shishir

Page 2 of letter by Daniel Swain. It begins: constructive suggestions regarding how the already remarkable institutional efficiency and societal impact of NCAR could be further enhanced through increased (not decreased) federal support in the years to come. Please note: To ensure the highest level of technical rigor, this response focuses exclusively on the core atmospheric and natural hazard science topics within the author’s primary domain of expertise; for this reason, I have omitted a response to Topic 4 (Space Weather)." NCAR weather modeling and atmospheric observing capabilities a) Management and operations of weather-related observational platforms, modeling and science as a stand-alone activity. The proposed management of weather-related research as a stand-alone activity is a scientifically regressive path that ignores the fundamental physical reality of the Earth system. Modern atmospheric science has demonstrated (largely, it is worth noting, due to groundbreaking researc

Page 3 of letter by Daniel Swain. It begins: b) Management and operations of weather-related observational platforms, modeling and science as combined with other NSF investments/facilities. The highly specialized nature of the NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Center (NWSC) infrastructure represents an extraordinary value proposition that cannot be replicated by combining it with more generalized NSF programs. The NWSC is not a generic high-performance computing (HPC) facility; it is a laboratory uniquely optimized for atmospheric science workflows, with a hardware and storage architecture specifically designed to handle the massive, high-bandwidth data demands of Earth system modeling. Furthermore, its model of providing an excellent, free-at-point-of-use technical support team ensures that the focus remains on the science rather than the overhead of systems administration. This centralized expertise allows individual researchers, smaller labs, and even entire universities—who would otherwi

Page 4 of letter by Daniel Swain. It begins: NCAR Mesa Lab (located in Boulder, Colorado) a/b) Ownership of the NSF NCAR Mesa Lab building for public and private use. Far more than just an office building, NSF NCAR Mesa Lab is an iconic and purpose-built facility designed specifically for the study of atmospheric science. Its position at the physical interface of the Rocky Mountain foothills and the Great Plains is a deliberate reflection of its mission, serving as a visible symbol—in an iconically American setting—of the federal government's enduring commitment to science in service of society. For many in the field, including myself, the Mesa Lab holds singular importance as a focal gathering point for the global atmospheric science community. My own early career exposure to weather and Earth system modeling, in fact, occurred within these walls, and I have long felt that the facility’s architecture and location inspire a necessary sense of awe regarding the atmosphere’s complexity a

Page 1 of letter by Daniel Swain. It begins: Dear Acting Director Stone and the NSF NCAR restructuring team: I am writing to provide a formal response to the Request for Information (RFI) regarding the proposed restructuring of the NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and its critical weather science infrastructure contained within the January 23, 2026 Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) entitled “NSF Intent to Restructure Critical Weather Infrastructure.” I submit these comments in my professional capacity as an atmospheric research scientist within the University of California, where my research focuses on the physics and dynamics of atmospheric processes related to extreme weather events and their role in shifting natural hazard and disaster risk. My perspective is informed by a public-sector career dedicated to bridging the gap between fundamental atmospheric research and real-world application in an academic context, with a particular focus on understanding and mitigating

I just submitted my letter to NSF responding to its proposal to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). I argue that doing so would be an astonishing and avoidable misstep, and that federal support for the institution should in fact be *increased.* [1/4]

I lack the words to capture it, but ... it's just endlessly remarkable to me that so many people in our society have chosen trans kis -- TRANS KIDS, the smallest, least significant, most vulnerable demographic slice you could possibly pick -- as a repository for all their fears & insecurities.

Sociology pulls back the curtain on power - how it's constructed, how it's maintained, and the (il)legitimacy of those in power - and that's why they're so afraid of it.

(It's also why Intro Soc is my favorite class to teach.)

Point of no returns: researchers are crossing a threshold in the fight for funding With so little money to go round, the costs of competing for grants can exceed what the grants are worth. When that happens, nobody wins.

