Chris Mooney
@chriscmooney.bsky.social
Climate journalist, teacher, professor of practice @uvaenvironment.bsky.social. Former WaPo climate writer. Views are my own. For my latest work: https://reportearth.substack.com/
Pinned
1. We’re living through a very hot year (again). Right now, 2025 looks like it could come in as the 2nd or 3rd hottest year on record
Reposted by Chris Mooney
Flagstaff’s Lowell Observatory plans to cut nearly all its research funding and reduce the number of paid science staff to just two positions next year.
Lowell Observatory slashes research funding in the midst of financial struggle
Flagstaff’s Lowell Observatory plans to cut nearly all its research funding and reduce the number of paid science staff to just two positions next year.
buff.ly
November 10, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Flagstaff’s Lowell Observatory plans to cut nearly all its research funding and reduce the number of paid science staff to just two positions next year.
Reposted by Chris Mooney
Editors have a really hard job, and the good ones can make something unreadable readable, and the great ones can make something unreadable into something good. But they're basically invisible, until someone tries to write without one.
November 17, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Editors have a really hard job, and the good ones can make something unreadable readable, and the great ones can make something unreadable into something good. But they're basically invisible, until someone tries to write without one.
1. We’re living through a very hot year (again). Right now, 2025 looks like it could come in as the 2nd or 3rd hottest year on record
October 24, 2025 at 2:50 PM
1. We’re living through a very hot year (again). Right now, 2025 looks like it could come in as the 2nd or 3rd hottest year on record
Reposted by Chris Mooney
"...a journalist looking at data in search of a story has many advantages."
@chriscmooney.bsky.social, 2010 KSJ fellow and Pulitzer Prize-winning climate reporter, shares on his Substack how he digs through data to find narrative.
@chriscmooney.bsky.social, 2010 KSJ fellow and Pulitzer Prize-winning climate reporter, shares on his Substack how he digs through data to find narrative.
The powerful connection between data and story
Part one of a two part essay on realizing the full potential of data journalism.
substack.com
October 1, 2025 at 9:02 PM
"...a journalist looking at data in search of a story has many advantages."
@chriscmooney.bsky.social, 2010 KSJ fellow and Pulitzer Prize-winning climate reporter, shares on his Substack how he digs through data to find narrative.
@chriscmooney.bsky.social, 2010 KSJ fellow and Pulitzer Prize-winning climate reporter, shares on his Substack how he digs through data to find narrative.
My latest at Substack: If you understand how to work with data, it actually strengthens, in myriad ways, your ability to find and tell compelling journalistic stories
reportearth.substack.com/p/the-deep-c...
reportearth.substack.com/p/the-deep-c...
The powerful connection between data and story
Part one of a two part essay on realizing the full potential of data journalism.
reportearth.substack.com
September 29, 2025 at 4:52 PM
My latest at Substack: If you understand how to work with data, it actually strengthens, in myriad ways, your ability to find and tell compelling journalistic stories
reportearth.substack.com/p/the-deep-c...
reportearth.substack.com/p/the-deep-c...
Reposted by Chris Mooney
US to retire its only icebreaker, stranding polar research - new article posted today by @cuboulder. The icebreaker is critical for researchers who study the changes on the edges of Antarctic glaciers and how they relate to climate change and sea level rise. buff.ly/oMAElHY #antarctica #glaciers
September 18, 2025 at 1:47 PM
US to retire its only icebreaker, stranding polar research - new article posted today by @cuboulder. The icebreaker is critical for researchers who study the changes on the edges of Antarctic glaciers and how they relate to climate change and sea level rise. buff.ly/oMAElHY #antarctica #glaciers
It’s the beginning of the month, so I’ve got lots of newly updated charts. As well as a few new ones. They're all at the Chart Archive here, but here's a quick runthrough...
reportearth.substack.com/p/reporteart...
reportearth.substack.com/p/reporteart...
ReportEarth chart archive
Since I began this Substack in March, I've been making lots of charts. Now they can all live in one place.
reportearth.substack.com
September 5, 2025 at 5:07 PM
It’s the beginning of the month, so I’ve got lots of newly updated charts. As well as a few new ones. They're all at the Chart Archive here, but here's a quick runthrough...
reportearth.substack.com/p/reporteart...
reportearth.substack.com/p/reporteart...
