-tipping-points.org

16 220 450

Reposted by Kelly Rigg

Dr. Aaron Thierry @thierryaaron.bsky.social · 2d

“We have more & more evidence for tipping points in all these different systems” warns @pik-potsdam.bsky.social scientist Sina Loriani...“There is an increasing risk that we kick off feedback loops that amplify & accelerate changes in the Earth system”

#ClimateEmergency

PIK_climate @pik-potsdam.bsky.social · 2d

Bleaching, Melting, Slowing: New Global Tipping Points report tracks growing risks of Earth system tipping points. It highlights mounting risks, from melting glaciers, ice fields to slowing ocean currents, ice sheets & rainforests under pressure.
www.pik-potsdam.de/en/news/late...

3 13 54

Kelly Rigg @kellyrigg.bsky.social · 2d

Planet’s first catastrophic climate tipping point reached, report says, with coral reefs facing ‘widespread dieback’

"Unless global heating is reduced to 1.2C ‘as fast as possible’, warm water coral reefs will not remain ‘at any meaningful scale’"

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Planet’s first catastrophic climate tipping point reached, report says, with coral reefs facing ‘widespread dieback’

Unless global heating is reduced to 1.2C ‘as fast as possible’, warm water coral reefs will not remain ‘at any meaningful scale’, a report by 160 scientists from 23 countries warns

www.theguardian.com

Kelly Rigg @kellyrigg.bsky.social · 2d

"As US political forces are working against the energy transition, economics are propelling it forward globally. Other countries are pivoting to solar and wind because dramatic price reductions have made them the cheapest options"

Should be a no-brainer, but I guess that explains it
wapo.st/47a1O15

The real winners of Trump’s attack on clean energy aren’t American

U.S. politics are undercutting clean energy at the same time economics are propelling it forward globally. Can the U.S. afford to sit this out?

wapo.st

1 3

Reposted by Kelly Rigg

RMontpellier - Climate Senior @climatesenior.bsky.social · 9d

"there are sobering signs that the world continues to warm, leading to devastating effects for millions of people."
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/01/w...

Pope Leo Calls for Unity on Climate at a Divided Moment

www.nytimes.com

4 7

Reposted by Kelly Rigg

Laura Prochnow Phillips @laurahooq.bsky.social · 13d

If you are interested in the climate crisis and how to prepare yourself, you need to be listening to, reading, and following Alex Steffen. This thread is a great place to start.
@alexsteffen.bsky.social

Alex Steffen @alexsteffen.bsky.social · 13d

I wrote this a year ago. It stands up pretty well.

In the year since, tho, I think we may have crossed a threshold of inability—as societies and individuals—to fully meet the climate crisis.

Understanding what's changing will help you make better decisions under accelerating climate pressures.

🧵1

Alex Steffen @alexsteffen.bsky.social · Sep 30

Climate chaos is coming for us.

Some places face bigger risks than others, but no matter where we live, we're gonna struggle to adapt to events like nothing we've seen before.

I'm a climate futurist.

Let me level with you about what this means.
🧵
(Img:OldMarshallJailHotel)

3 6

Reposted by Kelly Rigg

Melaine Le Roy @subfossilguy.bsky.social · 14d

The anthropogenic glacier collapse currently underway in the Alps has resulted in the disappearance of >1000 small glaciers! 😱🔥

Following the release of Swiss glacier loss numbers today, let me introduce you the now extinct Vadret da Triazza (Eastern Switzerland) ✝️

Via @matthias-huss.bsky.social

4 100 210

Reposted by Kelly Rigg

John H @jhocevar.bsky.social · 14d

The Montreal Protocol (which regulates HFCs) is a clear example of when govts listened to scientists (despite opposition from industry at the time) and very good things happened as a result. Enter Trump, as usual, to fart in the elevator and tell us it’s perfume.

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · 14d

Trump administration wants to roll back regulations on HFCs (very potent greenhouse gases) OVER THE OBJECTIONS OF THE APPLIANCE INDUSTRY.

Here’s why one industry is worried about Trump’s latest climate rollback

The Environmental Protection Agency announced Tuesday that it would rewrite a Biden-era rule aimed at limiting hydrofluorocarbons, a potent greenhouse gas.

wapo.st

1 1

Kelly Rigg @kellyrigg.bsky.social · 19d

As usual, no one mentions that fossil fuels are heavly subsidised. Level the playing field my ass.

wapo.st/4nPFQqQ

Why the White House is abandoning solar

President Trump and Energy Secretary Chris Wright insist that solar power will never be a reliable source of energy.

wapo.st

1 3

Reposted by Kelly Rigg

James Murray @james-bg.bsky.social · 20d

Yet more evidence that corporate backing for net zero remains remarkably robust.
www.businessgreen.com/news/4519518...

Global poll points to growing corporate investment in net zero and nature goals

Evidence of increasing appetite among top corporates worldwide to invest in climate and nature action continues to mount

www.businessgreen.com

2 5

Reposted by Kelly Rigg

David Wallace-Wells @dwallacewells.bsky.social · 20d

When I say the US has bet its post-pandemic economy on AI while China has bet its on green energy, this is what I mean: Here, AI related companies account for 75% of S&P 500 returns since ChatGPT's launch. In China, green tech accounts for one quarter of GDP growth.

