James P. Collins
@jpcollins.me
UNC Planning PhD candidate studying geographies of climate risk and (im)mobility — jpcollins.me
Pinned
James P. Collins
@jpcollins.me
· Nov 16
Chronic coastal flooding tolerance in rural North Carolina
We asked rural communities how they are dealing with chronic flooding from changes in tides, wind, and rainfall.
sunny-day-flooding-project.github.io
hi new folks!
I’m a PhD student at UNC Chapel Hill planning studying climate adaptation, (non)migration, and well-being. ⚠️🧪🏡
My current project describes built and behavioral adaptations in rural communities facing chronic coastal flooding. sunny-day-flooding-project.github.io/carteret-flo...
I’m a PhD student at UNC Chapel Hill planning studying climate adaptation, (non)migration, and well-being. ⚠️🧪🏡
My current project describes built and behavioral adaptations in rural communities facing chronic coastal flooding. sunny-day-flooding-project.github.io/carteret-flo...
Reposted by James P. Collins
This is wild!
Seven-day-ahead weather forecasts in high-income countries are more accurate than one-day-ahead weather forecasts in low-income countries.
Seven-day-ahead weather forecasts in high-income countries are more accurate than one-day-ahead weather forecasts in low-income countries.
November 25, 2025 at 9:07 PM
This is wild!
Seven-day-ahead weather forecasts in high-income countries are more accurate than one-day-ahead weather forecasts in low-income countries.
Seven-day-ahead weather forecasts in high-income countries are more accurate than one-day-ahead weather forecasts in low-income countries.
As Thanksgiving nears, US Dept of Labor is attempting to reduce migrant farmworker wages up to $7/hr. Workers will lose $2.46 B annually in wages. Public comment period open a few more days. @ufw.bsky.social has made it super easy to support workers at link (plus short background 🧵)
Take action to stop Trump Admin’s H2A proposal which could slash wages for farm workers
Comment period ends December 1: Sign on to stop Trump Admin’s H2A wage changes.
Sign on today and say “NO” to slashing wages for farm workers. #WeFeedYou
act.seiu.org
November 26, 2025 at 12:20 AM
As Thanksgiving nears, US Dept of Labor is attempting to reduce migrant farmworker wages up to $7/hr. Workers will lose $2.46 B annually in wages. Public comment period open a few more days. @ufw.bsky.social has made it super easy to support workers at link (plus short background 🧵)
Reposted by James P. Collins
"If this economy continues on like it is for another year, yeah, for sure, we're going to have a lot of foreclosures"...
Really good piece by @npr.org:
www.npr.org/2025/11/17/n...
Really good piece by @npr.org:
www.npr.org/2025/11/17/n...
Disaster and insurance costs are rising. The middle class is struggling to hang on
Middle-class families are struggling to afford insurance in southwest Florida. Realtors say a wave of foreclosures could be coming.
www.npr.org
November 18, 2025 at 11:06 AM
"If this economy continues on like it is for another year, yeah, for sure, we're going to have a lot of foreclosures"...
Really good piece by @npr.org:
www.npr.org/2025/11/17/n...
Really good piece by @npr.org:
www.npr.org/2025/11/17/n...
Reposted by James P. Collins
#Scientists are increasingly urged to engage with #policymakers & the public about climate change. What works best? Based on 28 interviews Murunga et al. outline 7 strategies & 6 attributes that support engagement, eg, discussion summaries & respect for alternative viewpoints doi.org/10.1016/j.ma...
November 17, 2025 at 2:03 PM
#Scientists are increasingly urged to engage with #policymakers & the public about climate change. What works best? Based on 28 interviews Murunga et al. outline 7 strategies & 6 attributes that support engagement, eg, discussion summaries & respect for alternative viewpoints doi.org/10.1016/j.ma...
Reposted by James P. Collins
Funding alert: @grist.org is offering grants of up to $5,000 for reporting on rural climate issues and environmental justice in the United States. Newsrooms and freelancers are welcome to apply. Please share! grist.org/updates/gris...
Grist opens applications for new rural reporting grants on climate and environmental justice
Applicants can request up to $5,000 per project.
grist.org
November 11, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Funding alert: @grist.org is offering grants of up to $5,000 for reporting on rural climate issues and environmental justice in the United States. Newsrooms and freelancers are welcome to apply. Please share! grist.org/updates/gris...
Reposted by James P. Collins
Are you researching climate change, human mobility, and housing? If so, join us in Nola (January) for "Multiplied Displacements: The Climate-Housing Nexus" (free registration & some travel funding available) w/ @uoftcities.bsky.social & @buoncities.bsky.social architecture.tulane.edu/events/multi...
