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CarbonPlan @carbonplan.org · 28/09/2026

We hope this enables researchers across the globe to explore the regional impacts that matter to them, provides a benchmark for independent downscaling efforts, and lays the foundation for more systematic research into how downscaling itself introduces uncertainty into understanding of SAI impacts.

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CarbonPlan @carbonplan.org · 28/09/2026

That’s where downscaling comes in. Downscaling translates coarse-resolution climate model output into a finer-resolution form that can be used by impact modelers. But it’s not a straightforward process. There are many ways to downscale data, and small methodological choices can change your results.

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CarbonPlan @carbonplan.org · 28/09/2026

As interest in SAI grows so does the urgency for research supporting public scrutiny and informed decision-making. We need to understand the disparate ways SAI could affect people, plants, animals, and ecosystems. That analysis requires climate data at a finer spatial resolution than GCMs provide.

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CarbonPlan @carbonplan.org · 28/09/2026

Recently, there’s been a marked uptick in activity around solar radiation modification — a family of approaches that aims to reduce global warming by reflecting sunlight back into space. Much of that activity, including growing private investment, centers on one method in particular, SAI.

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CarbonPlan @carbonplan.org · 28/09/2026

Analyzing the impacts of stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI) requires climate data at finer spatial resolution than global models provide. We’re releasing an open-source, downscaled SAI dataset to support SAI impacts research and to expose uncertainties associated with downscaling itself.

carbonplan.org

Data to evaluate the regional impacts of stratospheric aerosol injection – CarbonPlan

Releasing downscaled versions of stratospheric aerosol injection simulations, alongside tools to make it accessible.

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CarbonPlan @carbonplan.org · 25/09/2026

There’s more work to do here. Our work points toward three follow-up research questions that we think would help provide more confident guidance on picking the right time resolution for meteorological forcing.

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CarbonPlan @carbonplan.org · 25/09/2026

Our takeaway: if you need conservative carbon removal estimates or an accurate picture of alkalinity loss pathways, the time resolution of the meteorological forcings likely matters, and it’s worth testing the sensitivity in your model setup before landing one way or the other.

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CarbonPlan @carbonplan.org · 25/09/2026

More interestingly, changes in rock weathering didn’t map neatly onto changes in carbon removal. Some sites saw a small bump in weathering and a bigger bump in carbon removal. Others got similar removal estimates for different reasons — like more weathering canceled out by more alkalinity loss.

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CarbonPlan @carbonplan.org · 25/09/2026

Across eight example sites, coarser meteorological forcing made soils wetter and more CO₂-rich, even though total water supply and demand didn’t change. That boosted rock weathering, but only by 10-20 percent.

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CarbonPlan @carbonplan.org · 25/09/2026

In our model setup, this didn’t end up spelling the difference between estimating a lot of carbon removal and none at all. But the effects warrant attention because they are geochemically complex, and they hinge on the structure of the model itself.

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CarbonPlan @carbonplan.org · 25/09/2026

We thought this decision could be consequential. Many processes that control enhanced weathering respond non-linearly to weather extremes, and coarse meteorological data average them out.

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CarbonPlan @carbonplan.org · 25/09/2026

Do enhanced weathering models give different answers if they capture individual rain events instead of monthly or annual averages? In our latest Modeling Bytes installment, we explore this question. carbonplan.org/research/mod...

carbonplan.org

How averaging out the weather affects enhanced weathering estimates – CarbonPlan

Exploring meteorological forcing decisions in EW models.

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CarbonPlan @carbonplan.org · 19/08/2026

If you’ve already applied, thank you! All applications will receive a reply. Given the small size of our team & the fact that we consider every application, this may take time. We respectfully request that you not contact us to inquire about your app status or about applying after the close date.

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CarbonPlan @carbonplan.org · 19/08/2026

Update: Applications for the Research Associate role will close on Tuesday, August 25. Please apply before then for consideration. While we typically keep our roles open until filled, we’ve already received more than 600 applications for this position, and have limited capacity for review.

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CarbonPlan @carbonplan.org · 06/08/2026

We also show that preprinting is starting to take off in carbon removal, but widespread adoption still requires a cultural shift. If you’re a carbon removal researcher, preprinting your work can keep that momentum going, and help boost coordination in a field that acutely needs it.

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CarbonPlan @carbonplan.org · 06/08/2026

Carbon removal research is under pressure to build an evidence base quickly. Meeting that pressure requires coordination, and we think preprints can help. Our latest piece (a preprint) argues that preprinting improves both the speed and quality of scientific coordination.

eartharxiv.org

Moving fast without breaking things: The benefits of preprinting for CDR research

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CarbonPlan @carbonplan.org · 29/07/2026

We’re hiring a Research Associate to expand our work on climate risk. If you’re passionate about ensuring public access to high-quality climate risk data, and informing just and scientifically-grounded adaptation policy, please apply.

apply.workable.com

Research Associate - CarbonPlan

CarbonPlan is a nonprofit organization using science and data to accelerate climate action. Our team analyzes the design and implementation of climate programs across the public and private sector, an...

