Der Sonderbericht des Bundesrechnungshofs vom Oktober 2025 zur Umsetzung der Wasserstoffstrategie der Bundesregierung entfaltet ein ungewöhnliches Gewicht, weil es sich weder um eine politische Kritik noch um einen akademischen Beitrag handelt, sondern um eine gesetzlich verankerte haushaltsrechtliche Prüfung, die dem Parlament vorgelegt wurde. Der Bericht bewertet die Wasserstoffstrategie anhand der ... [continued]

The post Deutschlands Rechnungshof erklärt die vermeintliche Unvermeidlichkeit von Wasserstoff für beendet appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Compounding this bogus sense of popularity, video content creators and streamers can deploy bots to inflate their numbers. Indeed, the 'dead internet theory' posits that most of the internet's users are bots unknowingly interacting with other bots, not real people. Only recently, a rap-battle-worn Drake was accused of helping to promote an illegal gambling operation and funnelling the proceeds "to a third party, in Australia, to invest in bot farms that illegally boost Drake's streaming numbers". Bot farms are cheap and scalable. Other techniques propagandists can make use of are coordinated posting schedules where they pay loads of people to post about something at the same time. Such mercenary posters and bots can then practise comment flooding to boost the engagement velocity, artificially convincing people to believe something is a trending topic. A campaign that uses all the aforementioned techniques to create consensus is known as 'astroturfing', which creates the illusion of a grassroots movement.

https://open.substack.com/pub/rorykiberd/p/if-the-algo-feeds-you-who-feeds-the?r=srz3t&utm_medium=ios&shareImageVariant=overlay

Though the political winds currently are blowing against clean, renewable electricity and sustainable transportation in the US, fortunately, in other countries, investment in such technologies continues. The UK-based startup Polaron recently raised $8 million. Racine2, an investment fund, led the raise, with co-investment from Speedinvest and Futurepresent. While the focus ... [continued]

The post AI Startup That Does EV-Related Materials Science Discovery Raises $8M appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Der Sachverständigenrat zur Begutachtung der gesamtwirtschaftlichen Entwicklung in Deutschland hat gemeinsam mit dem französischen Conseil d'analyse économique bereits Abstand davon genommen, Wasserstoff als breiten Energieträger zu betrachten. Diese Neuausrichtung steht in einem spürbaren Spannungsverhältnis zu einem 400 Kilometer langen, unter Druck stehenden Abschnitt des deutschen Wasserstoff-Backbones, der weder Lieferanten noch ... [continued]

The post Wenn Europas wirtschaftspolitische Institutionen sich vom Wasserstoff abwenden appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Friends, this article will be very short:

We are currently seeing a situation where a black swan event could occur by March or later this year.

Look for yourself: there's inflation worldwide, and you probably feel prices rising, but at the same time, unemployment is also rising. This is called stagflation. The most dangerous thing is that if you take all cryptocurrencies—you can check it yourself by setting the EMA 116 and the weekly chart—you'll see that, whether it's Bitcoin, Solana, or any other currency, the price has broken below this line and is below it.

This isn't a correction, but capital flight. Large capital first withdraws its funds into USD and then into cash.

This situation is abnormal and is a sign of a major crisis, and capital is fleeing to sit on its heels. Normally, when inflation rises, high-risk assets rise first, as crypto did during COVID in 2019. But now the picture is different, and it's either a 1970 crisis or, even worse, a global crisis similar to 1929.

I won't bore you with complex charts; you can see for yourself. If Bitcoin falls below 50k, it will signal a global crisis. The maximum duration of this crisis should occur before 2029. These are 10-year cycles, and it will now coincide with the halving, which I expect to begin in March. Crypto is simply a canary in the coalmine.

Incidentally, I mentioned this decline three months before; you can see the link to the article.

https://www.reddit.com/r/btc/comments/1p2ozio/the_math_behind_the_crash_why_87k_is_a_trap_and/

link: https://www.reddit.com/r/ProjectZeroPoint/comments/1p4lh8g/archive_the_math_behind_the_crash_why_87k_is_a/

Community organiser Jon Barrett says event, inspired by the tradition Solmōnaþ, aims to reconnect people with benefits of mud

A misty, rainy day in the uplands of Somerset and the mud was thick and sticky. In some patches, just putting one foot in front of the other without plunging into the mire felt like a win.

But Jon Barrett, a community engagement officer for the Quantock Hills national landscape, had a broad grin on his face as he negotiated the ooze.

Providers report rise in demand as companies seek mental health benefits and increased sense of community

In a growing number of workplaces, the soundtrack of the lunch break is no longer the rustle of sandwiches at a desk, but the quiet hum of bees - housed just outside the office window.

Employers from Manchester to Milton Keynes are working with professional beekeepers to install hives on rooftops, in courtyards and car parks - positioning beekeeping not as a novelty but as a way to ease stress, build community and reconnect workers with nature in an era of hybrid work and burnout.

Hypernormalization, plastic pollution, Islamist attacks in Nigeria, the end to a nuclear treaty, and famine in (South) Sudan.

Last Week in Collapse: February 1-7, 2026

This is Last Week in Collapse, a weekly newsletter compiling some of the most important, timely, soul-crushing, ironic, amazing, or otherwise must-see/can't-look-away moments in Collapse.

This is the 215th weekly newsletter. The January 25-31, 2026 edition is available here if you missed it last week. These newsletters are also available (with images) every Sunday in your email inbox by signing up to the Substack version.

In Memoriam: Fellow Substacker (The Crisis Report), r/collapse member, and Doomer, Richard Crim, passed away on November 23, 2025. A post from the subreddit last week announced his passing, and also collected tributes from the Collapse community. Crim was an accessible, good faith, honest communicator, especially on issues relating to environmental science and climate change. RIP.

——————————

It was a mission filled with promise, but fumbled near the finish line. A research team studying Antarctica's mighty Thwaites Glacier (almost twice the size of Iceland) was collecting samples from just over one kilometer deep into a small borehole last weekend. A large chain, used to carry the sensors, was lowered deep into the hole, probably got stuck on the side of the hole, where it refroze in place and got permanently stuck. Weather and pre-arranged ship departures prevented the first-of-its-kind experiment (9 years in the making) from continuing. Preliminary data suggest that warm water is flowing deep below part of the Thwaites, although the necessary data to make informed predictions as to the Collapse of the Thwaites is lacking. It may be years more before we have the information.

Fundraising is ongoing to raise $10M USD to build a sea curtain around the Thwaites, which, when fully melted, is expected to cause sea level rise of more than two feet (61 cm). Prototype "sea curtains", made from a "reinforced tensile fabric" are being tested over the next three years near Norway.

As Central Asia's water security worsens, and the region warms twice as quickly as the global average, countries like Kazahkstan are pushing for early warning systems to prevent a breadbasket failure from catching Eurasia off-guard. A study on groundwater depletion in the Himalayas and Tibet found that "47% of GWS {groundwater storage} variability {is attributed} to direct climate drivers and an additional 15% to cryospheric processes, while human activities contribute up to 38% of declines." 69% of the region experienced GWS declines from 2003-2020. "These basins are characterized by persistent groundwater overexploitation, compounded by increasing evaporative demand under warming conditions. Totally, net groundwater loss across all basins amounts to −24.2 Gt yr−1….This decline indicates the vulnerability of downstream water systems, where storage and recharge is increasingly insufficient to offset intensive extraction and evapotranspiration losses."

On Tuesday, a group of agricultural leaders submitted a 4-page letter warning the U.S. Congress about a future "widespread collapse of American agriculture"

"Farmer bankruptcies have doubled, barely half of all farms will be profitable this year, and the U.S. is running a historic agriculture trade deficit….By placing tariffs on farm inputs -- from fertilizer, to farm chemicals, to machinery parts -- the Administration's tariffs have increased prices for farm inputs and have pushed the cost of production well above commodity prices….Today, whole U.S. soybeans represent just 24.4% {of the world soy market} - a 50% reduction in market share….mass deportations, removal of protected status, and failure to reform the H-2A visa program are wreaking havoc with dairy, fruit and produce, and meat processing…" -selections

A photo essay captures the horrors of the 2020 wildfires in Brazil's Pantanal, the largest wetland on earth (comparable in size fo the island Java). Estimates on Amazon deforestation predict 30% more deforestation by 2045, because a collection of multinational corporations has withdrawn from an agreement not to grow soy in part of the rainforest.

