Catastrophism is in retreat across science, says Benny Peiser, as new research challenges the theory that the Toba super-eruption caused a volcanic winter – with important implications for predictions of climate doom.
The post Catastrophism is in Retreat Across Science appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Over decades, researchers in the US government and programs it sponsored built up a tremendous number of climate resources, from comprehensive analyses to massive datasets to basic explainers meant to inform the public. And people within the government built the climate.gov website to make it all accessible. But if you try to navigate there today, you get redirected to the climate page of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and are greeted with the following message:
In compliance with Executive Order 14303 (“Restoring Gold Standard Science”), the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy’s June 23, 2025 Memorandum (“Agency Guidance for Implementing Gold Standard Science in the Conduct & Management of Scientific Activities”), 15 USC § 2904 (“National Climate Program”), 15 USC § 2934 (“National Global Change Research Plan”), and 33 USC § 893a (“NOAA Ocean and Atmospheric Science Education Programs”), you have been redirected to NOAA.gov. Future research products previously housed under Climate.gov will be available at NOAA.gov/climate and its affiliate websites.
Climate.gov was essentially gone, and the team that deleted implied that it happened because climate research somehow failed to uphold what the administration was calling "gold standard science."
But the people who put together climate.gov didn't go away. While the government didn't hesitate to delete inconvenient climate information, dedicated volunteers outside the government managed to preserve copies of much of the material, which the federal government is prohibited from copyrighting. The volunteers and former climate.gov admins got together and launched climate.us. On Tuesday, the team announced that it had completed the project to restore everything lost when climate.gov shut down.
© NASA
Over decades, researchers in the US government and programs it sponsored built up a tremendous number of climate resources, from comprehensive analyses to massive datasets to basic explainers meant to inform the public. And people within the government built the climate.gov website to make it all accessible. But if you try to navigate there today, you get redirected to the climate page of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and are greeted with the following message:
In compliance with Executive Order 14303 (“Restoring Gold Standard Science”), the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy’s June 23, 2025 Memorandum (“Agency Guidance for Implementing Gold Standard Science in the Conduct & Management of Scientific Activities”), 15 USC § 2904 (“National Climate Program”), 15 USC § 2934 (“National Global Change Research Plan”), and 33 USC § 893a (“NOAA Ocean and Atmospheric Science Education Programs”), you have been redirected to NOAA.gov. Future research products previously housed under Climate.gov will be available at NOAA.gov/climate and its affiliate websites.
Climate.gov was essentially gone, and the team that deleted implied that it happened because climate research somehow failed to uphold what the administration was calling "gold standard science."
But the people who put together climate.gov didn't go away. While the government didn't hesitate to delete inconvenient climate information, dedicated volunteers outside the government managed to preserve copies of much of the material, which the federal government is prohibited from copyrighting. The volunteers and former climate.gov admins got together and launched climate.us. On Tuesday, the team announced that it had completed the project to restore everything lost when climate.gov shut down.
© NASA
As a 'heat dome' settles over Western Europe, German public health authorities have begun dispensing lunatic heatwave advice, says Eugyppius, including, bizarrely, claiming air conditioning makes rooms warmer.
The post German Public Health Authorities Dispense Lunatic Heatwave Advice Warning Against Air Conditioning appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
A new study suggests Antarctic ice loss may be reliably projected over the next several decades. Scientists say the next 30 to 50 years could be a crucial period for understanding and preparing for Antarctic ice loss and its impact on rising sea levels. A new study published in Nature and led by Monash University [...]Coastal farmland in the Mid-Atlantic is being overtaken by rising seas faster than forests, revealing an overlooked rural front in climate-driven marsh migration. Ghost forests, the eerie stands of dead trees left behind when saltwater moves inland, have become a stark sign of sea level rise along the Mid-Atlantic coast. Yet a new Nature Sustainability [...]The Oxford Institute for Energy Studies is one of the world's most respected institutions in energy economics. But its ideological commitment to the 'climate emergency' is now damaging its research, says Dr Tilak Doshi.