October 29, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Are you researching climate change, human mobility, and housing? If so, join us in Nola (January) for "Multiplied Displacements: The Climate-Housing Nexus" (free registration & some travel funding available) w/ @uoftcities.bsky.social & @buoncities.bsky.social architecture.tulane.edu/events/multi...
Reposted by James P. Collins
For so long, fossil fuel projects have said their contribution to climate change is "negligible".
Turns out that's wrong.
Our research in NPJ Climate Action proves it.
Every tonne of CO2 matters.
@21stcenturyweather.bsky.social
@minderoo.bsky.social
#climatechange
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Turns out that's wrong.
Our research in NPJ Climate Action proves it.
Every tonne of CO2 matters.
@21stcenturyweather.bsky.social
@minderoo.bsky.social
#climatechange
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Quantifying the regional to global climate impacts of individual fossil fuel projects to inform decision-making - npj Climate Action
npj Climate Action - Quantifying the regional to global climate impacts of individual fossil fuel projects to inform decision-making
www.nature.com
October 13, 2025 at 10:07 AM
For so long, fossil fuel projects have said their contribution to climate change is "negligible".
Turns out that's wrong.
Our research in NPJ Climate Action proves it.
Every tonne of CO2 matters.
@21stcenturyweather.bsky.social
@minderoo.bsky.social
#climatechange
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Turns out that's wrong.
Our research in NPJ Climate Action proves it.
Every tonne of CO2 matters.
@21stcenturyweather.bsky.social
@minderoo.bsky.social
#climatechange
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Reposted by James P. Collins
For the West Coast crowd this converts to 53 miles per burrito.
This baby gets 65 miles per cheesecake slice
September 15, 2025 at 7:44 PM
For the West Coast crowd this converts to 53 miles per burrito.
Reposted by James P. Collins
Reposted by James P. Collins
“For us, it was quite clear that climate change does impact our basic human rights."
For the NYT Magazine's climate issue, I wrote about a group of law students from the South Pacific whose clarity and tenacity helped reshape international law
gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/09/10/m...
For the NYT Magazine's climate issue, I wrote about a group of law students from the South Pacific whose clarity and tenacity helped reshape international law
gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/09/10/m...
How a Group of Students in the Pacific Islands Reshaped Global Climate Law
www.nytimes.com
September 10, 2025 at 4:34 PM
“For us, it was quite clear that climate change does impact our basic human rights."
For the NYT Magazine's climate issue, I wrote about a group of law students from the South Pacific whose clarity and tenacity helped reshape international law
gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/09/10/m...
For the NYT Magazine's climate issue, I wrote about a group of law students from the South Pacific whose clarity and tenacity helped reshape international law
gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/09/10/m...
Reposted by James P. Collins
🚨 Important paper in Nature: "Systematic attribution of heatwaves to the emissions of carbon majors".
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Systematic attribution of heatwaves to the emissions of carbon majors - Nature
Climate change made 213 historical heatwaves reported over 2000–2023 more likely and more intense, to which each of the 180 carbon majors (fossil fuel and cement producers) substantially contributed.
www.nature.com
September 10, 2025 at 5:41 PM
🚨 Important paper in Nature: "Systematic attribution of heatwaves to the emissions of carbon majors".
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by James P. Collins
Our lab at Yale literally studies government suppression of outbreak reporting. Please: don't promote unverifiable reports from anonymous accounts. They're very likely to be false, and it boosts unreliable actors. (If this is happening, I suspect CDC sources know how to text a journalist just fine.)
September 6, 2025 at 6:48 PM
Our lab at Yale literally studies government suppression of outbreak reporting. Please: don't promote unverifiable reports from anonymous accounts. They're very likely to be false, and it boosts unreliable actors. (If this is happening, I suspect CDC sources know how to text a journalist just fine.)
Reposted by James P. Collins
The idea that insurance premiums are a good way to mitigate climate risk to housing is a common misconception that, unfortunately, can obscure real solutions to the risks of climate change and perpetuate existing inequities.
Why is that? Well...
1/8
Why is that? Well...
1/8
There is a VERY strong reason to think that moving from private to public insurance will lead to political pressure that keeps premiums artificially low and incentivizes building in the riskiest areas. (See federal flood insurance)
August 29, 2025 at 7:15 PM
The idea that insurance premiums are a good way to mitigate climate risk to housing is a common misconception that, unfortunately, can obscure real solutions to the risks of climate change and perpetuate existing inequities.
