To his credit, I believe Nobel Prize winner Bill Nordhaus was among the first economists to acknowledge, over 20 years ago, that abrupt climate change associated with global warming was an especially large economic threat to the UAA and world. And he was right.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Abrupt Climate Change
Large, abrupt, and widespread climate changes with major impacts have occurred repeatedly in the past, when the Earth system was forced across thresholds. Although abrupt climate changes can occur for...
www.science.org
June 22, 2025 at 12:00 PM
To his credit, I believe Nobel Prize winner Bill Nordhaus was among the first economists to acknowledge, over 20 years ago, that abrupt climate change associated with global warming was an especially large economic threat to the UAA and world. And he was right.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Just heard somebody say that climate scientists expect change to be gradual to explain current policies. Not true.
Nearly 4 decades ago, Wally Broecker wrote about abrupt climate change that arrives suddenly and dramatically.
www.nature.com/articles/328...
Nearly 4 decades ago, Wally Broecker wrote about abrupt climate change that arrives suddenly and dramatically.
www.nature.com/articles/328...
December 19, 2024 at 9:32 AM
Just heard somebody say that climate scientists expect change to be gradual to explain current policies. Not true.
Nearly 4 decades ago, Wally Broecker wrote about abrupt climate change that arrives suddenly and dramatically.
www.nature.com/articles/328...
Nearly 4 decades ago, Wally Broecker wrote about abrupt climate change that arrives suddenly and dramatically.
www.nature.com/articles/328...
The consistent soft-selling of climate catastrophe makes science itself an existential threat. Antarctica’s collapse isn’t “difficult to stop”—it’s unstoppable. Pretending otherwise isn’t science; it’s denial.
www.cbsnews.com/news/abrupt-...
www.cbsnews.com/news/abrupt-...
Abrupt Antarctic climate shifts could lead to "catastrophic consequences for generations," experts warn
A new study warns that irreversible changes happening in Antarctica, which are caused by climate change, could cause global oceans to rise by meters.
www.cbsnews.com
August 30, 2025 at 3:07 PM
The consistent soft-selling of climate catastrophe makes science itself an existential threat. Antarctica’s collapse isn’t “difficult to stop”—it’s unstoppable. Pretending otherwise isn’t science; it’s denial.
www.cbsnews.com/news/abrupt-...
www.cbsnews.com/news/abrupt-...
We often think of climate change as a gradual process, but climate-driven shifts in global ecosystems are often sudden. Many ecosystems are fairly stable until major disturbances occur--like high severity wildfire or record-breaking drought. youtu.be/2_Bp76Q2Qig?...
May 27, 2026 at 8:15 PM
We often think of climate change as a gradual process, but climate-driven shifts in global ecosystems are often sudden. Many ecosystems are fairly stable until major disturbances occur--like high severity wildfire or record-breaking drought. youtu.be/2_Bp76Q2Qig?...
Scientists are accustomed to gradual change.
But for a large part of Wally Broecker's career — based on paleoclimate evidence — he was obsessed with the idea of abrupt climate change that arrives suddenly and dramatically.
Looks like Wally was right. 🧪
www.nature.com/articles/328...
But for a large part of Wally Broecker's career — based on paleoclimate evidence — he was obsessed with the idea of abrupt climate change that arrives suddenly and dramatically.
Looks like Wally was right. 🧪
www.nature.com/articles/328...
October 27, 2024 at 5:56 PM
Scientists are accustomed to gradual change.
But for a large part of Wally Broecker's career — based on paleoclimate evidence — he was obsessed with the idea of abrupt climate change that arrives suddenly and dramatically.
Looks like Wally was right. 🧪
www.nature.com/articles/328...
But for a large part of Wally Broecker's career — based on paleoclimate evidence — he was obsessed with the idea of abrupt climate change that arrives suddenly and dramatically.
Looks like Wally was right. 🧪
www.nature.com/articles/328...
