Category Archives: Science

by Daniel Brouse Density. Velocity. Gravity. Friction. Entrainment. Climate change is often described in terms of temperature: another degree of warming, another heat record, another fraction of a degree above a historical baseline. But temperature is only the beginning of the story. The more consequential question is: What happens when warming changes how much energy […]

by Daniel Brouse We’re crossing 1.5°C in a hurry—and tipping points are beginning to topple. This is where tipping points get your attention: you can actually observe them. Climate change is not a smooth, linear progression. As thresholds are crossed, individual tipping elements can begin interacting with one another. Feedbacks can couple across the Earth […]

by Daniel Brouse and Sidd Mukherjee Seismic Climate Events: When Cryosphere Instability Becomes an Earth-System Hazard I’ve written quite a bit about “Sudden Sea Level Pulses: How ‘Cork Release’ Events Could Rapidly Reshape Coastlines,” which you might find interesting. I expect we will see several feet of sea-level rise for several years in a row […]

by Daniel Brouse Sweden: Heatwaves, Hydroclimatic Whiplash, Forest Decline, Coastal Erosion and the Northward Spread of Disease Sweden is warming rapidly, and the impacts of that warming are increasingly moving from long-term projections into everyday disruptions. A changing climate is reshaping Sweden’s risks across multiple interconnected systems—from heat and water to forests, coastlines, agriculture, and […]

by Daniel Brouse Philadelphia to Washington: Severe Storms, an Expanding “Tornado Alley,” Straight-Line Winds, and the Urban Heat Island The Philadelphia-to-Washington corridor has experienced an extraordinary number of severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings this year. So far, 353 warnings have been issued across the region, putting the I-95 corridor from Washington, D.C., through Baltimore and […]

by Daniel Brouse Nepal–Tibet: Glacier Loss, Permafrost Collapse, Glacial Lake Outburst Floods, Flash Floods, Mudslides and Avalanches Hundreds of people are missing—including hundreds of foreign tourists and pilgrims—after a deadly flash flood struck the Nepal–Tibet border. CCTV footage from Tibet shows a wall of water and mud sweeping into buildings at a border crossing, while […]

by Daniel Brouse Death Valley: When the Desert’s Extremes Become More Extreme Death Valley has always been one of the hottest, driest, and most inhospitable places on Earth. But human-caused climate change is pushing those natural extremes into increasingly dangerous territory. The valley’s unique topography—essentially a vast natural basin that traps heat—can amplify warming, while […]

by Daniel Brouse Extreme Extremes: Walpeup and Hopetoun, Australia; Floridia, Italy; Miami, Florida; Joubertina, South Africa; Bridgeport, Connecticut; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Extreme Extremes: Record Heat, Rain, Snow, and Flooding Around the World Several towns and cities across the globe have broken or approached major historical extreme-weather records so far in 2026. From record-setting heat in Australia […]

by Daniel Brouse Indiana and New York: When 1-in-1,000-Year Rain Becomes a Real-World Risk The Changing Meaning of “Rare” A “500-year flood” does not mean a flood that occurs only once every 500 years. It describes an event with an estimated 0.2% chance of occurring in any given year, based on historical and statistical assumptions. […]