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CarbonPlan @carbonplan.org · 07/05/2026

This post is part of our “modeling bytes” series, digging into in-the-weeds modeling decisions in enhanced weathering. Read more about what to expect from the series below. carbonplan.org/research/mod...

carbonplan.org

Introducing Modeling Bytes – CarbonPlan

A new series examining enhanced weathering modeling decisions.

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CarbonPlan @carbonplan.org · 07/05/2026

This mistake is a reminder that we still have a lot to learn about simulating enhanced weathering. We’re still in the learning phase, and mistakes are inevitable. For now, while methods and norms are rapidly developing, model results should be understood as provisional.

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CarbonPlan @carbonplan.org · 07/05/2026

In enhanced weathering models, more rock surface area typically means faster weathering and more carbon removal. But some models use a mistaken surface area equation that could inflate carbon removal by up to two orders of magnitude. Our latest post explains the mistake and how to move forward.

carbonplan.org

How surface roughness scaling can mislead enhanced weathering predictions – CarbonPlan

Correcting a mis-interpreted equation in EW models.

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CarbonPlan @carbonplan.org · 06/05/2026

OffsetsDB just got bigger. Today, we added two new offset registries — Isometric and Cercarbono — to our open database that standardizes information about offset projects and their credits. Now researchers can access data from seven registries, which cover the vast majority of the carbon market.

carbonplan.org

Welcoming Isometric and Cercarbono to OffsetsDB – CarbonPlan

We’ve added two new offset registries to OffsetsDB.

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CarbonPlan @carbonplan.org · 27/04/2026

For Open Climate Risk, we created our highest-resolution dataset yet. To make it explorable and downloadable by anyone with a browser, we turned to cloud-native formats and open source tools. We wrote about our new web mapping stack: carbonplan.org/blog/mapping...

carbonplan.org

Designing web maps for our highest-resolution dataset yet – CarbonPlan

We reached for open source tools and cloud-native formats to make climate risk data easily accessible on the web.

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CarbonPlan @carbonplan.org · 23/04/2026

We’ve officially opened the search for CarbonPlan’s next Executive Director, and would love your help sharing the position profile. Refer candidates or apply by May 29 for priority consideration: www.goodcitizen.com/executive-se...

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CarbonPlan @carbonplan.org · 22/04/2026

We used @earthmover.io's Icechunk, which brings git-like versioning to Zarr. Each VM records its completion as a commit, so the dataset’s own history becomes the record of what’s done. If some region fails, just rerun the pipeline: only the missing regions get reprocessed.

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CarbonPlan @carbonplan.org · 22/04/2026

The harder problem was knowing which regions actually completed. Zarr has no built-in way to track this, and Spot Instances can be terminated at any time.

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CarbonPlan @carbonplan.org · 22/04/2026

To start, we broke the dataset into spatial regions and processed each one independently on cheap, cloud VMs (Spot Instances), which kept things manageable and made it easy to scale.

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CarbonPlan @carbonplan.org · 22/04/2026

We knew that working at this scale with Xarray and Dask would bring well-known challenges. In response, we reached for newer tools in the Pangeo ecosystem and took an unconventional approach to writing Zarr stores.

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CarbonPlan @carbonplan.org · 22/04/2026

To build Open Climate Risk, and its 30 m raster wildfire risk dataset, we needed a data processing pipeline that could scale alongside our developing science methodology. We wrote about the challenges, and our solutions, in a new blog post.

carbonplan.org

Designing a data pipeline for our highest-resolution dataset yet – CarbonPlan

We reached for new tools to build a flexible and scalable data pipeline.

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CarbonPlan @carbonplan.org · 21/04/2026

For a deeper investigation into swine manure offset projects, see Christian Shepherd’s article today in Dialogue Earth: dialogue.earth/en/climate/d...

dialogue.earth

Doubts cast over pig farm methane credits in China

One-third of projects may have gone ahead even without the credit revenue, new research reveals

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CarbonPlan @carbonplan.org · 21/04/2026

We also found more basic inconsistencies within project paperwork, raising serious questions about both the reliability of the data and the quality-control processes run by registries and third-party verifiers. carbonplan.org/blog/pig-man...

carbonplan.org

Offset project paperwork should be internally consistent. It’s not. – CarbonPlan

Internal inconsistencies in offset project paperwork highlight the often lax standards of the carbon market.

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CarbonPlan @carbonplan.org · 21/04/2026

When you account for that financial benefit, we find nearly a third of associated offset credits are non-additional (5.95M of 19.2M) — the reductions would have happened anyway, even without selling carbon offsets.