Why did atmospheric methane increase so much from 2019-2023? A study in Science says that it was due to a large drop in 'hydroxyl radicals," an OH free radical that helps to break down CH4 in the air. This side effect was partially caused by COVID lockdowns and temporarily reduced CO2 emissions. Also, a long La Nina wetted the tropics, leading to above average methane production in tropical wetlands.

The U.S. Virgin Islands felt its hottest night for February. Several parts of the UK felt their wettest January on record. The daily sea surface average temperature at the end of January was 0.15 °C warmer than 3 years ago. A flying fox colony in Australia was 80% killed off by a vicious heat wave. Storm Leonardo began battering Iberia, forcing evacuation of 100,000+ people and sweeping away one girl in the floods. Cyclone Mitchell escalated into a category 3 storm before striking the northwest coast of Australia.

Two weeks of heavy snow in Japan, bringing as much as two meters in some places, resulted in over 45 deaths and hundreds of injuries, as well as 1,700+ homes losing power. Gabon set a new February heat record at 35.7 °C (96 °F). A February 14 deadline looms for Colorado River Basin states to negotiate a new water-sharing agreement. Greenland ended its warmest January on record—almost 8 °C above their average January from 1990-2020.

A Nature Geoscience study concluded that "future West Antarctic Ice Sheet retreat is likely to decrease carbon uptake in the large Pacific sector of the Southern Ocean" because the iron delivered to the Southern Ocean from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is in a form which makes it not easily able to be processed by nearby algae. The nearby waters may therefore not sequester as much carbon as predicted during the melting of the ice sheet, leading to another feedback loop in the region.

Climate disasters, global warming, and the resultant growing costs of buying a house have led 49% of Americans to consider moving—although 41% of that 49% is only considering relocating within their community or city. But surveys say 16% of U.S. homeowners are "extremely concerned" about climate change and/or extreme weather, 33% are "very concerned," and 29% are "moderately concerned." Hawai'i's 8-page annual climate report says the state had its second-driest year in over 100 years (after 2010).

——————————

A study of fish & microplastics in the Pacific found particularly high rates of microplastics (75%) in the fish off the coast of Fiji (pop: 935,000). A study from January indicates that bottled water (in the U.S., anyway) unsurprisingly has a higher concentration of microplastics than most tap water. "Bottled water had a high abundance of polyamide (PA), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and polyethylene (PE), while treated drinking water was most abundant in PA and polyesters (PES including PET)."

A Nature op-ed argues that a new global plastics treaty may still be agreed upon—although its adoption requires surmounting hurdles relating to the "full life cycle of plastic," procedural issues, aligning national & corporate interests, as well as the interests of rich and undeveloped countries & minorities. In other words, it probably ain't happening.

Despite gloomy attitudes about the present & future economy, Americans are spending more, and the stock market continues to rise. Consumer sentiment has now dropped to lows lower than the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the value of the USD has fallen to 4-year lows. Other writers warn about mass unemployment resulting mostly from AI proliferation and the hollowing out of cognitive labor jobs (call centers, paralegals, programmers, etc). What follows when most of today's white-collar jobs have dissolved?

Research into Long COVID and smoking determined that tobacco use results in some worse symptoms. Cigarette smokers "showed significantly higher odds for chest pain, dyspnea, and fatigue, while HTP {vape} users for dyspnea and sexual dysfunction." Other recent research suggests that COVID exposure to babies in utero (especially during the 3rd trimester) increased the chance of a "neurodevelopmental diagnosis" by about 7%. Small amounts of COVID can cross the placenta and also be present in amniotic fluid.

A pre-publication study in Nature Communications looked at the parasite Toxoplasma gondii, which lies dormant in about one third of humans. They found that—in mice, anyway—the parasite causes cysts in which the parasite may grow inside these cysts and re-emerge when immune systems are weakened. The parasite can theoretically only reproduce inside felines but can be spread to nearly any warm-blooded mammal. Symptoms begin similar to the flu. Malawi declared a polio outbreak.

A study in Science Advances estimates that, from 2006-2020, "Wildfire smoke PM2.5 was responsible for ~24,100 all-cause deaths per year in the contiguous {lower 48} United States….projections showing a global increase of extreme fires up to 50% by 2100." Another study suggests that the "urban heat island" effect (cities generally warm faster than other land) will cause ~81% of cities' land to heat up "faster than the surrounding area…Under a 2 °C global warming scenario….in India and China, mean LST {land surface temperature} is projected to increase by an additional 50-112% above ESM projections of the surrounding area."

Some economists are saying that Trump is positioning the economy for a Second Great Recession, triggered by many of the same causes. Home prices are rising, and would-be buyers are again turning to subprime loans to finance their homes. What's more—the current SEC Chair, and also former SEC commissioner in the years leading up to 2008, is pushing similar deregulations for banks to lend mortgage money again. Adjustable rate loans may surge back, destabilizing people's finances and leading to financial ruin. U.S. home prices are up more than 50% since 2019. Others believe spiraling government debt (approaching $39T in the U.S.) will set off a financial crisis leading to worse inflation and/or austerity policies. Also, U.S. unemployment claims his 2-month highs for the end of January, with 231,000 new unemployment claimants.

After SpaceX absorbed Elon Musk's AI company, xAI, Musk's wealth jumped to over $850B. The ongoing release of the Epstein Files has implicated many of the rich & famous in their associations with Jeffrey Epstein—including visits to his notorious island.

Bird flu was found in London's swans along the Thames. Over a thousand crows died from bird flu near Chennai (metro pop: 13M) in the first 5 weeks of the year. Over 4M birds in the U.S. have been affected by bird flu or subsequent cullings this year.

A flood at a wastewater plant in Wellington (pop: 430,000), New Zealand, resulted in sewage flowing directly into the ocean. Repairs are expected to take months. One person was confirmed dead from Nipah virus in Bangladesh.

——————————

162+ villagers were slain in western Nigeria in a couple jihadist attacks, allegedly after refusing commands to affirm their allegiance to sharia law. Assassins in Libya killed the son of Muammar Gaddafi in his home. A photo essay from Myanmar shares images from Myanmar's ongoing 5-year Civil War. Pakistan is intensifying operations against Balochi separatists behind recent suicide bombings; a couple days later a suicide bombing at a mosque in Islamabad (pop: 1.3M) killed 31 people, injuring 160+ others.

The U.S. shot down an Iranian drone near a U.S. aircraft carrier. Negotiations between both powers fell apart, and were then patched back together, to deal with Iran's alleged nuclear program.

President Trump's moves to cut off oil imports to Cuba (by threatening tariffs on countries selling oil to Cuba) is aggravating economic and energy unrest, and moving the country closer towards regime change. Moves to rescind protected status for hundreds of thousands of Haitians have hit resistance from federal judges, for the time being. European leaders are conceding that the United States is changing under Trump, and will not easily shift back in norms following the end of his presidency.

Russian strikes again targeted energy infrastructure in Kyiv on Monday, cutting off power to a large part of the city. The Russian economy is finally starting to sag, after many months of a mid-War boom. The UK and other European nations are getting more serious about checking and apprehending Russia's shadow fleet of oil tankers sailing through the Baltic Sea. President Zelenskyy claims that, in 2025, Russians were killed at a 47:1 ratio when compared to Ukrainian soldiers, of whom he says about 9,000 died in 2025—believe it if you want. The expiration of a key nuclear treaty has also raised the specter of future nuclear posturing, and conflict. "For the first time in more than half a century, we face a world without any binding limits on the strategic nuclear arsenals {of the U.S. and Russia}," said the UN Secretary-General. Watch the last known nuclear test of the U.S. here, from September 1992.

Strikes in Rafah, Gaza killed 18+ near a border crossing. Observers fear that Ethiopia will spiral back into War following the rebel Tigrayan forces (TPLF) attempting to occupy former Tigrayan lands within Ethiopia two weeks ago.