This report in Nature on the costs of competing for & administering scientific grants is shocking: "In other words, European taxpayers will have spent more on the funding process than on the funding itself, and the scientific ecosystem has been drained." www.nature.com/articles/d41... 🧪

How the Next Big Thing in Carbon Removal Sunk Without a Trace With support from Microsoft, Stripe, and Shopify, Running Tide billed itself as on the cutting edge of carbon removal. In the end, it resorted to dumping thousands of tons of wood chips in the sea.

With support from Microsoft, Stripe, and Shopify, Running Tide billed itself as on the cutting edge of carbon removal. In the end, it resorted to dumping thousands of tons of wood chips in the sea. www.wired.com/story/how-th...

Giant 3D map shows almost every building in the world A database of 2.75 billion buildings could help scientists to monitor urban planning, climate change, disaster risks and even corruption.

A database of 2.75 billion buildings could help scientists to monitor urban planning, climate change, disaster risks and even corruption

go.nature.com/4acdXWm

Made a site comparing the sizes of living things :)

The great Julius Csotonyi spent 5 months painting over 60 illustrations for the site, no ai used

> neal.fun/size-of-life/

🌿 New in IJWF:

O’Grady et al. shows how Machine Learning with Landsat can reconstruct fire histories across US military lands. Models achieved >93% accuracy, offering local-scale insights into ignition patterns & fire management for defense landscapes.

🔗 doi.org/10.1071/WF24214
#IJWildlandFire

Motherfucking wind farms…

Great post on the risk of Google Scholar disappearing!
Obligatory self promotion, here’s my own from last year on possible alternatives blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsoci...

To begin, I was skeptical. I think that too much energy is invested in creating global products which have low accuracy and are not that useful to policymakers, who rarely get to make global decisions. I mostly agree with arguments made here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Addressing critiques refines global estimates of reforestation potential for climate change mitigation - Nature Communications Reforestation is a key climate change mitigation strategy, but global maps of its potential are widely criticized. This study shows that addressing those critiques substantially refines estimates of t...

A couple years ago, I was approached by some scientists at The Nature Conservancy with a proposal: Would I help them create a better global restoration opportunity map? The resulting paper is now out, and I will explain my view of it in this thread. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Takes one to know one.
(But this guy isn’t one)

Hear, hear!

The Lancet Countdown on health and plastics Plastics are a grave, growing, and under-recognised danger to human and planetary health. Plastics cause disease and death from infancy to old age and are responsible for health-related economic losse...

'Plastics are a grave, growing, and under-recognised danger to human and planetary health. Plastics cause disease and death from infancy to old age and are responsible for health-related economic losses exceeding US$1·5 trillion annually.'
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

🔥 New in IJWF:
How will climate change reshape fuel hazards across landscapes?
McColl-Gausden et al. modelled future fire risks across Victoria, Australia and their findings highlight the urgent need for adaptive fuel management in a warming climate.
📖 Read: doi.org/10.1071/WF24...
#IJWildlandFire

Divergent water use efficiency trends among eastern North American temperate tree species - Oecologia Both theory and observations suggest that tree intrinsic water use efficiency (iWUE)—the ratio of photosynthetic carbon assimilation to stomatal conductance to water—increases with atmospheric CO2. Ho...

Interesting:

"Needleleaf evergreen iWUE increased until circa 2002 before declining in recent years, while iWUE of broadleaf deciduous species continued to increase."

Even more so, dehumidifiers remain underappreciated. Some portable ACs come with the dehumidifier setting, and you can cut down your energy consumption by ~1/3rd without accounting for the reduced need for cooling (because most of our discomfort is from the humidity).

Post from "The Rundown" July 18 at 5:30 PM · DuckDuckGo has introduced a new feature allowing users to filter out AI-generated images from search results, addressing growing concerns over synthetic content overwhelming authentic visuals online. The filter can be activated through a dropdown in the Images tab, search settings, or by using a dedicated AI-free domain: noai.duckduckgo.com. The system relies on curated blocklists, including uBlockOrigin’s Huge AI Blocklist, to detect and suppress AI-generated imagery. While not perfect, it significantly reduces synthetic content visibility. This move sets DuckDuckGo apart from competitors like Google and Bing by giving users direct control over their exposure to AI-generated material. Source: TechCrunch

DuckDuckGo has added a feature to filter out AI images from search results.