Why is that? Well...
1/8
Why is that? Well...
1/8
Reposted by James P. Collins
Seminal paper published by Althoff et al. in Nature last week.
"...moving from a less walkable (25th percentile) city to a more walkable city (75th percentile) increased walking by 1,100 daily steps, on average."
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
"...moving from a less walkable (25th percentile) city to a more walkable city (75th percentile) increased walking by 1,100 daily steps, on average."
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Countrywide natural experiment links built environment to physical activity - Nature
By analysing the smartphone data of 2,112,288 participants, in particular observing and comparing the activity of the same individual in two different environments, we find that increases in the walka...
www.nature.com
August 19, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Seminal paper published by Althoff et al. in Nature last week.
"...moving from a less walkable (25th percentile) city to a more walkable city (75th percentile) increased walking by 1,100 daily steps, on average."
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
"...moving from a less walkable (25th percentile) city to a more walkable city (75th percentile) increased walking by 1,100 daily steps, on average."
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
concise and informative. many deferred investments. no immediate substitute.
If you think I've forgotten about the hurricane satellites, think again. The Navy is permanently unplugging them this week, on the brink of the busiest stretch of the season. There's so much more to this story, and I have the latest scoop. ⬇️
Navy Set to Unplug Critical Hurricane Satellites this Week
Abrupt termination of satellite data by U.S. Department of Defense sends forecasters scrambling for a fix on the brink of the busiest stretch of the hurricane season
michaelrlowry.substack.com
July 29, 2025 at 1:41 PM
concise and informative. many deferred investments. no immediate substitute.
Reposted by James P. Collins
🎙️ New podcast episode of America Adapts!
Inside the MR2025 Conference:
→ Climate mobility
→ Managed retreat
→ Real estate + risk
→ A global call from 🇨🇷 Pres. Carlos Alvarado
Retreat isn’t failure—it’s adaptation.
🎧 Listen!
Inside the MR2025 Conference:
→ Climate mobility
→ Managed retreat
→ Real estate + risk
→ A global call from 🇨🇷 Pres. Carlos Alvarado
Retreat isn’t failure—it’s adaptation.
🎧 Listen!
Inside the MR2025 Conference: Planning for Adaptation, Mobility and Relocation in a Warming World — AMERICA ADAPTS The Climate Change Podcast
Inside the MR2025 Conference: Planning for Adaptation, Mobility and Relocation in a Warming World. Ep. 233.
www.americaadapts.org
July 23, 2025 at 2:51 PM
🎙️ New podcast episode of America Adapts!
Inside the MR2025 Conference:
→ Climate mobility
→ Managed retreat
→ Real estate + risk
→ A global call from 🇨🇷 Pres. Carlos Alvarado
Retreat isn’t failure—it’s adaptation.
🎧 Listen!
Inside the MR2025 Conference:
→ Climate mobility
→ Managed retreat
→ Real estate + risk
→ A global call from 🇨🇷 Pres. Carlos Alvarado
Retreat isn’t failure—it’s adaptation.
🎧 Listen!
feeling the value of local archives and community history. also, in this history, that a longtime resident tried to directly guide new development away from hazard
In a 2000 oral history, one Kerr County resident remembered when his father, in 1959, tried to warn a new resident about building a house close to the river.
“It’s going to surprise newcomers when we get another flood like the ’32 flood," he said.
By @loganjaffe.bsky.social
“It’s going to surprise newcomers when we get another flood like the ’32 flood," he said.
By @loganjaffe.bsky.social
Texas Officials Say They Didn’t See the Flood Coming. Oral Histories Show Residents Have Long Warned of Risks.
After a tragedy, records from local archives can help us understand how a community understands itself. Here’s some of what we learned following the devastating July 4 flooding in Texas.
www.propublica.org
July 19, 2025 at 4:54 PM
feeling the value of local archives and community history. also, in this history, that a longtime resident tried to directly guide new development away from hazard
great new work led by my colleague Helena. over twenty years of building damage from #flooding mapped in eastern NC. repetitive flooding more common than previously thought. methods could be applied nationally. 🧪⚠️
Check out our new paper in Earth’s Future!
We mapped 78 flood events in eastern NC from 1996-2020 and found flooding (& repeat flooding) is more common than we previously thought.
Paper: agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/...
Data (NC-FLDEX): dataverse.unc.edu/dataset.xhtm...