Reposted by Chris Mooney
"It’s getting hotter, longer, more humid and more dangerous. Yet averages elide a complex reality: The country’s experience of hotter summers — and thus one of the most visceral aspects of climate change itself — is fractured along geographic lines."
More on the Central U.S. warming hole ⬇️
More on the Central U.S. warming hole ⬇️
The strange divide in how Americans experience summer temperatures | CNN
Average temperatures elide a complex reality: The country’s experience of hotter summers — and thus one of the most visceral aspects of climate change itself — is fractured along geographic lines.
www.cnn.com
August 19, 2025 at 2:52 PM
"It’s getting hotter, longer, more humid and more dangerous. Yet averages elide a complex reality: The country’s experience of hotter summers — and thus one of the most visceral aspects of climate change itself — is fractured along geographic lines."
More on the Central U.S. warming hole ⬇️
More on the Central U.S. warming hole ⬇️
Reposted by Chris Mooney
The hottest stretch of the year is expanding beyond any calendar definition of summer. See how much longer summer temperatures last where you live wapo.st/4mtyZmx
Is summer getting longer where you live? See how temperatures changed.
The hottest stretch of the year is expanding beyond any calendar definition of summer. See what regions are experiencing the biggest change.
wapo.st
August 25, 2025 at 4:29 PM
The hottest stretch of the year is expanding beyond any calendar definition of summer. See how much longer summer temperatures last where you live wapo.st/4mtyZmx
Reposted by Chris Mooney
On @cnn.com , Practitioner Fellow @chriscmooney.bsky.social writes about about the warming hole:
"Summer is behaving very erratically as the country warms, with large changes in some regions, especially the West, and very muted ones in the central and southeast US."
www.cnn.com/2025/08/19/c...
"Summer is behaving very erratically as the country warms, with large changes in some regions, especially the West, and very muted ones in the central and southeast US."
www.cnn.com/2025/08/19/c...
The strange divide in how Americans experience summer temperatures | CNN
Average temperatures elide a complex reality: The country’s experience of hotter summers — and thus one of the most visceral aspects of climate change itself — is fractured along geographic lines.
www.cnn.com
August 26, 2025 at 4:26 PM
On @cnn.com , Practitioner Fellow @chriscmooney.bsky.social writes about about the warming hole:
"Summer is behaving very erratically as the country warms, with large changes in some regions, especially the West, and very muted ones in the central and southeast US."
www.cnn.com/2025/08/19/c...
"Summer is behaving very erratically as the country warms, with large changes in some regions, especially the West, and very muted ones in the central and southeast US."
www.cnn.com/2025/08/19/c...
Reposted by Chris Mooney
Alaska was lucky to avoid disaster after a landslide and tsunami. What about next time?
Alaska was lucky to avoid disaster after a landslide and tsunami. What about next time?
The close call in Tracy Arm 50 miles south of Juneau on 10 August is the latest sign that as glaciers melt, risks may rise
www.theguardian.com
August 23, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Alaska was lucky to avoid disaster after a landslide and tsunami. What about next time?
Reposted by Chris Mooney
Total estimated Canada #wildfire emissions to end July already marking 2025 as 3rd most extreme year in #CopernicusAtmosphere GFAS dataset. Most extreme year for Saskatchewan & Manitoba with no sign of the number of fires reducing across the country. Read our @copernicusecmwf.bsky.social summary ⬇️
August 2, 2025 at 9:44 AM
Total estimated Canada #wildfire emissions to end July already marking 2025 as 3rd most extreme year in #CopernicusAtmosphere GFAS dataset. Most extreme year for Saskatchewan & Manitoba with no sign of the number of fires reducing across the country. Read our @copernicusecmwf.bsky.social summary ⬇️
Reposted by Chris Mooney
“I’m already at risk of losing my job, and I’d rather speak out and try to save something at NASA, rather than just hide under my desk until I get laid off." NASA employees sign public letter protesting cuts. Story by @kchang.bsky.social Gift link: nyti.ms/45fBYca
Hundreds of NASA Employees Condemn Trump Administration Cuts in Public Letter
The signatories of the “Voyager Declaration” warned the space agency’s leadership about the consequences of major budget cuts that would halt many science missions.