19 240 720

Kelly Rigg @kellyrigg.bsky.social · 21d

“It’s sobering. And it’s unexpected, not because impacts will be increasing—that is not surprising—but because they will be increasing so much, so fast"

The World’s Oceans Are Hurtling Toward Breaking Point

Climate change, pollution, and fishing are pushing oceans closer to their limits at an unprecedented rate. The pressure of that human impact is expected to double by 2050, according to a new study.

www.wired.com

3 2

Reposted by Kelly Rigg

Michael Liebreich @mliebreich.bsky.social · 21d

America: Renewable energy doesn't work.

China: Hold my baijiu.

Richard Loyen @richardloyen.bsky.social · 21d

Projet 🇨🇳 de photovoltaïque en mer de 1,8 GW dans la province de Hebei. Un investissement total de 2,2 milliards de $ pour générer environ 2,75 TWh / an, 18 mois prévus entre le début des travaux et le raccordement au réseau ⚡️ à l'été 2026 👌

3 16 52

Reposted by Kelly Rigg

Prof. Stefan Rahmstorf @rahmstorf.bsky.social · 21d

What Trump said are the well-worn and often rebutted lies of the fossil fuel lobby, whose lies are the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world.
If you hear such climate science denial tropes, the answers to all of those can be found at skepticalscience.com

4 120 260

Reposted by Kelly Rigg

Rep. Mike Thompson @mikethompson.house.gov · Sep 2

Thanks to the President and Congressional Republicans’ decision to gut the clean energy tax credits I wrote, $14 billion in clean energy projects have already been canceled or delayed. America should be leading the clean energy future, not turning our back to it and ceding leadership to China.

$14 billion in clean energy projects have been canceled in the US this year, analysis says

A new analysis finds that more than $14 billion in clean energy projects in the U.S. have been canceled this year.

apnews.com

16 270 740

Reposted by Kelly Rigg

Axios @axios.com · Sep 2

Dozens of scientists today released a rebuttal of the Energy Department's climate report, saying it was riddled with errors.

Scientists call Energy Department climate report riddled with errors

The scientists' rebuttal could surface in litigation.

www.axios.com

14 160 390

Reposted by Kelly Rigg

Dr Paul Dorfman @drpauldorfman.bsky.social · Aug 31

Scientists breathe new life into #climate website after shutdown under Trump death cult.
Climate.gov, which went dark this summer, to be revived by volunteers as climate.us with expanded mission.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Climate

NOAA experts provide data, tools and information to help people understand, prepare for and adapt to our changing climate.

Climate.gov

1 39 74

Reposted by Kelly Rigg

Kees van der Leun @sustainable2050.bsky.social · Aug 28

More bad news on AMOC: "I used to say that the chance of Amoc collapsing as a result of global warming was less than 10%”, said Prof @rahmstorf.bsky.social “Now even in a low-emission scenario, sticking to the Paris agreement, it looks like more like 25%."
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Collapse of critical Atlantic current is no longer low-likelihood, study finds

Scientists say ‘shocking’ discovery shows rapid cuts in carbon emissions are needed to avoid catastrophic fallout

www.theguardian.com

3 30 54

Reposted by Kelly Rigg

Prof. Stefan Rahmstorf @rahmstorf.bsky.social · Aug 29

Here is a reminder that already last year 44 experts directed a powerful warning to policy makers about the risk of #AMOC shutdown. What more can we do to get heard?
It’s like the saying that every disaster movie starts with scientists warning and being ignored.

Prof. Stefan Rahmstorf @rahmstorf.bsky.social · Oct 20

44 experts from 15 countries issued a stark warning about the dangers of crossing an ocean circulation tipping point. I had the honor to present it to the Icelandic 🇮🇸 climate minister Guðlaugur Þór Þórðarson yesterday. #AMOC
Full letter with signatories: en.vedur.is/media/ads_in...

13 140 320

Reposted by Kelly Rigg

Prof. Stefan Rahmstorf @rahmstorf.bsky.social · Aug 28

The Guardian on our study published today:

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Collapse of critical Atlantic current is no longer low-likelihood, study finds

Scientists say ‘shocking’ discovery shows rapid cuts in carbon emissions are needed to avoid catastrophic fallout

www.theguardian.com

16 290 590

Reposted by Kelly Rigg

Prof. Stefan Rahmstorf @rahmstorf.bsky.social · Oct 25

The risk of an #AMOC shutdown - explained in 15 minutes at the Arctic Circle in Reykjavik on Saturday.
I had the honor of presenting a letter by 44 experts warning of that underestimated risk to the Icelandic 🇮🇸 climate minister Guðlaugur Þór Þórðarson.
youtu.be/k0FUZKQhU6U?...

Is the AMOC Shutting Down? - Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation

YouTube video by Arctic Circle

youtu.be

6 140 280

Reposted by Kelly Rigg

Jill Lawrence @jilldlawrence.bsky.social · Jul 17

So much for trying to compete with China, keep our economy on track and preserve the planet for our kids. Trump did this, and he didn't do it alone. This Republican Congress is a historic disgrace.

Jay Kuo @nycjayjay.bsky.social · Jul 17

Destroying the U.S. renewable energy sector in favor of fossil fuel production, thanks to the GOP budget bill. Such an idiotic self own.

27 250 630

Reposted by Kelly Rigg

Kees van der Leun @sustainable2050.bsky.social · Jul 11

Turns out that everyone in the Netherlands has more PFAS 'forever chemicals' in their blood than the health limit - test on 2016-2017 blood samples. nos.nl/l/2573446

RIVM: bijna iedereen in Nederland heeft te veel PFAS in bloed

De effecten zijn afhankelijk van de hoeveelheid PFAS, de duur van de blootstelling en iemands persoonlijke gezondheidssituatie, zegt het instituut.

nos.nl

6 24 55