‘Self-termination is most likely’: the history and future of societal collapse An epic analysis of 5,000 years of civilisation argues that a global collapse is coming unless inequality is vanquished

“If you want to save the world then the first step is to stop destroying it. In other words: don’t be a dick. Don’t work for big tech, arms manufacturers or the fossil fuel industry. Don’t accept relationships based on domination and share power whenever you can.”

Unprecedented continental drying, shrinking freshwater availability, and increasing land contributions to sea level rise Drying continents, extreme drought, and groundwater depletion are shrinking water availability and increasing sea level rise.

After a long absence from Twitter, I'm now on Bluesky. Looking forward to sharing thoughts, research, and rants about the lack of attention paid to water. Let's kick this off with a new paper alert. Please share widely. Title says it all. Please help me grow followers www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Three years ago, Pakistan faced a summer of deadly torrential rains that led to widespread flooding, impacting over 30 million people, thousands lost their lives. News reports quickly linked the disaster to climate change, highlighting the clear human impact and seemingly straightforward science.

When I toured the Valley w/ @figlatin.bsky.social & @fkearns.bsky.social to learn more for my book, I saw this & was thunderstruck. We passed a normal-looking standpipe, the top level w/our heads. Another knowledgeable person we were with, Megan, said, "The top of this used to be level w/the ground"

Every time I open LinkedIn, someone from a science agency shares an unplanned (forced) early retirement or RIF. Lately it’s NASA & EPA. In spring, NOAA. I think people have no idea how deep this loss really is. I don’t know what rebuilding federal science looks like, but it won’t be simple or quick.

Graph titled "Water From Land Has Become a Leading Driver of Sea Level Rise." A description below reads: Most of the water lost from drying regions is from groundwater pumping, which ultimately shifts fresh water from aquifers into the oceans. There are two squiggly lines trending upward on the graph, one in blue labeled "melting glaciers," and one in orange labeled "drying land and aquifers." The x-axis is in years, with tick marks every four years from 2004 to 2024, and the y-axis is in mmSLE (Sea Level Equivalent), with tick marks going from -5 to 20 mmSLE. After 2012, the orange line appears to be higher than the blue line. A note below the graph reads: Glaciers refer to the parts of the continents covered in glaciers but excludes the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica. Drying land and aquifers refer to the water lost by the continents in areas not covered by glaciers, including river flow and evaporation. Groundwater loss accounts for 68% of the drying in those places.

7/ It’s not just about losing usable water, either. According to a new study based on 20+ years of NASA data, runoff from pumped groundwater, combined with moisture lost to evaporation and drought, is now one of the largest contributors of sea level rise.

Illustration of the process by which groundwater makes its way into the ocean. As water deep underground is pumped out for agriculture (represented by arrows traveling upward towards a field), only a small amount of the water makes its way into aquifers (represented by a small arrow pointing back down towards the ground). On the right side of the illustration, additional arrows show that the rest of the groundwater runs off the fields into a stream that flows into rivers and then the ocean (represented by boats).

4/ Globally, 70% of fresh water is used for growing crops, with more of it coming from groundwater as droughts become more extreme. But only a small amount of that water makes its way back into aquifers.

For some reason it bothers me a lot that this doesn't acknowledge that this graphic is a remake of two sets of very important USGS historical photos documenting & visualizing land subsidence from groundwater withdrawals in CA's Central Valley.

Yes, the USGS work is public domain, but still.

Google’s AI Is Destroying Search, the Internet, and Your Brain Google’s AI Overview, which is easy to fool into stating nonsense as fact, is stopping people from finding and supporting small businesses and credible sources.

Google's AI summaries are
- killing traffic to legitimate sites
- producing summaries that can be wrong
- in the long run probably making you a dumbass

www.404media.co/googles-ai-i...

Wind and frost have surprisingly strong effects on global patterns in leaf cuticle thickness! Latitude, biome and taxonomy matter too. Other climate variables not so much. #trait research from international team including @lawrensack.bsky.social @westobymark.bsky.social. doi.org/10.1111/nph....