Alan Rhoades
@mtnclimrhoades.bsky.social
270 followers 410 following 23 posts
🖥️⛰️❄️🌡️💦 | Hydroclimate | Research Scientist | Earth and Environmental Sciences Area @eesalbnl @BerkeleyLab | born and raised in the Sierra | views my own
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mtnclimrhoades.bsky.social
Snow pit to start off 2025! ~8500 feet. Avg ❄️🌡️was -1.6 deg C. Avg density was 363 kg/m^3. Cold content was -1.2 MJ/m^2. #LakeTahoe #CarsonPass #SWEet
mtnclimrhoades.bsky.social
“Climate is changing, and the rate and magnitude of change are unusual in human experience. People are the primary cause of modern climate change, mostly through burning fossil fuels. Those who study the scientific evidence overwhelmingly agree.”

www.ametsoc.org/ams/about-am...
The Practice and Assessment of Science: Five Foundational Flaws in the Department of Energy's 2025 Climate Report
Adopted by the Executive Committee of the AMS Council on 27 August 2025
www.ametsoc.org
mtnclimrhoades.bsky.social
"the Trump administration is updating the [previously published] National Climate Assessments...Altering or revising previously published assessments would be a significant escalation in the administration’s attempts to wipe credible climate science off the record"

www.cnn.com/2025/08/07/c...
Energy chief suggests Trump administration is altering previously published climate reports | CNN
Wright said the Trump administration is updating the National Climate Assessments that have been previously published, which the administration recently removed from government websites.
www.cnn.com
Reposted by Alan Rhoades
hausfath.bsky.social
Specifically, in our paper we argue that RCP4.5 or RCP6.0 are more realistic representations of 2100 warming under current policy than the increasingly implausible RCP8.5 scenario. But the lower of those two – RCP4.5 – gives a 2100 warming range of around 1.8C to 4C!
Reposted by Alan Rhoades
hydro-adrienne.bsky.social
Feels like a weird time to be talking about regular stuff, but: if you're working on climate and snow and headed to AGU, consider submitting to our session! agu.confex.com/agu/agu25/pr...

Lucky to be organizing with @mtnclimrhoades.bsky.social , Will Rudisill, Kate Hale, @akoshkin.bsky.social
a cartoon of snoopy laying in a red shack in the snow with the words trendreisst below him
Alt: a cartoon of snoopy laying in a red shack in the snow
media.tenor.com
mtnclimrhoades.bsky.social
Proud to share @areidy.bsky.social recent work which examined how California's water cycle could respond to warming & the potential "trickle down" implications for agriculture, ultimately concluding that the Sierra Nevada 🏔️ may transition into the Sierra Lluviosa 🌧️ iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...
Reposted by Alan Rhoades
edhawkins.org
The White Cliffs of Dover have even been lit up with the stripes!
mtnclimrhoades.bsky.social
"...We operated [climate.gov] exactly how you would want an independent, non-partisan communications group...It does seem to be part of this sort of slow & quiet way of keep[ing] science agencies from providing information to the American public about climate..."

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Major US climate website likely to be shut down after almost all staff fired
Exclusive: Climate.gov, which supports public education on climate science, will soon no longer publish new content
www.theguardian.com
Reposted by Alan Rhoades
bobkopp.net
There’s so much happening right now, I thought I’d put together a running thread on the dismantling of #climate and research and knowledge infrastructure in the United States 🧵
Reposted by Alan Rhoades
pbump.com
YouGov’s latest survey of trust in news sources continues to show big partisan divides. Full interactive here; gift link: wapo.st/43TBV55
Reposted by Alan Rhoades
wired.com
WIRED @wired.com · May 29
A glacier partially collapsed in Switzerland, burying the village of Blatten in a huge landslide of ice, rock, and mud after residents had been evacuated.

Scientists called the collapse of the glacier “unprecedented” in the Swiss Alps.
Reposted by Alan Rhoades
thirstygecko.bsky.social
Trump administration cuts to NSF will result in more than 200,000 FEWER people per year involved in basic science, training, and education - what should have been the next generation of US scientists. This isn't even eating your seed corn, it is setting your seed corn on fire and salting the earth.
Reposted by Alan Rhoades
subfossilguy.bsky.social
First heli inspection of what remains of Blatten yesterday evening... 🚁😱🌊

SHOCKING!

Few buildings left are flooded
Little debris flow run through the deposit
Look at the height reached on the counterslope! 😮

🎥 Pomona
Reposted by Alan Rhoades
subfossilguy.bsky.social
Spring contrasts! 😍

Mont Blanc massif 'remotely' seen from Loriaz today, with heavy colour contrasts between greening valleys and burnt areas just uncovered by snow ❄️

Aiguille Verte (4,122 m asl) center left with a scarf! 🏔️☁️

Textbook protalus rampart to the right! 😎🥰

📷 @lomdumtblanc.bsky.social
Reposted by Alan Rhoades
gretchentg.bsky.social
The Trump administration just dropped an executive order, "Restoring Gold Standard Science" and there's lots to unpack. This EO reveals more about how the Administration will approach scientific integrity and science in regulatory contexts. Some initial thoughts. 🧵
www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
Restoring Gold Standard Science
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 7301 of title 5, United
www.whitehouse.gov
Reposted by Alan Rhoades
aatishb.bsky.social
NEW: Under Trump, the National Science Foundation is awarding grants at the slowest pace in decades. We took a detailed look at every area of science affected by the funding lag. Here's a gift link: www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Reposted by Alan Rhoades
yaleclimatecomm.bsky.social
The mountains feeding the Colorado River have less than 50% of the average snowpack for this time of year. This means that the Colorado River could see low water volume, putting the millions of Americans who rely on it for drinking water, agriculture, and hydropower at risk.
Reposted by Alan Rhoades
hausfath.bsky.social
Scientists have been publishing climate models since ~1970.