#ResistanceEarth
#BlueEarth
The feedback loop: Climate change melts Antarctic sea ice, replacing white, reflective surfaces with blue water, which causes the ocean to heat up more, which melts the glaciers. These rapid changes could mean catastrophic sea level rise.
www.cbsnews.com/news/abrupt-...
#BlueEarth
The feedback loop: Climate change melts Antarctic sea ice, replacing white, reflective surfaces with blue water, which causes the ocean to heat up more, which melts the glaciers. These rapid changes could mean catastrophic sea level rise.
www.cbsnews.com/news/abrupt-...
Abrupt Antarctic climate shifts could lead to "catastrophic consequences for generations," experts warn
A new study warns that irreversible changes happening in Antarctica, which are caused by climate change, could cause global oceans to rise by meters.
www.cbsnews.com
August 21, 2025 at 10:54 PM
#ResistanceEarth
#BlueEarth
The feedback loop: Climate change melts Antarctic sea ice, replacing white, reflective surfaces with blue water, which causes the ocean to heat up more, which melts the glaciers. These rapid changes could mean catastrophic sea level rise.
www.cbsnews.com/news/abrupt-...
#BlueEarth
The feedback loop: Climate change melts Antarctic sea ice, replacing white, reflective surfaces with blue water, which causes the ocean to heat up more, which melts the glaciers. These rapid changes could mean catastrophic sea level rise.
www.cbsnews.com/news/abrupt-...
Temperatures that abruptly jump from frigid to hot and back are a hallmark of spring, but the shifts are becoming more extreme due to climate change.
Spring Temperature Whiplash Is Getting Worse With Climate Change
Abrupt jumps from chilly to warm and back again are typical of the season but becoming more extreme in a warming world.
bloom.bg
May 2, 2026 at 2:00 PM
Temperatures that abruptly jump from frigid to hot and back are a hallmark of spring, but the shifts are becoming more extreme due to climate change.
Wolfgang Kiessling, Carl J. Reddin, Elizabeth M. Dowding, Danijela Dimitrijević, Nussaïbah B. Raja & Ádám T. Kocsis (2024)
Marine biological responses to abrupt climate change in deep time
Paleobiology (advance online publication)
DOI: doi.org/10.1017/pab....
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Marine biological responses to abrupt climate change in deep time
Paleobiology (advance online publication)
DOI: doi.org/10.1017/pab....
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Marine biological responses to abrupt climate change in deep time | Paleobiology | Cambridge Core
Marine biological responses to abrupt climate change in deep time
doi.org
December 15, 2024 at 3:03 PM
Wolfgang Kiessling, Carl J. Reddin, Elizabeth M. Dowding, Danijela Dimitrijević, Nussaïbah B. Raja & Ádám T. Kocsis (2024)
Marine biological responses to abrupt climate change in deep time
Paleobiology (advance online publication)
DOI: doi.org/10.1017/pab....
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Marine biological responses to abrupt climate change in deep time
Paleobiology (advance online publication)
DOI: doi.org/10.1017/pab....
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Abrupt changes in temperature are getting spikier as the planet warms.
Spring’s Hot-to-Cold Swings Are Being Juiced by Climate Change
Abrupt changes in temperature are getting spikier as the planet warms.
bloom.bg
May 2, 2026 at 3:00 PM
Abrupt changes in temperature are getting spikier as the planet warms.
HERE IT IS! In August 2025, a massive landslide brought a big chunk of mountainside into the Tracy Arm fjord in Alaska, causing the second-largest tsunami ever recorded. My latest for @eos.org is the story of the forensic investigation, and why the culprit is climate change: 🧪
The Forensics of a Skyscraper-Sized Tsunami - Eos
A landslide in Tracy Arm Fjord in Alaska created the second-largest tsunami on record. A new analysis links this abrupt event to the retreat of a glacier and, ultimately, to climate change.