The post The Oxford Institute Letting Climate Ideology Bias its Research appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
© Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images
The National Emergency Briefing purports to be an "expert-led" forum on the 'climate crisis'. Its chosen economist, Angela Francis, however, is an activist with notable lacunae in her economics CV, says Dr Tilak Doshi.
The post Yet Another Climate Activist Masquerading as an Economist appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
© Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images
Labour leadership hopeful Wes Streeting has said Labour should ditch Ed Miliband's Net Zero targets. Or has he? It's as clear as mud, says Ben Pile, with promises of yet more 'green growth' cakeism.
The post Will Wes Streeting Really Ditch Ed Miliband’s Net Zero Targets? appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
A new study reveals that oak trees can keep photosynthesizing for months after growth ends, challenging assumptions about how effectively forests convert absorbed carbon into long-term storage. A tree can look busy long after it has stopped building itself. Its leaves may still be absorbing sunlight and pulling carbon dioxide from the air, but deep [...]
With CO2 greening the planet, any possible harms are outweighed by the benefits of more trees and crops. And that's even before you subtract the monumental cost of Net Zero, says Matt Ridley.
The post Net Zero Can Never Be Worth it appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
After defence secretary John Healey quit over the under-resourcing of the Armed Forces, Paul Homewood has a simple solution: scrap Net Zero, then Britain can easily meet its military obligations and needs.
The post Scrap Net Zero to Boost Defence appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Researchers explored how different dietary changes could reduce the carbon footprint of food consumption. A single change at the dinner table could have a bigger climate impact than many people realize. Researchers in the UK found that replacing just one beef steak per week with salmon could significantly reduce food-related carbon emissions over time. In [...]In a groundbreaking study set to reshape our understanding of polar carbon dynamics, researchers have uncovered that the lithology of catchment areas along the Antarctic Peninsula plays a pivotal role in regulating the net carbon balance of these fragile ecosystems. This revelation not only challenges previous assumptions regarding carbon sequestration in polar regions but also highlights the complex interplay between geology and climate change in one of the planet’s most sensitive areas.
For decades, scientists have grappled with accurately quantifying carbon fluxes in polar environments due to the extreme conditions and limited accessibility. The Antarctic Peninsula, stretching northwards from the main Antarctic continent, represents a unique geophysical interface where ice, rock, and ocean converge. Prior research predominantly focused on biological and climatic factors controlling carbon balance but seldom accounted for the geochemical contributions borne from the underlying lithology. This new research sets a transformative precedent by rigorously dissecting how rock types influence carbon absorption and release processes, thereby painting a more nuanced picture of the peninsula’s carbon budget.
The study relied heavily on state-of-the-art field measurements coupled with advanced geochemical modeling to parse out the contributions of catchment lithology—essentially the rock makeup and mineral composition of drainage basins—to net carbon balance. Geological substrates act not only as passive backdrops but as active participants in biogeochemical cycles. Chemical weathering of silicate and carbonate minerals can sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide, while other rock forms may facilitate carbon release via mineral dissolution or hydrological transport mechanisms. The research team meticulously sampled various catchment zones along the peninsula, integrating data from frozen soils, sediment runoff, and meltwater streams to decode these lithological influences.
One of the most striking findings from the investigation was the spatial variability of carbon fluxes directly correlated with geological heterogeneity. Catchments dominated by silicate-rich bedrock exhibited higher carbon sequestration capabilities through rock weathering processes compared to those underlain by carbonate lithologies, which tend to release carbon dioxide during dissolution. This variability suggests that predictions of polar carbon dynamics need to incorporate detailed geological maps and lithological classifications for greater precision. Such insights could significantly improve climate models that currently struggle with polar region parameterization.
Moreover, the researchers illuminated the role of mineral weathering as a long-term sink for atmospheric CO2, contrasting the widely documented biological sinks such as phytoplankton blooms and moss growth. In particular, the slow yet persistent process of silicate mineral weathering draws down carbon dioxide, converting it into bicarbonate ions that are flushed into the ocean. This naturally occurring geological carbon pump could be particularly impactful in the Antarctic Peninsula where rapid glacial retreat exposes fresh silicate rock surfaces, enhancing weathering rates. These observations offer compelling evidence that geological processes may buffer climate change effects, at least regionally, by locking away carbon in mineral forms.