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CarbonPlan @carbonplan.org · 21/04/2026

We examined 74 projects that capture and burn methane from pig manure in China, and found a consistent problem: many projects ignore the financial benefits of generating energy from captured methane. files.carbonplan.org/Pig-Manure-A...

files.carbonplan.org

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CarbonPlan @carbonplan.org · 20/04/2026

If this carbon removal outcome is real, we need public evidence to understand why. If it’s not, then this is a case of over-issuance that should be corrected. Either way, there’s a lesson here that’s impossible to learn with the relevant data behind closed doors.

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CarbonPlan @carbonplan.org · 20/04/2026

Lithos’s first enhanced weathering credits claim a surprisingly high amount of gross carbon removal that we think deserves scrutiny. We tried to figure out what could make these high numbers possible, but we were limited by the available data and left with more questions than answers.

carbonplan.org

Questions about Lithos’ first ERW credit issuance – CarbonPlan

We were surprised by the high removal rates claimed in a recent credit issuance to the ERW company Lithos. This post explains what questions the issuance raised for us, and what needs to change to get...

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CarbonPlan @carbonplan.org · 02/04/2026

We developed two new tools for mapping Zarr data: zarr-layer renders a wide range of datasets with little or no modification. And topozarr adds multiscale overviews and web-friendly chunking to datasets while maintaining projection and resolution. carbonplan.org/blog/zarr-la...

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Reposted by CarbonPlan

CDRXIV @cdrxiv.org · 30/03/2026

Institutions submitting to CDRXIV can build up a substantial body of work over time — but there hasn’t been an easy way to share that work as a collection. Channels fix that, making an institution’s submissions viewable in one place. We’re launching this new feature with three founding channels.

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CarbonPlan @carbonplan.org · 13/03/2026

NCAR is the backbone of Earth system science in the US and a global leader in open climate research. It directly supports our mission. Alongside a wide range of peers in the scientific research community, we submitted a letter to NSF strongly opposing any efforts to dismantle or restructure NCAR.

files.carbonplan.org

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CarbonPlan @carbonplan.org · 26/02/2026

Taking the goal of net negativity seriously has surprising implications for CDR policy design. It can help resolve sticky questions that have occupied the CDR space for years, including which activities to finance, how to deal with their unique characteristics, and how to choose accounting rules.

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CarbonPlan @carbonplan.org · 26/02/2026

Advocates of public funding for carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies promise that it will unlock the ability to reduce global temperatures. But that promise will only hold if CDR policymaking aligns with a coherent vision of a net-negative future.

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CarbonPlan @carbonplan.org · 26/02/2026

Our new report, written in collaboration with the Carbon Removal Standards Initiative, presents a framework for policymakers to connect the dots between future net negativity and the practical decisions that underpin public investments in early-stage technologies. carbonplan.org/blog/cdr-pol...

carbonplan.org

Let’s reframe the CDR policy conversation – CarbonPlan

CDR policies must align with a coherent vision of a net-negative world.

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CarbonPlan @carbonplan.org · 10/02/2026

Thanks all who gave feedback incl @a2-alliance.bsky.social @moira.bsky.social Jen Brady @madisoncondon.bsky.social @consumerwatchdog.bsky.social Kristy Dahl, Susan Dickerson-Lange @hoffnoah.bsky.social @zacklabe.com Alex Martin @guillaume-mauger.bsky.social Adam Parris, Crystal Raymond, Heather Wong

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CarbonPlan @carbonplan.org · 10/02/2026

We’re excited to see what’s possible when building-level climate risk data is fully transparent. If you analyze wildfire risk, we’d love to compare results. If you are trying to assess and plan for climate hazards, we’d love to hear if Open Climate Risk is helpful to you, and how it might improve.

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CarbonPlan @carbonplan.org · 10/02/2026

We've also created a map tool that allows you to explore, download, and analyze the dataset at a variety of aggregations (from state, to county, to census block), and a collection of articles that explain the resource, and the choices behind it, in detail. carbonplan.org/research/cli...

carbonplan.org

Open Climate Risk – CarbonPlan

Explore fire risk across the contiguous U.S.

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CarbonPlan @carbonplan.org · 10/02/2026

In contrast, Open Climate Risk demonstrates how to produce truly open estimates: the wildfire risk dataset and modeling methods that drive our projections are inspectable by anyone. carbonplan.org/research/cli...

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CarbonPlan @carbonplan.org · 10/02/2026

As communities face crucial decisions about how to adapt to climate change, they need high-quality risk assessments. But these data are expensive to access, and when models are kept proprietary, the quality of their resulting risk scores is impossible to evaluate through intercomparison.

carbonplan.org

Making climate risk data open – CarbonPlan

Building-level wildfire risks for now and the future, across the United States.

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