Fighting is reportedly escalating in South Sudan, and a 12-boat aid convoy was attacked and looted on its way to deliver some 1,500 tonnes of supplies to the hunger-stricken region. Not far away, in southern Sudan, thousands are fleeing towards the mountains to escape rebel forces (and bandits). All major supply routes have been severed. An RSF drone strike killed 24 people fleeing. Famine is worsening.

——————————

Select comments/threads from the subreddit last week suggest:

-The Collapse is Hypernormalization, if this popular self-post from last week is accurate for you. The system keeps grinding on even as the world around us spirals into breakdown. Or do things feel very much abnormal?

-You are underestimating the dangers from microplastics, according to this self-post from r/immortalists , a subreddit about health and longevity. Since (micro/nano)plastics aren't going away, and are projected to increase in number, you ought to inform yourself earlier rather than several years from now.

Got any feedback, questions, comments, upvotes, AI news, weather forecasts, off-grid maps, complaints, etc.? Last Week in Collapse is also posted on Substack; if you don't want to check r/collapse every Sunday, you can receive this newsletter sent to an email inbox every weekend. As always, thank you for your support. What did I miss this week?

One expert says 2027 could be even hotter than the last three years, which have been the top three warmest on record

• Sign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton's free Clear Air newsletter here

Weather agencies and climate scientists have pointed to the possibility of an El Niño forming in the Pacific Ocean later this year - a phenomenon that could push global temperatures to all-time record highs in 2027.

Both the US government's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Australia's Bureau of Meteorology have said some climate models are forecasting an El Niño but both cautioned those results came with uncertainties.

Experts told the Guardian it was too early to be confident, but there were signals in the spread of sea surface temperatures in the Pacific that suggested an El Niño could form in 2026.

Sign up to get climate and environment editor Adam Morton's Clear Air column as a free newsletter

Animals, insects, flora and fauna - the world photographed in close-up in the annual competition dedicated to micro and macro photography. Cupoty 7 was won by underwater photographer Ross Gudgeon, triumphing over 12,000 entries from 63 countries

In 2013, before AI and bots worried us, a man named Edward Snowden shocked the world. To the silicon valley tech bros this wasn't that shocking, but it certainly was to the general public which, in all fairness, is technologically illiterate. And apparently the world has a short memory.

In 13 years the conversation around Snowden seems to have died. We can talk about Stuxnet, flame, duqu, crouching yeti - all the famous malware. But the internet itself is the virus. Blame social media, politics, AI. Blame whatever you want.

If you take extra steps to conceal your identity on the internet, you are extra interesting to the NSA, GCHQ, FSB, Mossad. To think you can actually hide in the modern world is absurd. This is collapse related because mass surveillance is a fact of life and it has been for decades, yet everyone keeps pretending to be surprised.

There might be 20 million people worldwide that know the future of markets and foreign policy and good for them.

Meanwhile billions of us are powerless, ignorant and irrelevant - as far as they're concerned.

Edward Snowden will never come back to America. The CIA and several "anonymous" sources in the intelligence community have said explicitly that they will kill him if he ever comes back.

He's a traitor and Donald Trump is president.

We are so fucked.

Canada has quietly shifted into a new phase of EV focused industrial policy, not by announcing a dramatic ban or a sweeping mandate, but by changing the arithmetic that governs the automotive market. The federal government has moved away from explicit EV sales quotas and toward steadily tightening fleet average ... [continued]

The post Canada's EV Policy Shift Is About Credits, Not Mandates appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Die deutsche Wasserstoffpipeline von nirgendwo nach nirgendwo entstand nicht aus Ignoranz oder Gleichgültigkeit. Sie entstand aus guten Absichten, die früh gefasst wurden, als Klimarisiken klar und glaubwürdig waren, praktikable Lösungen jedoch rar. In den 1990er- und frühen 2000er-Jahren hatten Regionen, die die Klimawissenschaft ernst nahmen, nur eine sehr begrenzte Auswahl ... [continued]

The post Wie frühe Klimaführerschaft Deutschland auf die falsche Wasserstoffwette festlegte appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Submission statement: The article introduces Homogenocene as a complementary term and idea to Anthropocene, overviews its history of formation, and thus provides a broader perspective on the crises the world is currently facing.

Feudal economies will always undermine democratic government, but a democratic economy might render democratic government sustainable and break the Cycle of Anacyclosis.

we are in 2026 and my friend genuinely requires a source for McDonald's being human meat despite the fact that if the general public had any sort of source for something like that there would be mass hysteria. Word of mouth is the only way this will get around before the tipping point of things and yet it's like speaking to a brick wall. i can't make him understand and i never will

I saw this on Ethos this morning and figured I'd share. Collapse related because landfill pollution is a major contributor to climate change and waste as a whole contaminates soil and waterways across the world.

From the article:

Recycling and reducing myths feed our latest obsession — that we can achieve truly zero-waste status. Certainly, earnest efforts matter, but assumptions that we're not making trash because we bring reusable flatware and straws with us don't make it so.

Our waste problem has us cornered — both up and downstream — and it's big business.

The article did make one error. It claims the garbage industry is worth nearly 70 billion dollars. That is not true.

Its closer to 150 billion dollars.

Submission Statement:

You can find this post verbatim on my substack, but I post there once a year at best and I think moving forward maybe even less - because frankly, what is the point?

Another month, another hot off the presses paper bucking the gag orders which have stifled academic honesty for decades, and stating the blunt reality we need to accept: we are facing the global collapse of civilization within ten years. This time from Hansen, the esteemed and irreproachable elder for the darker truth of emissions science.

Some choice quotes:

We inferred that global temperature, after reaching a minimum about +1.4°C in the first half of 2026, will rise to about +1.7°C in the first half of 2027, as spurred by even a moderately strong El Nino.

The graph begins in 1979 because upper 300 m data only goes back that far, but the trend rates of global temperature and Nino3.4 are nearly unchanged when their data begin in 1970. Global warming begins to diverge from the linear trend in about 2015. The magnitude of this gap is the source of befuddlement for climate models, especially those with low climate sensitivity. This persistent, seemingly growing, gap implies an increase of the net climate forcing.

If we characterize this forcing change with a single "turning point," that turning point is in the range 2010 to 2015, probably closer to 2015. Thus, in finding the best linear fit to accelerated global warming in Fig. 1, we show results with the linear fit starting on the trend line for both choices: 2010 and 2015. The latter, more realistic, choice results in global warming reaching 2°C in the 2030s.

Hansen of course ends on a polite note, because he has to if he wants to keep his job:

Don't be too pessimistic as the evidence for high climate sensitivity grows. Realistic understanding of the climate situation, and public recognition of that, is the essential first step toward successfully addressing climate change. Progress in climate science during the next 5-10 years is needed for the development of effective energy and climate policy because the pressure for policy action will grow along with climate impacts as global temperature approaches +2°C. The current flippant attitude - 1.5°C isn't so bad, we can deal with 3°C - of people who should know better will dissolve, if we can improve understanding of the danger of passing the point of no return. Yes, we know, this all sounds very theoretical. That is the world we live in. Politicians cannot see past the end of their nose, the next election. Young people understand that and have the potential to affect the future. It will be an interesting story.

Left unspoken, for those with reading comprehension, is how this paper is entirely about acknowledging that we passed a critical (still unidentified) tipping point for the rapid acceleration of warming 11 years ago, and have done nothing except keep the gas pedal flat-out ever since.

