Keith’s note: Astrobiologists are often focused on how a planet’s life history shapes the life on it and how that life can, in turn, alter a planet’s life history. Life forms as small as cyanobacteria can totally alter the atmosphere. So can humans. As we deal with changes we have brought to our ecosphere these lessons have applicability. They also may suggest ways to mitigate the bad effects of human activity. Here is one example. We all got sick and stopped polluting as much – and the Earth “noticed”. Moreover, as we look to expand humanity to other worlds or giant space colonies some people talk about altering sterile locations to become habitable via terraforming. Yet again, the impact of the anthropocene on Earth has relevance. More information: Short Term Impact of Human Activity During the Anthropocene: The Corona Pandemic Reduced The Melting Of Himalayan Glaciers

Keith’s note: The House Science Committee held a hearing today “NASA’s Earth Science and Climate Change Activities: Current Roles and Future Opportunities“. Given the importance placed by the Biden Administration on Climate Change – with NASA being a member of the Cabinet-level Climate Task Force – you’d think that NASA would be giving a hearing on climate change – with the head of its Earth Science Division and its Task […]

NASA Announces New Role of Senior Climate Advisor, NASA “In an effort to ensure effective fulfillment of the Biden Administration’s climate science objectives for NASA, the agency has established a new position of senior climate advisor and selected Gavin Schmidt, director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Science in New York, to serve in the role in an acting capacity until a permanent appointment is made. “This position will provide […]

Keith’s 1 February note: The Biden White House issued an Executive order on 27 January 2021 “Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad” which outlines its immediate steps to deal with the threat of climate change on society and our economy in a “whole of government” fashion. As you all know, The National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, lists a variety of things that NASA […]

Trump administration removes head of Federal climate program that oversees key reports, Washington Post “[Michael Kuperberg’s removal] seems quite consistent with decisions at NOAA and elsewhere,” said Kathy Jacobs, director of the Center for Climate Adaptation Science and Solutions at the University of Arizona, who ran the third National Climate Assessment. “[It’s] a last-minute attempt to remove people who may not be perceived as supporting the president’s agenda.” Kuperberg’s removal […]

NASA: Request for Public Nominations for Authors and Scientific/ Technical Inputs and Notice of Planned Public Engagement Opportunities for the Fifth National Climate Assessment, NASA “NASA, on behalf of the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), is soliciting nominations for authors and scientific/ technical inputs for the Fifth National Climate Assessment (NCA5). Refer to the NCA5 Draft Prospectus (presented in a previous Federal Register Notice and accessible via www.globalchange.gov/notices) for […]

Trump White House recruited climate science critics to work at NOAA, Science “At least three prominent researchers who question the severity of climate change rebuffed the opportunity to take a senior position at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The White House has been quietly working in recent weeks to reshape the leadership of NOAA with a goal of criticizing climate science, according to people who were contacted […]

Trump suggested nuking hurricanes to stop them from hitting U.S., Axios “During one hurricane briefing at the White House, Trump said, “I got it. I got it. Why don’t we nuke them?” according to one source who was there. “They start forming off the coast of Africa, as they’re moving across the Atlantic, we drop a bomb inside the eye of the hurricane and it disrupts it. Why can’t we […]

Donald Trump stopping US government scientists from speaking out publicly is ‘chilling’, The Independent “The Trump administration’s decision to stop Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials and other government staff from speaking out publicly has prompted the country’s leading scientific organisation to warn against “censorship and intimidation”. The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the largest scientific society in the world, said many federal agencies had policies that “prohibit […]

Trump officials deleting mentions of ‘climate change’ from U.S. Geological Survey press releases, Science “In the case of the California coastline study, the press release went through the office of James Reilly, the director of USGS, a former astronaut who is attempting to minimize the consideration of climate change in agency decisions. Reilly is preparing a directive for agency scientists to use climate models that predict changes through 2040, when […]