nyti.ms
July 22, 2025 at 3:35 PM
“I’m already at risk of losing my job, and I’d rather speak out and try to save something at NASA, rather than just hide under my desk until I get laid off." NASA employees sign public letter protesting cuts. Story by @kchang.bsky.social Gift link: nyti.ms/45fBYca
Reposted by Chris Mooney
E.P.A. Says It Will Eliminate Its Scientific Research Arm nyti.ms/46jxy50 3/4
E.P.A. Says It Will Eliminate Its Scientific Research Arm
The decision comes after a Supreme Court ruling allowing the Trump administration to slash the federal work force and dismantle agencies.
nyti.ms
July 19, 2025 at 5:44 PM
E.P.A. Says It Will Eliminate Its Scientific Research Arm nyti.ms/46jxy50 3/4
Reposted by Chris Mooney
In 2023, astronomers detected a cosmic blast so powerful it released more energy than ALL THE STARS IN THE UNIVERSE COMBINED. The cause: two black holes colliding and merging… which is a problem, because they were way bigger than we thought possible.
badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/the-bigges...
🧪🔭
badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/the-bigges...
🧪🔭
The biggest black hole merger ever detected so far rocked the Universe
The gravitational waves they emitted were fiercely powerful, but where did the black holes come from?
badastronomy.beehiiv.com
July 14, 2025 at 2:49 PM
In 2023, astronomers detected a cosmic blast so powerful it released more energy than ALL THE STARS IN THE UNIVERSE COMBINED. The cause: two black holes colliding and merging… which is a problem, because they were way bigger than we thought possible.
badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/the-bigges...
🧪🔭
badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/the-bigges...
🧪🔭
Reposted by Chris Mooney
Total estimated emissions from Canadian #wildfires continue to increase rapidly with 2025 already 3rd highest year, after 2023 & 2024, as of 13 July. #CopernicusAtmosphere GFAS data based on MODIS🛰️ active fire obs ads.atmosphere.copernicus.eu/datasets/cam... @copernicusecmwf.bsky.social @ecmwf.int
July 14, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Total estimated emissions from Canadian #wildfires continue to increase rapidly with 2025 already 3rd highest year, after 2023 & 2024, as of 13 July. #CopernicusAtmosphere GFAS data based on MODIS🛰️ active fire obs ads.atmosphere.copernicus.eu/datasets/cam... @copernicusecmwf.bsky.social @ecmwf.int
1/ I’ve updated my newspaper jobs graphic with the latest data from the BLS.
July 8, 2025 at 4:45 PM
1/ I’ve updated my newspaper jobs graphic with the latest data from the BLS.
Reposted by Chris Mooney
Hurricane forecasters and scientists rely on weather data collected and processed by Department of Defense satellites. The Navy has decided to stop sharing the data.
Defense Department will stop providing crucial satellite weather data
Hurricane forecasters and scientists rely on weather data collected and processed by Department of Defense satellites. The Navy has decided to stop sharing the data.
n.pr
July 5, 2025 at 10:18 PM
Hurricane forecasters and scientists rely on weather data collected and processed by Department of Defense satellites. The Navy has decided to stop sharing the data.
Reposted by Chris Mooney
As the death toll climbs in the wake of the Texas floods, lots of finger-pointing re: the NWS' forecasts and warnings. The bottom line: An agency reeling from cuts still issued timely outlooks & warnings. Lots of ?s though (1/2) www.cnn.com/2025/07/05/c...
Beleaguered Weather Service defends its forecasts as Texas officials point fingers over flood warnings | CNN
Texas forecasters issued a series of early-morning warnings about “life-threatening flooding” along the Guadalupe River.
www.cnn.com
July 6, 2025 at 1:27 AM
As the death toll climbs in the wake of the Texas floods, lots of finger-pointing re: the NWS' forecasts and warnings. The bottom line: An agency reeling from cuts still issued timely outlooks & warnings. Lots of ?s though (1/2) www.cnn.com/2025/07/05/c...