Hard Talk:

Those few who are still paying attention to the science for the past three years, instead of sitting around jerking themselves off with one-line jokes and AI-generated bullshit which have come to dominate the white noise of this subreddit however, can understand what this represents. Last years "Global Warming Has Accelerated Significantly" paper lays the math out of the trajectory out very clearly:

• At the current 0.4~ degrees of warming per decade we will hit +2 degrees of warming globally by the early 2030's, potentially in 2030. With this will come the catastrophic disruption of critical systems we rely on to maintain our civilization, which we are already witnessing worldwide. The rate of warming will, of course, continue to increase dramatically over this period. It is a self-feeding cycle now.
• We will reach +3 degrees of warming globally by the early to mid 2040's, and what remains of the core systems for our civilization at that point is going to very rapidly fall apart. The actuaries paper among others has not held back on the impacts of a +3c climate regime. With only a rough idea of what feedback loops will be triggered in this timeframe, the rate of warming - having doubled from +0.2~ since 2015 - would if progressing linearly be 0.8~ per decade by 2035 and +1.6~ per decade by 2045.We are no longer experiencing a linear pathway of warming. It is very clear: we left that behind in 2015.
• Speculating on 2045 and beyond is, to be blunt, irrelevant. If you are lucky you will be dead, everyone you know will likely be dead, and the period of 2050 onwards will feature a handful of scavengers sifting through the choking dust of a world in chaos - one which burns and freezes without any cyclicity while unprecedented storms ravage it. It is evident now that for over a decade we have been locked into a progressive regime of accelerating warming and feedback loops - from which we have no way out other than pleading for technology which does not exist, which fundamentally cannot exist, and is thus little more than magical / religious thinking. The science which would have revealed this situation was suppressed by governments, we have all kept the party going while knowing consciously and subconsciously that things were getting worse every year, and now it's all falling apart. I'm not really interested in arguing the point with the quality of poster on this subreddit anymore, if you can't understand the math that's your failure.

In Closing:

For the better part of the past year and a half I've been experiencing terrible writers block, while trying to write something about "How To Live While The World Is Dying". I gave that up, and after friends kept asking me to explain my position it morphed into trying to tie together all of the existing cutting edge science on the situation in a digestible form for the layman. I thought I had a respectable draft together and had sent it to Richard Crim in early January for feedback and ideas, only to find out this week he has passed away. Forgive my rage here: I'm pretty pissed that we lost one of the few who could cut through the bullshit and see this situation for what it is, and present it in a coherent fashion, in an era when most of the humans left on the internet seem to have half a brain per half million of them.That essay has been ready to go for months, really, but every month a new paper drops with a bombshell and I have to re-write a huge chunk of it to reflect what we now know.

At the end of it all, after all these words, what we know is that we are fucked, cooked, totally shitfucked with no hope of recovery. We're all gonna die, quite miserably, decades before we should have, and any hope of stopping this process ended definitively over a decade ago. All that remains is to witness the end out of morbid curiosity for how it plays out, because we damn well know how we got there.

So stop fucking around on this godforsaken brainrot, touch grass before it burns, and do something meaningful with the last five to ten years of your life.

For the crowd who are just here to post uneducated doom because you yearn for the end of the world to release you from your shitty miserable lives, good news:

You're already dead.

Stellantis announced that it is taking a $26 billion hit associated with backtracking on EVs. The vast majority of the write-down is specific to North America, where Stellantis has essentially given up on plug-in vehicles. EV production is being replaced with a return of ICE powertrains, including the "Hemi." This ... [continued]

The post Stellantis Stumbles In A Staggering EV Retreat appeared first on CleanTechnica.

I was driving through rural areas this weekend and realized something that's been nagging at me for a while. My windshield was completely clean. Not a single bug splatter.
I remember as a kid in the 90s and early 2000s, road trips meant stopping every couple hours to clean the windshield because it would be absolutely covered in dead insects. You couldn't see through it. It was gross but it was normal.
Now? Nothing. I drove for 6 hours through farmland and countryside and my windshield looked like I'd just washed it.

This isn't just anecdotal either. Insect populations have collapsed by something like 75% in the last few decades. And nobody's talking about it. Everyone's focused on climate change (which is obviously critical) but the insect apocalypse is happening right now and it's going to devastate ecosystems in ways we can't even fully predict.

No insects means no pollination. No pollination means crop failures. It also means the entire food chain collapses because insects are the base of so many ecosystems. Birds, bats, small mammals, amphibians, fish they all rely on insects. When the insects go, everything else follows.

And it's not like this is some distant future problem. It's happening NOW. We're living through a mass extinction event in real time and most people haven't even noticed because it's been gradual enough that we've adjusted to the new normal.

I see people talking about prepping for economic collapse or supply chain issues but ecological collapse is going to make all of that look like a minor inconvenience. You can't eat money. You can't grow food without pollinators.

When's the last time you saw a firefly? When's the last time you saw a monarch butterfly? When's the last time you heard crickets at night?
We're fucked and nobody's paying attention.

Will the Chinese use Canada as their North American beachhead? As Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers look beyond Europe and Southeast Asia, Canada is quietly emerging as the most realistic entry point into North America. It combines stringent safety and environmental regulations, a consumer base already primed for electrification, and—crucially—slightly more ... [continued]

The post Which of the 132 Chinese EV Automakers Will Enter Canada? appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Sales of Tesla Powerwall batteries are in danger of sputtering out, even as the company launches its own line of residential solar panels.

The post Tesla Powerwall Facing Headwinds & Nasty Comments appeared first on CleanTechnica.

image by AI; not my prompt

As a compulsive writer and an incurable overthinker, I have a great love of incongruity. Some of the most important insights I have had in my life came from recognizing and addressing incongruities — things that seemingly contradict or which don't make sense in the context of something else I thought I understood. And some of my favourite writing (my own and others') plays with clever incongruities, including but not limited to ironies.

So, just as one example, I love the fact that the best sad songs make me cry, and can make me feel happier than the most cheerful anthems can, and they can pull me out of the deepest feelings of sadness.

I hit upon the title for this post because I was trying to compose a song about learning to accept things we cannot control or change — which is basically everything, at least if, like me, you accept the overwhelming (and, to human brains, utterly incongruous) scientific evidence that we have no free will.

Creative writing is, for me, the hardest to do, and (perhaps as a result) the most satisfying when it works out, or even when I just learn something important from the process.

Most songs are designed to appeal to us emotionally rather than intellectually, and hence the particular subject for my intended song was problematic — it's just too conceptual and theoretical to appeal to the listener, and even to lend itself to notes and music that convey meaning and feeling. There's a reason most songs are stories about how people feel. You want to write a song about the injustice of Trump & Co's ICE Gestapo, you tell an angry and heart-wrenching story, you don't quote from the constitution and legal precedent.

I tried writing a variety of stories about acceptance, and they came out as terribly bloodless. Not the stuff of a moving song. I looked for some hints and ideas from Suno music AI, and it kept feeding me very personal stories about lost love and heartbreak, not stoicism. And it eviscerated my cold titles, creating clumsy and soulless choruses that just made me wince.

And then I realized how important the title of a song is: not just the denotation of the words, but their rhythm, which can dictate the entire tone of a song. Suno was trying to work the title into the first or last lines of the song's chorus, and the result was awful.

And hence, the title of this post, and my intended song. Let It Be Just What It Is has a good rhythm to it, one that is both driving and accommodating, a perfect incongruity. And indeed, the music of the resultant Suno song is actually pretty good (in fact, I can't get the chorus out of my head):

Let it be just what it is
Not a promise, not a wish
We can love, we can miss
Let it be just what it is
Let it be, don't make it more
Leave your armour at the door
If we lose all of this
Let it be just what it is

Here's the song:

Let It Be Just What It Is (Suno) (Soundcloud)

OK, the lyrics are pretty bad. All I provided was a short, cold prompt. The Suno lyrics are mostly pretentious and awkward, with a few incongruous 'clever' juxtapositions of words. But the music, I think, is great.

How could I rescue the lyrics to make them as good as the music? For all kinds of legal reasons (potential for copyright violations of recorded works etc) Suno won't let you change the lyrics and keep the music. There are workarounds, but they're hard. And I'm lazy. And the song is even telling me not to change it.

I did consider an alternative title with a similar rhythm: Let It Be What It Will Be. A title that ends with a hard-to-rhyme syllable is a cardinal sin in songwriting, and lots more rhymes exist for the word be than for the word is. Why did I reject it? For purist reasons: My preferred title refers to the present moment, which is all that really matters, while this alternative refers to a future (which arguably doesn't exist) and alternate 'possibilities' (which don't exist either).