We mapped 78 flood events in eastern NC from 1996-2020 and found flooding (& repeat flooding) is more common than we previously thought.
Paper: agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/...
Data (NC-FLDEX): dataverse.unc.edu/dataset.xhtm...
agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
July 16, 2025 at 11:29 AM
great new work led by my colleague Helena. over twenty years of building damage from #flooding mapped in eastern NC. repetitive flooding more common than previously thought. methods could be applied nationally. 🧪⚠️
Reposted by James P. Collins
As this week's heatwave bears down on parts of the US, important to highlight many households in heat-exposed areas either 1. don't have air conditioning, or 2. can't afford to run their ACs.
E.g., in NYC ~10% of households don't have AC. In contrast to...(1/2)
a816-dohbesp.nyc.gov/IndicatorPub...
E.g., in NYC ~10% of households don't have AC. In contrast to...(1/2)
a816-dohbesp.nyc.gov/IndicatorPub...
Protecting New Yorkers from extreme heat – Environment & Health Data Portal
A data story on the dangers of hot weather - and how we can keep people safe.
a816-dohbesp.nyc.gov
June 24, 2025 at 3:49 PM
As this week's heatwave bears down on parts of the US, important to highlight many households in heat-exposed areas either 1. don't have air conditioning, or 2. can't afford to run their ACs.
E.g., in NYC ~10% of households don't have AC. In contrast to...(1/2)
a816-dohbesp.nyc.gov/IndicatorPub...
E.g., in NYC ~10% of households don't have AC. In contrast to...(1/2)
a816-dohbesp.nyc.gov/IndicatorPub...
Reposted by James P. Collins
We've made an interactive map with data US Treasury collected that shows at the ZIP code level for 2018-2022 what US homeowners paid for insurance, what % of policies weren't renewed, and more. @brookings.edu Hutchins Center. www.brookings.edu/articles/hom...
Homeowners insurance in an era of climate change
The U.S. Treasury data shows homeowners insurance is becoming more costly and harder to procure in light of climate change.
www.brookings.edu
June 18, 2025 at 10:34 AM
We've made an interactive map with data US Treasury collected that shows at the ZIP code level for 2018-2022 what US homeowners paid for insurance, what % of policies weren't renewed, and more. @brookings.edu Hutchins Center. www.brookings.edu/articles/hom...
I’m at MR2025 at Columbia! I’m presenting at the Flood Risks section at 5:15 pm. Come say hi!
June 16, 2025 at 4:02 PM
I’m at MR2025 at Columbia! I’m presenting at the Flood Risks section at 5:15 pm. Come say hi!
An immobility trap in the making? And implications for aging and late-life care when thinking about who can buy into coastal amenity areas
A financial time bomb: the alarming intersection of mortgage lending, physical climate risk, and federal policy. Nonbank lenders financing homes in high-risk areas, GSE privatization retaining an "implied guarantee"--all muting market signals. susanpcrawford.substack.com/p/its-still-...
It's still easy to buy a home in a climate risky area. It's harder to sell it.
Fintech lenders are more likely to approve loans in high climate risk areas, but property values in those areas are dropping.
susanpcrawford.substack.com
June 3, 2025 at 4:00 PM
An immobility trap in the making? And implications for aging and late-life care when thinking about who can buy into coastal amenity areas
New study from the Sunny Day Flooding Project. By placing sensors in communities, the team saw flooding happening an "order of magnitude" more often than prior estimates suggested. One location saw flooding 126 days (over one-third) of a year. Planning for sea level rise "is a problem of today." 🧪
Many coastal communities are flooding more than we thought, researchers find
Researchers installed sensors inside stormwater drains and cameras above them in three North Carolina communities. They found a startling amount of flooding.
www.washingtonpost.com
June 2, 2025 at 9:39 PM
New study from the Sunny Day Flooding Project. By placing sensors in communities, the team saw flooding happening an "order of magnitude" more often than prior estimates suggested. One location saw flooding 126 days (over one-third) of a year. Planning for sea level rise "is a problem of today." 🧪
Reposted by James P. Collins
Most Americans frequently use federal science information. But few are concerned that cuts to federal science spending could affect their access to such information, a new poll finds.
Most Americans use federal science information on a weekly basis, a new poll finds
Most Americans frequently use federal science information. But few are concerned that cuts to federal science spending could affect their access to such information, a new poll finds.
www.npr.org
May 6, 2025 at 10:46 AM
Most Americans frequently use federal science information. But few are concerned that cuts to federal science spending could affect their access to such information, a new poll finds.