Intriguingly, temporal data spanning multiple melt seasons revealed that net carbon balance is highly sensitive to seasonal variations in temperature and hydrology, which themselves are modulated by lithological factors. For example, catchments composed of permeable volcanic rocks exhibited more pronounced meltwater infiltration, accelerating mineral weathering and carbon sequestration during warm months. Conversely, less permeable sedimentary formations tended to trap water and organic carbon within soils, affecting the timing and magnitude of CO2 fluxes to the atmosphere. This complex feedback between lithology, hydrology, and climate underscores the necessity of interdisciplinary approaches when assessing polar carbon systems.
The implications of these findings reverberate far beyond academic curiosity. As the Antarctic Peninsula experiences some of the fastest warming rates on Earth, understanding the controls on carbon balance is critical for forecasting future climate trajectories. If lithological variability leads to differential carbon sequestration zones, then localized geological disruptions caused by melting glaciers or human activity could substantially alter regional carbon budgets. This knowledge is paramount for policymakers designing effective climate mitigation strategies, particularly in sensitive high-latitude environments where carbon feedbacks may accelerate global warming.
In addition to geochemical and climatological impacts, the study also highlights the potential for emerging technologies such as remote sensing and machine learning to map lithological controls at unprecedented resolution. By integrating satellite imagery with field data, researchers can create predictive models that swiftly identify carbon hotspots and areas vulnerable to carbon loss. This approach holds promise not only for Antarctic research but for global efforts to monitor and manage terrestrial carbon stocks in the face of escalating environmental change.
Furthermore, the interdisciplinary team behind this research underscores the importance of collaboration across geology, ecology, and atmospheric science disciplines. Only through such synergies can the subtle yet powerful effects of geological substrates on biogeochemical cycles be fully appreciated. This holistic perspective marks a paradigm shift in polar science, encouraging future studies to transcend traditional boundaries between earth sciences and climate research.
The work also invites a reevaluation of how catchment-scale processes are incorporated into Earth system models. Historically, these models have neglected fine-scale lithological heterogeneities, instead favoring generalized assumptions about soil and sediment carbon storage. The evidence provided by this study advocates for embedding lithological parameters into model architectures, enabling more accurate simulations of polar carbon dynamics under variable climatic scenarios. Such advancements are vital for anticipating tipping points in Antarctic ecosystems where abrupt changes could trigger widespread carbon release.
As global attention intensifies on polar regions as bellwethers of climate change, the intricate connection between rocks beneath our feet and atmospheric carbon cycles comes sharply into focus. The Antarctic Peninsula serves as a natural laboratory, revealing that the geology beneath evolving ice landscapes is not merely inert background but an active, dynamic component influencing the Earth’s carbon footprint. These insights champion a new era where geosciences play a central role in unraveling planetary carbon mysteries and inform global climate stewardship.
To realize the full potential of these findings, continuous monitoring and expanded field campaigns will be indispensable. The study sets a benchmark for future Antarctic research by demonstrating how integrative methodologies can decode complex environmental phenomena. With accelerating climate pressures threatening polar ecosystems, unraveling the lithological control on carbon balance becomes not just an academic endeavor but an urgent imperative for humanity’s environmental resilience.
In conclusion, this landmark research elegantly reveals how the mineral composition and geological characteristics of Antarctic catchments exert profound control over carbon exchanges between land, atmosphere, and ocean. By amalgamating detailed geochemical analyses with ecological and climatic data, the study enriches our comprehension of polar carbon cycling and offers tangible pathways to improve global climate models. As the Antarctic Peninsula continues to reshape itself under warming skies, understanding the lithological underpinnings of its carbon dynamics will be essential for predicting its role in the Earth’s future climate narrative.
Subject of Research: Geology and carbon cycling in the Antarctic Peninsula catchments
Article Title: Catchment lithology controls net carbon balance along the Antarctic Peninsula
Article References:
He, S., Zhang, X., Hu, H. et al. Catchment lithology controls net carbon balance along the Antarctic Peninsula. Nat Commun (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-74667-9
Image Credits: AI Generated
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