And then I realized that my preferred title is also incongruous. Since we have no free will, we can't choose to 'let it be just what it is'. We have no volition, no agency to accept or not accept. If these bodies of ours appear to accept, or refuse to accept, the way things apparently are, then all 'we' can do is rationalize that 'decision' after the fact.

But that's an incongruity I can live with. A little smile, perhaps, to the impossibility of us having the free will to act as if we don't have free will. Let it be just what it is.

But of course I couldn't do that. I tried again with my alternative title: Let It Be What It Will Be, and the further prompt that it be a song about acceptance. Here's what it came up with:

Let It Be What It Will Be (Afro-Caribbean version) (Suno) (Soundcloud)

The music is not quite as catchy as the first song, but I think the lyrics are definitely better. Coherent if not memorable. And lyrics are important:

Let it be what it will be
If you stay, if you leave
If you heal, if you bleed
Every part of you speaks
Let it be what it will be
From your roots to your wings
You're the song, you're the beat
You're already redeemed
Let it be what it will be

Overall I think it's a better song.

Now, you'd think I might learn at this point to let the song be.

Of course, I couldn't. So I told Suno to remake the song, with the same prompt, but as a soft rock song. And again I was surprised. Here's the result it produced this time:

Let It Be What It Will Be (Soft rock version) (Suno) (Soundcloud)

Solid, well-constructed music, I thought, and pretty good lyrics as well:

Let it be what it will be
I'm done rewriting gravity
If it breaks. let it break me clean
I'll rise up from the fault lines underneath
Let it be what it will be
Open hands, whatever comes to me
If it hurts, let it move me free
I'm done hiding from the life in front of me
Let it be what it will be

 New Yorker cartoon by the late Charles Barsotti

After 'writing' the songs above, I was inspired by Canadian music superstar Shania Twain's recent song Boots Don't, to try 'writing' a song in Southern Country Rock style about the idea that we foolishly think we know ourselves, and other people, when in fact "Nobody Knows Anything" (or Anyone). Trying to learn from the previous song, I came up with what I thought was a catchy title with a good rhythm: I Know You Think You Know Me (But You Don't).

With the Southern Country Rock prompt, here's what Suno made of that:

I Know You Think You Know Me (But You Don't)  (Suno) (Soundcloud)

Again, the lyrics are meh, but the vibe, I think, is great fun.

Thanks to Paul Heft for the link, above, to Tom Murphy's post on Ditching Dualism, which title is itself a masterful example of incongruity. Here are links to my six favourite AI-assisted songs:

1. After Us — a song about my feelings about civilization's collapse, and what might come after (lyrics mine, AI assisted)
2. If It Wasn't For Words — a song about how human life might have emerged on Earth if we'd never evolved language (lyrics mine, AI assisted)
3. Everything Is Fine — a tongue-in-cheek 'protest' song about our denial that everything is falling apart (lyrics mine, AI assisted)
4. Only This — a song about radical non-duality and a 'glimpse' of the absence of a separate self (lyrics entirely mine)
5. Rise and Shine — a K-Pop girl group style song on women achieving equality (unedited AI lyrics based on my prompt)
6. She Knows — Celtic-style song based on the maiden-mother-crone triple goddess myth (unedited AI lyrics based on my prompt)

If you're interested in hearing more of 'my' music, you can find it all on my Suno page (slow loading but includes lyrics), or my Soundcloud page (faster loading, no lyrics).

And just to reiterate what I've said on my previous AI-inspired posts:
1. I have a love-hate relationship with AI. When it's used properly and carefully as a tool, as an aid to learning and creativity, I believe it can be very useful, and enormous fun. But most of its large-scale applications (like replacing jobs and facilitating wars and surveillance) are ill-conceived, immoral, incompetently designed and conceived, vastly overreaching the capabilities of AI, ecologically disastrous, socially disruptive, and extremely dangerous.
2. The staggering amount that has been invested in AI has absolutely no viable business case to justify it. It represents possibly the most astounding squandering of money based purely on imagined and improbable future developments and blind faith, in history. Those who have studied this have concluded that this massive bubble will soon burst, and those who've invested in it will lose their shirts. At that time, the window to use AI as a learning and creativity tool will quickly close forever. Our playing with these essentially-free tools now is not going to aggravate its abusive uses, nor will it have any impact on the timing or extent of the coming AI crash. So my view is: use it while you can; it will soon be gone.

I just wanted to put this out there, but that creeping sense of cognitive dissonance you get when you go to supermarket and still see full shelves, no matter how out of whack the prices have gotten? That sense of disquiet but acceptance when you see kids on phones following their parents around like zombies? How every day that the internet is still on, but it keeps putting out cycle after cycle of outrage and falsehoods trying to top the falsehoods of yesterday?

None of that is normal. All of that is hypernormalization.

We cannot envision a viable alternative to an unsustainable system, and so we quietly go about our daily lives because most of us can afford to be insulated form them. For now. But the rot creeps in.

We are living in a ghost story, a purgatory, and the best we can do is make our own little preparations until the other shoe drops and the bright blinding light of collapse hits.

So we got to talking at my job this morning and quite frankly everyone is kind of freaked out. I am under the impression that what I currently see on my feed is fed to me by an algorithm that won't allow me to see things that they are seeing as I used my phone to decompress. I am not saying that our government isn't in line for a complete collapse but they are speaking in terms of everything that we know. As like a world order is going to throw us under (think 1984 George Orwell) So I would love to hear what y'all have to say and sources I can fall into heavily. Talk to me like I'm a child that knows nothing. I'm trying to gather information the best I can. I've always mentally prepared for a horrible future but this seems worst than what I've ever thought.

I dig a well on my property. Now I have water. But it lowers the water table below the depth of my neighbor's well.

I didn't do anything wrong. Neither did my neighbor. We both made reasonable choices. And now one of us doesn't have water.

This is how the commons dies. Not through villainy, but through everyone optimizing correctly, one reasonable decision at a time. One well becomes a subdivision, becomes industrial agriculture, becomes the Ogallala Aquifer dropping a foot a year across eight states. Nobody's wrong at any step. The aggregate is catastrophe.

Now scale it up.

We strip-mine rare earths — two thousand tons of toxic waste per ton extracted — to build AI data centers that consume more electricity than some countries and drink millions of gallons of water a day for cooling. We build them as fast as we can, because the quarterly targets demand it, because the competitors are building theirs. Each step is rational. Each step is someone's optimized business case.

And what do people actually use this machine for?

According to Harvard Business Review, the top uses of AI are therapy, life organization, and finding purpose.

We hollowed out the commons — the water, the air, the earth itself — to build an optimization engine so powerful that people mainly use it to ask why they feel so empty. The machine doesn't know. It's a next-token predictor reflecting our own confusion back to us in comforting paragraphs. But people are so starved for the conversation that they'll take it, because the chatbot has time, doesn't judge, and costs less than the therapy that the economy they live in has made unaffordable.

We destroyed the village well to build a machine that people use to ask why they're thirsty.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/feb/06/deepfake-taking-place-on-an-industrial-scale-study-finds

"AI content for scams can be targeted at individuals and 'produced by pretty much anybody', researchers say"

The implications of this are that no one can trust anything any more, and since so few people have critical thinking skills, these scams will cause a great deal of suffering. I've been working around computer security for 25 years (I'm a tech journalist), and have seen many types of threat, but these are by far the most serious I have ever seen. (Okay, with the exception of zero-click exploits...)

The original title of this piece was "Will Dutch Mobility Work in the Philippines?" And immediately, the answer is no. There are too many nuances in how the Netherlands managed its small footprint, pedaled and motored mobility as well as a collective effort that didn't shrug off any road user. ... [continued]

The post Op-Ed: Manila Doesn't Need Dutch Micromobility — It Needs Dutch Thinking appeared first on CleanTechnica.

The US has withdrawn from the historic Paris global climate frameworks. Can any US president unilaterally the country from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change? That's the question that former US senator from Wisconsin, Russ Feingold asks. There are many problems with the decision to abandon a legal ... [continued]

The post You Can't Just Walk Out On Climate Frameworks! appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Huge thanks to my February sponsor, John Rember, author of the three-book series Journal of the Plague Years, a psychic survival guide for humanity's looming date with destiny, shaped by his experiences living through the pandemic in his native Idaho. Thoughtful, wry and humane, Journal 1 is a pleasure.