eos.org
May 6, 2026 at 1:26 PM
HERE IT IS! In August 2025, a massive landslide brought a big chunk of mountainside into the Tracy Arm fjord in Alaska, causing the second-largest tsunami ever recorded. My latest for @eos.org is the story of the forensic investigation, and why the culprit is climate change: 🧪
Anyways *natural* climate change has destroyed civilizations before (Maya collapse, Bronze Age Collapse), and anthropogenic climate change is an order of magnitude more abrupt and violent
September 17, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Anyways *natural* climate change has destroyed civilizations before (Maya collapse, Bronze Age Collapse), and anthropogenic climate change is an order of magnitude more abrupt and violent
This BBC documentary by Jonathan Renouf on abrupt climate change due to ocean circulation tipping is one of the best. From 1999, with top experts like Jonathan Overpeck, Richard Alley & the late Wally Broecker, it's surprisingly current: that risk looks much higher now. 🌊
youtu.be/PF-MMxkG9fg?...
youtu.be/PF-MMxkG9fg?...
The Big Chill
YouTube video by Earth System Analysis - Potsdam Institute
youtu.be
May 26, 2026 at 7:35 PM
This BBC documentary by Jonathan Renouf on abrupt climate change due to ocean circulation tipping is one of the best. From 1999, with top experts like Jonathan Overpeck, Richard Alley & the late Wally Broecker, it's surprisingly current: that risk looks much higher now. 🌊
youtu.be/PF-MMxkG9fg?...
youtu.be/PF-MMxkG9fg?...
Cores from the Greenland ice sheet have provided important insights into abrupt climate change over the last 100,000 years and have enabled us to demonstrate human impacts on climate. But why the hell do we want to buy it?
Rubio Tells Lawmakers Trump Wants to Buy Greenland
www.nytimes.com
January 6, 2026 at 11:17 PM
Cores from the Greenland ice sheet have provided important insights into abrupt climate change over the last 100,000 years and have enabled us to demonstrate human impacts on climate. But why the hell do we want to buy it?
“We feel like we're abandoning the community that we've built around this," MSU Coastal and Marine Extension Program Director Eric Sparks said after the abrupt cancelation of a USDA grant for coastal restoration work.
Trump Follows Project 2025 Blueprint on Environment, Climate
Mississippi is already feeling impacts as the Trump administration slashes environmental protection funding and ends efforts to fight climate change.
buff.ly
March 11, 2025 at 8:45 PM
“We feel like we're abandoning the community that we've built around this," MSU Coastal and Marine Extension Program Director Eric Sparks said after the abrupt cancelation of a USDA grant for coastal restoration work.
In the latest effort to undermine climate action, President Trump pulled the U.S. out of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, which underpins global efforts to address rising temperatures
Why Trump's Abrupt Exit from Pivotal Climate Treaty Matters
In the latest effort to undermine climate action, President Trump pulled the U.S. out of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, which underpins global efforts to address rising temperatures
www.scientificamerican.com
January 8, 2026 at 4:13 PM
In the latest effort to undermine climate action, President Trump pulled the U.S. out of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, which underpins global efforts to address rising temperatures
Scientists think there's a decent chance that, if global temps rise 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels, it could trigger a cascade of tipping points that further accelerate warming, up to 5 or 6 degrees.
AKA: "A cluster of abrupt shifts occur in ESMs [Earth system models] at 1.5 to 2ºC."
AKA: "A cluster of abrupt shifts occur in ESMs [Earth system models] at 1.5 to 2ºC."
Climate change is not linear: why we need to update the Paris Agreement
For a few years, scientists have been warning that even if we hit Paris targets, we could cross several tipping points that could trigger a cascade into total climate breakdown.
‘A clust...
www.envirotech-online.com
February 14, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Scientists think there's a decent chance that, if global temps rise 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels, it could trigger a cascade of tipping points that further accelerate warming, up to 5 or 6 degrees.
AKA: "A cluster of abrupt shifts occur in ESMs [Earth system models] at 1.5 to 2ºC."
AKA: "A cluster of abrupt shifts occur in ESMs [Earth system models] at 1.5 to 2ºC."