A good way to evaluate their skill is to compare what they expected to happen in the years after the model was published to observed climate changes.

It turns out most models were pretty spot-on:
mtnclimrhoades.bsky.social
"The proposed budget for FY26, just released by the White House, cuts NOAA by ~30%...[staff layoffs already leave] nation’s official weather forecast entity at a deficit–down >10% of its staffing– as we head into busiest time for severe storm predictions like 🌪️ & 🌀"

www.cbsnews.com/news/former-...
Former National Weather Service leaders warn about "loss of life" from NOAA cuts
In an open letter, all the living former NWS directors warned about the impact of staffing and program cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
www.cbsnews.com
mtnclimrhoades.bsky.social
"CA lawmakers are looking for ways to make up for federal research cuts...Senate Bill 829 would create the CA Institute for Scientific Research, which would give grants & loans to universities & orgs...[for research on] disease prevent. & weather forecasting [et al]"
www.capradio.org/articles/202...
New bill would make up for lost research and vaccine dollars from federal government
The legislation would start a new state research institute and task a state program with distributing vaccines.
www.capradio.org
Reposted by Alan Rhoades
davidho.bsky.social
This is not a science budget. This is a massacre.

thebridge.agu.org/2025/05/05/t...
A table titled "Funding Levels Summary (in millions)" shows funding data for various U.S. federal agencies over fiscal years FY24, FY25, and the FY26 President's Budget Request (PBR). It includes five columns: 
Agency, FY24 Omnibus, FY25 CR (Continuing Resolution), FY25 Enacted, FY26 PBR, and % Change from FY25 to FY26 PBR.

Agencies and their respective funding levels (in millions) and percent changes are:

DOE (Department of Energy)

FY24 Omnibus: $50,246.75

FY25 CR: $50,246.75

FY25 Enacted: $49,800

FY26 PBR: $45,100

% Change: -9.4%

DOE Office of Science

FY24 Omnibus: $8,240

FY25 CR: $8,240

FY25 Enacted: —

FY26 PBR: $7,092

% Change: -13.9%

EPA (Environmental Protection Agency)

FY24 Omnibus: $9,158.89

FY25 CR: $9,158.89

FY25 Enacted: $9,100

FY26 PBR: $5,000

% Change: -54.5%

NASA

FY24 Omnibus: $24,875

FY25 CR: $24,875

FY25 Enacted: $24,800

FY26 PBR: $18,800

% Change: -24.3%

NASA SMD (Science Mission Directorate)

FY24 Omnibus: $7,334.20

FY25 CR: $7,565.70

FY25 Enacted: —

FY26 PBR: $3,908.2

% Change: -46.7%

NIEHS (National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences)

FY24 Omnibus: $997.02

FY25 CR: $997.02

FY25 Enacted: —

FY26 PBR: NA

% Change: NA

NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)

FY24 Omnibus: $6,319

FY25 CR: $6,319

FY25 Enacted: —

FY26 PBR: $4,799

% Change: -24%

NSF (National Science Foundation)

FY24 Omnibus: $9,060

FY25 CR: —

FY25 Enacted: $8,800

FY26 PBR: $3,900

% Change: -55.8%

USGS (United States Geological Survey)

FY24 Omnibus: $1,455.43

FY25 CR: $1,455.43

FY25 Enacted: —

FY26 PBR: $891.43

% Change: -38.8%

Red text is used to denote percentage decreases in FY26 PBR compared to FY25. Several entries for FY25 Enacted are missing or denoted with a dash. NIEHS has no FY26 PBR or percent change listed.
Reposted by Alan Rhoades
kellyhereid.bsky.social
These numbers have almost certainly gone up since this update, but Truckee is one of the top 10 CA FAIR plan exposures in the state, at $4.1BN in exposure.

So a 90% failure rate in wildfire prep is... not ideal.

boe.ca.gov/meetings/pdf...
Top 10 FAIR plan exposures in CA, Truckee is $4.1BN
mtnclimrhoades.bsky.social
"This is an existential time in the history of the CO River. Water managers must take painful steps to avoid a catastrophic crash of the reservoirs...we suggest these [7 pillars] as an equitable balance of the burdens caused by reduced flows in the system"

www.colorado.edu/center/gwc/2...
Essential Pillars for the Post-2026 Colorado River Guidelines
The process for determining the operating rules for the Colorado River system that will take effect in 2027 is in full swing. While various alternative
www.colorado.edu
Reposted by Alan Rhoades
laddkeith.com
"A 50 percent reduction in [federal research] funding would lower gross domestic product nearly 7.6 percent, the researchers estimate, and a 75 percent cut would reduce it 11.3 percent — a larger decline than in any recession since the Great Depression." www.nytimes.com/2025...
Trump’s Cuts to Science Funding Could Hurt U.S. Economy, Study Shows
Reducing federal support for research and development could cause long-run economic damage and reduce government revenue.
www.nytimes.com