"The presumed upcoming El Nino will help cement and quantify global warming acceleration, showing that 2ºC global warming is likely to be reached in the 2030s, not at midcentury.

"See [my latest substack; Prof Jim Hansen] https://mailchi.mp/caa/another-el-nino-already-what-can-we-learn-from-it

"Breaking News! Y-axis alert!

"For the first time on record, the 3-year running average for the mean rate of atmospheric CO2 growth broke 8.00 ppm per 3 years, reaching a new record high growth rate of 8.06 ppm per 3 years. "And that dip in the early 1990's was Mt. Pinatubo." [Prof Eliot Jacobson]

https://x.com/EliotJacobson/status/2019535227857826010

"Turbo-charged jet stream's effects felt in every part of Europe.

"What has the brutal cold in North America got to do with the thoroughly wet weather over much of the UK, atrocious rains in Spain and Portugal and bitter cold in northern Europe? The thread binding this weather pattern together is the jet stream."

https://www.thetimes.com/comment/register/article/turbo-charged-jet-streams-effects-felt-in-every-part-of-europe-5ngb78djm

"University of Reading meteorologists said they have recorded the longest unbroken spell of rainy days in the town since they started measuring them in 1908. [UK]

"Its Atmospheric Observatory said January was the fourth-wettest since then, with total rainfall levels way above those expected."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwyr5rygg62o

"Denmark Paralyzed: Heavy snow and blizzards bring the country to a standstill.

"On Friday most of the country woke up to a snow-covered landscape as a powerful winter storm swept across Denmark. Heavy snowfall and blizzard conditions causing widespread disruption to transport, education, and daily commerce."

https://cphpost.dk/2026-02-06/life-in-denmark/denmark-paralyzed-heavy-snow-and-blizzards-bring-the-country-to-a-standstill/

"Symi Declared in State of Emergency as Water Shortages Persist [Greece].

"The decision said authorities deemed the measure necessary because Symi continues to face a serious lack of water. Local authorities and residents remain concerned, as the problem has not eased even after recent rain."

https://greekcitytimes.com/2026/02/05/symi-declared-in-state-of-emergency-as-water-shortages-persist/?amp

"Storm Leonardo devastates southern Portugal and Spain.

"Storm has ravaged southern regions of Spain and Portugal this week, leaving one man dead in Portugal and one woman missing in Spain. Calls to postpone presidential election as Storm Leonardo lashes Portugal and Spain…"

https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2026/feb/06/storm-leonardo-devastates-southern-portugal-spain-video

"Grazalema evacuated as extreme rainfall causes dangerous underground water buildup.

"Authorities in Andalusia have ordered the evacuation of the town of Grazalema to Ronda, in Cádiz province, after an unusual buildup of water underground triggered minor seismic activity and raised serious safety concerns. This urgent measure affects more than 1,600 residents."

https://www.theportugalnews.com/news/2026-02-06/grazalema-evacuated-as-extreme-rainfall-causes-dangerous-underground-water-buildup/955431

"Moroccan Authorities Evacuate More than 143,000 People Due to Flooding.

"Moroccan authorities continued a massive evacuation operation for the tenth consecutive day in a number of northern provinces hit by severe flooding, with more than 143,000 people evacuated as a precaution."

https://voi.id/en/news/556937

"Drought Spreads Beyond Kenya's Arid North, Plunging Herders Into Crisis.

"Kenya has been here before, most recently in 2022 when a record ​drought decimated livestock ⁠populations and plunged pastoralists in the East African country's arid north and northeast into a hunger crisis."

https://www.usnews.com/news/top-news/articles/2026-02-06/drought-spreads-beyond-kenyas-arid-north-plunging-herders-into-crisis

"Yemen's Vanishing Wells.

"In eastern Yemen, diesel pumps stand idle above dried-out boreholes. Their hoses are cracked from the heat, their engines silent. There is a lack of fuel, electricity, and above all, water beneath the ground."

https://www.fairplanet.org/story/yemens-vanishing-wells/

"Crazy MINIMUM Temperatures up to 18C in the highlands of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Records of February warm nights smashed also in Kazakhstan.

"This is NOTHING to what's coming: We will see tropical nights and Maxes up to 30C [86F] An absolute insanity beyond any imagination."

https://x.com/extremetemps/status/2019289623319699496

"Cyclone Senyar triggered 330 landslides in South Tapanuli, survey finds [Indonesia].

"An independent survey found 330 landslides upstream of the Garoga and Siondop rivers after the rare tropical cyclone Senyar struck South Tapanuli regency in North Sumatra in late November."

https://www.thejakartapost.com/indonesia/2026/02/07/cyclone-senyar-triggered-330-landslides-in-south-tapanuli-survey-finds.html

"Tropical Storm Penha brings devastation to Philippines with 4 dead and 6,000 evacuated

"Tropical Storm Penha killed at least four people and displaced more than 6,000 across the southern Philippines as days of heavy rainfall triggered flooding and a landslide, authorities said on Friday."

https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/tropical-storm-penha-philippines-basyang-deaths-b2915218.html

"Cyclone Mitchell intensifies as towns in north-west WA brace for winds, flooding.

"Authorities expect the cyclone to continue churning south-west and cross the western Pilbara coast late Sunday afternoon. It was expected to intensify into a category three system as it passes just north of Karratha Saturday night and track close to the Pilbara coast on Sunday."

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/feb/07/cyclone-intensifies-as-towns-in-north-west-wa-brace-for-winds-flooding

"Climate change is accelerating antibiotic resistance across the Western Pacific.

"A recent study published in The Lancet Regional Health, Western Pacific finds that changing climatic conditions and socioeconomic vulnerabilities jointly shape antimicrobial resistance (AMR) risks in the Western Pacific region, highlighting the urgent need for establishing integrated AMR, climate surveillance networks."

https://www.news-medical.net/news/20260206/Climate-change-is-accelerating-antibiotic-resistance-across-the-Western-Pacific.aspx

"Rescuers in Patagonia: the silent work that saves animals amid forest fires.

"The Argentine Patagonia is facing one of the worst environmental crises of the last decade. Since the end of December, forest fires have been advancing over thousands of hectares, affecting protected areas such as the Los Alerces National Park."

https://noticiasambientales.com/environment-en/rescuers-in-patagonia-the-silent-work-that-saves-animals-amid-forest-fires/

"Chileans race to protect plant species in the world's driest desert.

"John Bartlett reports that climate change and natural disasters are adding urgency as people around the world race to collect, store, and protect plant species, and that Chileans are rising to the challenge in the world's driest desert."

https://www.kuow.org/stories/chileans-race-to-protect-plant-species-in-the-world-s-driest-desert

"Peru: Deadly Mudslides Ravage Peru After Heavy Rain.

"Peru Mudslides: Severe flooding and deadly mudslides triggered by heavy rainfall have left communities across Peru reeling, with residents describing scenes of devastation and loss."

https://www.wionews.com/videos/peru-deadly-mudslides-ravage-peru-after-heavy-rain-1770367877054

"EXTRAORDINARY SUMMER WARMTH: "Night Minimums locally >10C/50F in Canada highlands and also in Montana and South Dakota. Dozens of records of February hottest night pulverized. (many will hold). Let+s expect widespread maxes in the lower 20Cs/70Fs."

https://x.com/extremetemps/status/2019451525953650788

"From orcas to water shortages: nature in a changing climate.

"Orcas are attacking sailboats near Gibraltar and Portugal. They're damaging rudders, and have sunk boats. But why are they doing this? Also: islands cutting waste, shrinking snow in the Alps, and the carbon cycle."

https://www.dw.com/en/from-orcas-to-water-shortages-nature-in-a-changing-climate/video-75841224

"The water wars are coming This finite resource will define the century.