Reposted by Chris Mooney
Breaking News: The death toll in the Texas floods rose to at least 27 people, including nine children. More than two dozen girls were missing from a camp on the Guadalupe River, and it is unclear how many more people are unaccounted for. Follow live updates.
Texas Flooding Updates: Rescuers Search for Survivors and Victims After 27 Killed
The death toll included nine children. More than two dozen girls were missing from a camp on the Guadalupe River, and it is unclear how many more people are unaccounted for.
trib.al
July 5, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Breaking News: The death toll in the Texas floods rose to at least 27 people, including nine children. More than two dozen girls were missing from a camp on the Guadalupe River, and it is unclear how many more people are unaccounted for. Follow live updates.
Reposted by Chris Mooney
There have been claims that NOAA/NWS did not foresee catastrophic TX floods--but that's simply not true. This was undoubtedly an extreme event, but messaging rapidly escalated beginning ~12 hrs prior. Flood Watch mid PM, "heads up" outlook late PM, flash flood warnings ~1am.
WPC issued as many as six MPDs for the deadly flash flooding in the TX Hill Country starting yesterday evening and lasting through much of today. The first MPD generally set the stage for what was to come, while the next three shown were as the event unfolded.
July 5, 2025 at 3:50 PM
There have been claims that NOAA/NWS did not foresee catastrophic TX floods--but that's simply not true. This was undoubtedly an extreme event, but messaging rapidly escalated beginning ~12 hrs prior. Flood Watch mid PM, "heads up" outlook late PM, flash flood warnings ~1am.
Reposted by Chris Mooney
A wildfire in California’s San Luis Obispo County rapidly expanded overnight and was covering about 70,800 acres by Friday morning, prompting evacuation orders, closing part of a highway and sending smoke billowing into neighboring counties. It is the biggest wildfire the state has seen this year.
Madre Fire Grows to 70,800 Acres, Prompting Evacuations in California
The blaze is burning in a rural area of San Luis Obispo County, in the central coast, but its smoke has spread to nearby counties.
trib.al
July 4, 2025 at 10:19 PM
A wildfire in California’s San Luis Obispo County rapidly expanded overnight and was covering about 70,800 acres by Friday morning, prompting evacuation orders, closing part of a highway and sending smoke billowing into neighboring counties. It is the biggest wildfire the state has seen this year.
Reposted by Chris Mooney
Expect lots of fire activity in central Manitoba and NWRN Ontario over the next week. Lots of out-of-control fires in the region (red and purple dots below), some active already today (GOES-East 3.9 micron band - white & red active fires) and the prec. forecast has little to no rain in the region.
July 4, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Expect lots of fire activity in central Manitoba and NWRN Ontario over the next week. Lots of out-of-control fires in the region (red and purple dots below), some active already today (GOES-East 3.9 micron band - white & red active fires) and the prec. forecast has little to no rain in the region.
Glacial ice losses have been really fast lately in the western U.S. and Canada. A surprising factor may be wildfires. My latest on Substack
Dramatic ice loss from U.S. and western Canadian glaciers
It’s not just the heat. It may also be the wildfires.
reportearth.substack.com
July 4, 2025 at 1:10 PM
Glacial ice losses have been really fast lately in the western U.S. and Canada. A surprising factor may be wildfires. My latest on Substack
Reposted by Chris Mooney
Increase in total estimated emissions from Canadian #wildfires slowed through 2nd half of June but 2025 already a quite extreme year with continuing fires + two months of summer to come. #CopernicusAtmosphere GFAS data based on MODIS🛰️ active fire obs ads.atmosphere.copernicus.eu/datasets/cam...
July 1, 2025 at 8:11 PM
Increase in total estimated emissions from Canadian #wildfires slowed through 2nd half of June but 2025 already a quite extreme year with continuing fires + two months of summer to come. #CopernicusAtmosphere GFAS data based on MODIS🛰️ active fire obs ads.atmosphere.copernicus.eu/datasets/cam...