Today, Wally Broecker would have been 93. He was obsessed with abrupt climate change that arrives suddenly and dramatically.
He likened the climate system to an "angry beast", and said we shouldn't poke it (i.e., keep emitting CO₂) because we don't know how and when it'll react.
We should listen.
He likened the climate system to an "angry beast", and said we shouldn't poke it (i.e., keep emitting CO₂) because we don't know how and when it'll react.
We should listen.
November 29, 2024 at 2:34 PM
Today, Wally Broecker would have been 93. He was obsessed with abrupt climate change that arrives suddenly and dramatically.
He likened the climate system to an "angry beast", and said we shouldn't poke it (i.e., keep emitting CO₂) because we don't know how and when it'll react.
We should listen.
He likened the climate system to an "angry beast", and said we shouldn't poke it (i.e., keep emitting CO₂) because we don't know how and when it'll react.
We should listen.
Hard to process Trump’s abrupt firing of the ENTIRE 28 member scientific advisory board of the National Cancer Institute.
On top of being a climate change denier, is he now a CANCER DENIER?
On top of being a climate change denier, is he now a CANCER DENIER?
May 4, 2025 at 12:47 AM
Hard to process Trump’s abrupt firing of the ENTIRE 28 member scientific advisory board of the National Cancer Institute.
On top of being a climate change denier, is he now a CANCER DENIER?
On top of being a climate change denier, is he now a CANCER DENIER?
Hot off the presses! Abrupt permafrost thaw is a critical climate feedback but is poorly defined & understood. In an awesome collaboration between my team & the Permafrost Carbon Network, PhD student Hailey Webb provides a formal definition to guide future studies. link.springer.com/article/10.1...
A Review of Abrupt Permafrost Thaw: Definitions, Usage, and a Proposed Conceptual Framework - Current Climate Change Reports
Purpose of Review We review how ‘abrupt thaw’ has been used in published studies, compare these definitions to abrupt processes in other Earth science disciplines, and provide a definitive framework f...
link.springer.com
July 24, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Hot off the presses! Abrupt permafrost thaw is a critical climate feedback but is poorly defined & understood. In an awesome collaboration between my team & the Permafrost Carbon Network, PhD student Hailey Webb provides a formal definition to guide future studies. link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Here is the Reuters story about the open letter by 44 experts warning about the serious risk of an #AMOC collapse.
I had the honor to present it to the Icelandic 🇮🇸 climate minister Guðlaugur Þór Þórðarson at the Arctic Circle Assembly in Reykjavik on Saturday.
www.reuters.com/business/env...
I had the honor to present it to the Icelandic 🇮🇸 climate minister Guðlaugur Þór Þórðarson at the Arctic Circle Assembly in Reykjavik on Saturday.
www.reuters.com/business/env...
Climate scientists warn Nordic ministers of changing Atlantic Ocean current
More than 40 climate scientists are urging Nordic ministers to prevent global warming from causing a major change in an Atlantic Ocean current, which could trigger abrupt shifts in weather patterns and damage ecosystems.
www.reuters.com
October 22, 2024 at 10:21 AM
Here is the Reuters story about the open letter by 44 experts warning about the serious risk of an #AMOC collapse.
I had the honor to present it to the Icelandic 🇮🇸 climate minister Guðlaugur Þór Þórðarson at the Arctic Circle Assembly in Reykjavik on Saturday.
www.reuters.com/business/env...
I had the honor to present it to the Icelandic 🇮🇸 climate minister Guðlaugur Þór Þórðarson at the Arctic Circle Assembly in Reykjavik on Saturday.
www.reuters.com/business/env...
And a key 2002 National Academies report, “Abrupt climate change: inevitable surprises,” chaired by Richard Allen, covered topics including rapid changes in the North Atlantic thermohaline circulation and the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. 4/n
Abrupt Climate Change: Inevitable Surprises
Read online, download a free PDF, or order a copy in print or as an eBook.
nap.nationalacademies.org
December 3, 2024 at 4:01 PM
And a key 2002 National Academies report, “Abrupt climate change: inevitable surprises,” chaired by Richard Allen, covered topics including rapid changes in the North Atlantic thermohaline circulation and the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. 4/n
AMOC weakening may drive the North Atlantic ‘cold blob,’ echoing abrupt paleoclimate events and cascading through climate, ecosystems, and society.