"Today, we are already in the midst of a deep and deepening crisis of water availability. Though more than 70% of the world's surface is covered by the stuff, almost all of it is seawater."

https://unherd.com/2026/02/the-water-wars-are-coming/

"Saving the ozone layer has 'polluted Earth with forever chemicals'.

"Substances brought in to replace CFCs have led to 300,000 tonnes of a potentially toxic chemical being deposited in soil and rivers worldwide, a study claims."

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/environment/article/saving-ozone-layer-polluted-earth-forever-chemicals-0m8f3ckxr

I rely on donations and tips from my readers to to keep the site running. Every little bit helps. Can you chip in even a dollar? Buy me a coffee or become a Patreon supporter. A huge thank you to those who do subscribe or donate.

You can read the previous "Climate" thread here. I'll be back tomorrow with an "Economic" thread.

The post 7th February 2026 Today's Round-Up of Climate News (rev.1) appeared first on Climate and Economy.

Huge thanks to my February sponsor, John Rember, author of the three-book series Journal of the Plague Years, a psychic survival guide for humanity's looming date with destiny, shaped by his experiences living through the pandemic in his native Idaho. Thoughtful, wry and humane, Journal 1 is a pleasure.

"The presumed upcoming El Nino will help cement and quantify global warming acceleration, showing that 2ºC global warming is likely to be reached in the 2030s, not at midcentury.

"See [my latest substack; Prof Jim Hansen] https://mailchi.mp/caa/another-el-nino-already-what-can-we-learn-from-it

"Breaking News! Y-axis alert!

"For the first time on record, the 3-year running average for the mean rate of atmospheric CO2 growth broke 8.00 ppm per 3 years, reaching a new record high growth rate of 8.06 ppm per 3 years. "And that dip in the early 1990's was Mt. Pinatubo." [Prof Eliot Jacobson]

https://x.com/EliotJacobson/status/2019535227857826010

"Turbo-charged jet stream's effects felt in every part of Europe.

"What has the brutal cold in North America got to do with the thoroughly wet weather over much of the UK, atrocious rains in Spain and Portugal and bitter cold in northern Europe? The thread binding this weather pattern together is the jet stream."

https://www.thetimes.com/comment/register/article/turbo-charged-jet-streams-effects-felt-in-every-part-of-europe-5ngb78djm

"University of Reading meteorologists said they have recorded the longest unbroken spell of rainy days in the town since they started measuring them in 1908. [UK]

"Its Atmospheric Observatory said January was the fourth-wettest since then, with total rainfall levels way above those expected."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwyr5rygg62o

"Denmark Paralyzed: Heavy snow and blizzards bring the country to a standstill.

"On Friday most of the country woke up to a snow-covered landscape as a powerful winter storm swept across Denmark. Heavy snowfall and blizzard conditions causing widespread disruption to transport, education, and daily commerce."

https://cphpost.dk/2026-02-06/life-in-denmark/denmark-paralyzed-heavy-snow-and-blizzards-bring-the-country-to-a-standstill/

"Symi Declared in State of Emergency as Water Shortages Persist [Greece].

"The decision said authorities deemed the measure necessary because Symi continues to face a serious lack of water. Local authorities and residents remain concerned, as the problem has not eased even after recent rain."

https://greekcitytimes.com/2026/02/05/symi-declared-in-state-of-emergency-as-water-shortages-persist/?amp

"Storm Leonardo devastates southern Portugal and Spain.

"Storm has ravaged southern regions of Spain and Portugal this week, leaving one man dead in Portugal and one woman missing in Spain. Calls to postpone presidential election as Storm Leonardo lashes Portugal and Spain…"

https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2026/feb/06/storm-leonardo-devastates-southern-portugal-spain-video

"Grazalema evacuated as extreme rainfall causes dangerous underground water buildup.

"Authorities in Andalusia have ordered the evacuation of the town of Grazalema to Ronda, in Cádiz province, after an unusual buildup of water underground triggered minor seismic activity and raised serious safety concerns. This urgent measure affects more than 1,600 residents."

https://www.theportugalnews.com/news/2026-02-06/grazalema-evacuated-as-extreme-rainfall-causes-dangerous-underground-water-buildup/955431

"Moroccan Authorities Evacuate More than 143,000 People Due to Flooding.

"Moroccan authorities continued a massive evacuation operation for the tenth consecutive day in a number of northern provinces hit by severe flooding, with more than 143,000 people evacuated as a precaution."

https://voi.id/en/news/556937

"Drought Spreads Beyond Kenya's Arid North, Plunging Herders Into Crisis.

"Kenya has been here before, most recently in 2022 when a record ​drought decimated livestock ⁠populations and plunged pastoralists in the East African country's arid north and northeast into a hunger crisis."

https://www.usnews.com/news/top-news/articles/2026-02-06/drought-spreads-beyond-kenyas-arid-north-plunging-herders-into-crisis

"Yemen's Vanishing Wells.

"In eastern Yemen, diesel pumps stand idle above dried-out boreholes. Their hoses are cracked from the heat, their engines silent. There is a lack of fuel, electricity, and above all, water beneath the ground."

https://www.fairplanet.org/story/yemens-vanishing-wells/

"Crazy MINIMUM Temperatures up to 18C in the highlands of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Records of February warm nights smashed also in Kazakhstan.

"This is NOTHING to what's coming: We will see tropical nights and Maxes up to 30C [86F] An absolute insanity beyond any imagination."

https://x.com/extremetemps/status/2019289623319699496

"Cyclone Senyar triggered 330 landslides in South Tapanuli, survey finds [Indonesia].

"An independent survey found 330 landslides upstream of the Garoga and Siondop rivers after the rare tropical cyclone Senyar struck South Tapanuli regency in North Sumatra in late November."

https://www.thejakartapost.com/indonesia/2026/02/07/cyclone-senyar-triggered-330-landslides-in-south-tapanuli-survey-finds.html

"Tropical Storm Penha brings devastation to Philippines with 4 dead and 6,000 evacuated

"Tropical Storm Penha killed at least four people and displaced more than 6,000 across the southern Philippines as days of heavy rainfall triggered flooding and a landslide, authorities said on Friday."

https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/tropical-storm-penha-philippines-basyang-deaths-b2915218.html

"Cyclone Mitchell intensifies as towns in north-west WA brace for winds, flooding.

"Authorities expect the cyclone to continue churning south-west and cross the western Pilbara coast late Sunday afternoon. It was expected to intensify into a category three system as it passes just north of Karratha Saturday night and track close to the Pilbara coast on Sunday."

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/feb/07/cyclone-intensifies-as-towns-in-north-west-wa-brace-for-winds-flooding

"Climate change is accelerating antibiotic resistance across the Western Pacific.

"A recent study published in The Lancet Regional Health, Western Pacific finds that changing climatic conditions and socioeconomic vulnerabilities jointly shape antimicrobial resistance (AMR) risks in the Western Pacific region, highlighting the urgent need for establishing integrated AMR, climate surveillance networks."

https://www.news-medical.net/news/20260206/Climate-change-is-accelerating-antibiotic-resistance-across-the-Western-Pacific.aspx

"Rescuers in Patagonia: the silent work that saves animals amid forest fires.

"The Argentine Patagonia is facing one of the worst environmental crises of the last decade. Since the end of December, forest fires have been advancing over thousands of hectares, affecting protected areas such as the Los Alerces National Park."

https://noticiasambientales.com/environment-en/rescuers-in-patagonia-the-silent-work-that-saves-animals-amid-forest-fires/

"Chileans race to protect plant species in the world's driest desert.

"John Bartlett reports that climate change and natural disasters are adding urgency as people around the world race to collect, store, and protect plant species, and that Chileans are rising to the challenge in the world's driest desert."

https://www.kuow.org/stories/chileans-race-to-protect-plant-species-in-the-world-s-driest-desert

"Peru: Deadly Mudslides Ravage Peru After Heavy Rain.

"Peru Mudslides: Severe flooding and deadly mudslides triggered by heavy rainfall have left communities across Peru reeling, with residents describing scenes of devastation and loss."

https://www.wionews.com/videos/peru-deadly-mudslides-ravage-peru-after-heavy-rain-1770367877054

"EXTRAORDINARY SUMMER WARMTH: "Night Minimums locally >10C/50F in Canada highlands and also in Montana and South Dakota. Dozens of records of February hottest night pulverized. (many will hold). Let+s expect widespread maxes in the lower 20Cs/70Fs."

https://x.com/extremetemps/status/2019451525953650788

"From orcas to water shortages: nature in a changing climate.

"Orcas are attacking sailboats near Gibraltar and Portugal. They're damaging rudders, and have sunk boats. But why are they doing this? Also: islands cutting waste, shrinking snow in the Alps, and the carbon cycle."

https://www.dw.com/en/from-orcas-to-water-shortages-nature-in-a-changing-climate/video-75841224

"The water wars are coming This finite resource will define the century.

"Today, we are already in the midst of a deep and deepening crisis of water availability. Though more than 70% of the world's surface is covered by the stuff, almost all of it is seawater."

https://unherd.com/2026/02/the-water-wars-are-coming/

"Saving the ozone layer has 'polluted Earth with forever chemicals'.

"Substances brought in to replace CFCs have led to 300,000 tonnes of a potentially toxic chemical being deposited in soil and rivers worldwide, a study claims."

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/environment/article/saving-ozone-layer-polluted-earth-forever-chemicals-0m8f3ckxr

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The post 7th February 2026 Today's Round-Up of Climate News appeared first on Climate and Economy.

Btw, it's

Mergers and acquisitions will shrink number of operators from more than 100 to five or six, says Be.EV co-founder

British electric charger companies are asking rivals to buy them as they run out of cash amid rising costs and intense competition, according to industry bosses.

A wave of mergers and acquisitions is likely to shrink the number of charge point operators from as many as 150 to a market dominated by five or six players, said Asif Ghafoor, a co-founder of Be.EV, a charging company backed by Octopus Energy.

NFU warn it could take years to restore Brexit losses despite efforts to smooth negotiations on farming and other elements of UK-EU reset

Exports of British farm products to the EU have dropped almost 40% in the five years since Brexit, highlighting the trade barriers caused by the UK's divorce from the EU in 2020.

Analysis of HMRC data by the National Farmers' Union shows the decline in sales of everything from British beef to cheddar cheese has dropped by 37.4% in the five years since 2019, the last full year before Brexit.

Experts say dangerous sleep apnoea affects an estimated 8 million in the UK alone, and everything from evolution to obesity or even the climate crisis could be to blame

When Matt Hillier was in his 20s, he went camping with a friend who was a nurse. In the morning she told him she had been shocked by the snoring coming from his tent. "She basically said, 'For a 25-year-old non-smoker who's quite skinny, you snore pretty loudly,'" says Hiller, now 32.

Perhaps because of the pervasive image of a "typical" sleep apnoea patient - older, and overweight - Hillier didn't seek help. It wasn't until he was 30 that he finally went to a doctor after waking up from a particularly big night of snoring with a racing heartbeat. Despite being young, active and a healthy weight, further investigation - including a night recording his snoring - revealed that he had moderate sleep apnoea. His was classed as supine, the most common form of the condition, meaning it happens when he sleeps on his back, and is likely caused by his throat muscles.

Special pods at Chester zoo helped conservationists breed and release more than 100,000 greater Bermuda snails

A button-sized snail once feared extinct in its Bermudian home is thriving again after conservationists bred and released more than 100,000 of the molluscs.

The greater Bermuda snail (Poecilozonites bermudensis) was found in the fossil record but believed to have vanished from the North Atlantic archipelago, until a remnant population was discovered in a damp and overgrown alleyway in Hamilton, the island capital, in 2014.

Peterchurch, Herefordshire: Some silage competitions are assessed in a lab far away, this one takes place in a noisy pub, with judges getting their hands dirty

What a night. I've just got home from the Nags Head, Peterchurch, having attended the Eskleyside Agricultural Society's annual silage competition. The Nags is one of the great social spots in the Golden valley. Here you can meet potato growers, social workers, sheep farmers, stranded pilgrims, water diviners and Thomas the cat. I've witnessed carol singing and dancing on tables, and the fire only goes out for two weeks each year, in the height of summer.

Tonight the focus is silage. Grass, maize and cereal crops, harvested last summer, have been under wraps ever since in the local barns. Starved of oxygen, they have been steadily "pickling", to ensure they're packed with nutrients when fed to hungry cattle and sheep.

Webinar Series Will Highlight How Researchers Test and De-Risk Marine Energy Microgrid Technologies in the Lab In remote places where water flows freely but electricity often does not, the potential to harness the power of waves, currents, and tides is palpable. But is it possible? Although marine energy technologies like ... [continued]

The post Will Water-Powered Microgrids Work in the Real World? appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Nanocrystal-Nitrogenase Biohybrids Harvest Light To Reduce N₂ Gas. Abundant High-Energy Electrons Are Essential. By Justin Daugherty, NLR Ammonia, a key part of nitrogen fertilizers, is central to sustaining global food production. However, its manufacture is also energy intensive: ammonia production requires 2% of global energy to meet global demand. Fifty ... [continued]

The post Could Light Be Used To Drive Enzymes for Efficient Ammonia Production? appeared first on CleanTechnica.

5 New Case Studies Add to Database of Geothermal Systems Installed Across the Nation By Becca Sweet, NLR The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Geothermal (OG) has published five new case studies on a variety of geothermal heating and cooling applications. These case studies, researched and written by the ... [continued]

The post From Airports to Elementary Schools, New Examples of Geothermal Heating & Cooling Sites Emerge appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Ontario is moving forward with planning for an entirely new nuclear generation site in Port Hope, 100 km east of Toronto, at a moment when its electricity system is already one of the most nuclear-heavy in the world. Nuclear power today provides roughly 55% of Ontario's electricity, with hydro adding ... [continued]

The post How Flexibility, Not Nuclear, Can Secure Ontario's Electricity Future appeared first on CleanTechnica.

It's been a busy week for Waymo. The California company, born out of Google many seasons ago, is at a critical point in its life and development. The company is on the verge of something, but that something is completely different depending on who you ask. This week, Waymo has ... [continued]

The post Waymo Showers Us With More Information On Driving Simulation appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Yemen might be the first country to actually run out of water

I just made a video about Yemen and honestly learned some pretty disturbing stuff.

The country was already running out of groundwater before the war even started. This was not drought. It was decades of pumping ancient aquifers faster than they could recharge. Wells got deeper, water got more expensive, and people without money slowly lost access.

By the early 2000s, experts were warning Sana'a could become the first capital to physically run out of water.

Most of Yemen's water goes to farming, especially qat, which only sped things up.

Once water disappears, everything else follows.

The war did not cause this. The water crisis made Yemen fragile.

I made a short documentary style video breaking it down if anyone's interested. Just wanted to share because this feels like one of those slow disasters we do not notice until it is everywhere.

The last nuclear treaty between Russia and America has expired and neither Congress or the Duma have any interest in renewing or reformulating.

We (he) pulled out of the climate accords, later than we wish his father would have pulled out.

But I wanna talk about another issue, one that seems to be flying under the radar lately.

This recent article from Foreign Policy is primarily concerned with flagging - that is to say, when a ship uses literal false flags to operate in protected or contested waters. This may not immediately conjure images of collapse but it seriously compromises the estimates of the IPCC and other NGOs that are basing their models on the beautiful idea that nobody lies.

This is collapse related because just like methane and plastic pollution - this is yet another variable that is not taken into account or, perhaps, intentionally ignored.

Things are bad. That might be the most honest thing you can say about this decade. But they are far worse than what is presented by the "official" figures and studies.

*"It is worse - much worse than you think" *

• David Wallace-Wells

Waymo's confirmation that some of its autonomous vehicles receive assistance from remote human operators based in the Philippines has intensified a debate in Washington over how autonomous robotaxi systems truly are — and whether offshore human involvement introduces new safety, cybersecurity, and accountability risks. The issue first drew wider public ... [continued]

The post Waymo's Fully Autonomous Vehicles Have Fleet Response Agents in the Philippines appeared first on CleanTechnica.