News & Views
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
News & Views
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Atlantic exceptionalism in the twentieth century - Nature Climate Change
The North Atlantic is exceptional in cooling during the twentieth century while the world warmed. Here we look back on an influential 2015 study that linked this cooling to a weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation and consider the wider implications that this may have for climate, ecosystems and society.
www.nature.com
April 11, 2026 at 5:18 AM
AMOC weakening may drive the North Atlantic ‘cold blob,’ echoing abrupt paleoclimate events and cascading through climate, ecosystems, and society.
News & Views
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
News & Views
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A comprehensive & measured assessment of where Earth's climate stands today & where it's likely headed.
Climate changes can be abrupt & non-linear. As we change the chemistry of the atmosphere, we change the physical response.
We are watching that play out in our lifetimes!
Climate changes can be abrupt & non-linear. As we change the chemistry of the atmosphere, we change the physical response.
We are watching that play out in our lifetimes!
And now: A thread regarding my thoughts on "1.5°C"--not only as a Paris Agreement target, but also re: relevance to recent #climate events & overlaps (or not) w/geophysical realities. (This was originally written as a response to a journalist, who used excerpts in their article.)
July 13, 2025 at 9:35 PM
A comprehensive & measured assessment of where Earth's climate stands today & where it's likely headed.
Climate changes can be abrupt & non-linear. As we change the chemistry of the atmosphere, we change the physical response.
We are watching that play out in our lifetimes!
Climate changes can be abrupt & non-linear. As we change the chemistry of the atmosphere, we change the physical response.
We are watching that play out in our lifetimes!
UN Efforts to Arrest Climate Change Have Failed
Earth Is Now Spiraling Into Environmental Catastrophe
Climate tipping points - Earth
will experience irreversible consequences such "as breakdowns of major ocean circulation systems, abrupt thawing of boreal permafrost"
futurism.com/science-ener...
Earth Is Now Spiraling Into Environmental Catastrophe
Climate tipping points - Earth
will experience irreversible consequences such "as breakdowns of major ocean circulation systems, abrupt thawing of boreal permafrost"
futurism.com/science-ener...
United Nations Concedes That Efforts to Arrest Climate Change Have Failed, and the Planet Is Now Spiraling Into Environmental Catastrophe
The 1.5 degree Celsius warming threshold is no longer a threat to avoid, but the new minimum benchmark for measuring climate change.
futurism.com
September 4, 2026 at 12:11 AM
UN Efforts to Arrest Climate Change Have Failed
Earth Is Now Spiraling Into Environmental Catastrophe
Climate tipping points - Earth
will experience irreversible consequences such "as breakdowns of major ocean circulation systems, abrupt thawing of boreal permafrost"
futurism.com/science-ener...
Earth Is Now Spiraling Into Environmental Catastrophe
Climate tipping points - Earth
will experience irreversible consequences such "as breakdowns of major ocean circulation systems, abrupt thawing of boreal permafrost"
futurism.com/science-ener...
A new study led by @umaine.bsky.social Climate Change Institute Associate Director, Dr. Jasmine Saros, shows significant rapid changes to Greenland lakes 🧪https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2413855122?
Abrupt transformation of west Greenland lakes following compound climate extremes associated with atmospheric rivers | PNAS
Arctic ecosystems are affected by accelerated warming as well as the intensification
of the hydrologic cycle, yet understanding of the impacts of c...
www.pnas.org
January 22, 2025 at 2:07 AM
A new study led by @umaine.bsky.social Climate Change Institute Associate Director, Dr. Jasmine Saros, shows significant rapid changes to Greenland lakes 🧪https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2413855122?