October 12, 2026 - Daniel Swain - A quick recap of the forecast vs real-world evolution of El Niño 2026 thus far An El Niño event officially developed in the tropical Pacific Ocean earlier this summer, and it has strengthened almost continually since that point. In fact, as of mid-October, the 2026 El Niño event has already become the strongest on record #

Before celebrating the benefits of the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026, we need an honest accounting of its tradeoffs, especially how much additional fossil fuel development the...

The governor finished strong on clean energy — with one big exception.

There's only one markup of note, but it's a killer.

Antarctica’s winter sea ice has peaked at its third-lowest level on record, falling a million square kilometres – or almost 400,000 square miles – short of the long-term average, scientists have confirmed. Confirmation of the peak meant the four lowest years on record for the continent’s sea ice – a vital component of the planet’s climate and critical for marine life – had all occurred in the past four years. Satellites have been watching the continent’s sea ice since 1979, and this year data showed the sea ice peaked on 14 September at 17.59m square kilometres, about a million square kilometres short of the average maximum or an area roughly twice the size of Spain. Dr Walt Meier, a senior scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado, said the centre had held off in declaring the maximum because there was a “lot of potential variability” at this stage in the continent’s sea ice cycle. But the levels of sea ice had been falling since 14 September and he now thought “the maximum has been reached”. Antarctica’s sea ice goes through an enormous annual swing, melting through summer to below 2m sq km in...

It has become routine for Trump to spend the weekend posting wildly on social media, and this weekend was no exception.

In California’s Sacramento Valley, a grower was cited for multiple pesticide safety violations in a stone fruit orchard. In the sweeping farmlands near the Central Coast, a seed supplier that cultivates peppers, vegetables and fruit was hit with more than two dozen pesticide safety violations, some of them serious offenses that caused health or environmental hazards. And in the San Joaquin Valley, an agricultural retailer with a history of pesticide safety violations was cited for failing to provide protective equipment for workers and post emergency medical information in the fields. In all, nearly 18,000 regulatory actions were taken by county pesticide safety inspectors across California from the start of 2020 through June 2025. Fewer than 30% resulted in fines, though, according to state enforcement records. The regulatory system designed to protect farmworkers from pesticides is enforced haphazardly across California. Even in cases where regulators found that companies endangered workers or committed multiple violations, few were penalized for all their citations. Instead, they received warnings or notices to correct problems for cases in which they were not penalized, an investigation by Capital & Main has found. In interviews, dozens of farmworkers reported suffering from nausea, burning eyes or irritated throats due...

ICE says it has no updated information on the number of miscarriages after 3 October 2025. Lawmakers, advocates and immigration attorneys have raised alarms that pregnant detainees are not receiving b...

The more scientists look for chemicals that can increase breast cancer risk, the more they find. Hundreds of potential breast carcinogens lurk in consumer goods, food, drinking water, pesticides, drugs and building materials, scientists reported in a peer-reviewed study published Wednesday in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. Exposure to these chemicals is ubiquitous, the authors warn, yet biomonitoring efforts are failing to measure people’s exposures to most chemicals or assess risks from compound exposures. Chemicals found in and derived from fossil fuels accounted for some of the largest production volumes and environmental releases of potential breast carcinogens, said lead author Jennifer Kay, a research scientist at the Silent Spring Institute, which works to reduce toxic threats to women’s health. She called widespread use of petrochemicals, particularly to make plastic, “a huge problem.” Bisphenols and phthalates, chemicals produced at high volumes for plastics, can damage DNA, trigger cell division and increase breast cancer risk or severity. Most breast cancers occur in women 55 and older, as cells lose their ability to repair genetic damage and start dividing abnormally. Breast cancer rates have been rising in recent years for all women, with steeper increases among younger women. These trends cannot be explained...

The latest in a recurring series of live, virtual, & interactive #weather and #climate-focused "office hours" hosted by Dr. Daniel Swain. 9/22/2026 topic: I'...

The Trevor Project is a non-profit suicide prevention organization that provides 24/7 crisis support services, research, and advocacy for LGBTQ+ young people.

YouTube video by California State Library Multimedia

Tracing fossil fuel disinformation.

The great writer of rural America spent a lifetime defending the land, the local, and the human.

Ezra Levin of Indivisible explains the urgency of coordinating civic action ahead of the midterm elections.

Trump administration proposes new rule to dismantle requirement for datacenters to publicly report air pollution

Australia’s certified organic sector has for the first time passed the $1 billion mark in annual direct sales, highlighting growing demand from consumers and the growing contribution and opportunity for organics within Australian agriculture and food production. The Australian Organic Market Report 2026, released today by Australian Organic Limited (AOL), values certified organic domestic retail sales and exports at $1.02 billion in FY2024/25. Domestic certified organic retail sales for take home consumption reached $657.6 million, up 11.9 per cent on the previous year, while certified organic exports were valued at up to $364 million. Australian Organic Limited Chief Executive Officer Jackie Brian said passing $1 billion was an important marker for an industry and that the report showed strong consumer demand for certified organic products with significant untapped potential. Jackie said: “Certified organics is already a substantial Australian industry, with domestic retail sales growing almost 12% and Australian organic exported to more than 40 markets around the world, but the bigger story is the opportunity still in front of us. “For farmers, certified organic production provides an opportunity to build healthier soils, protect biodiversity, strengthen animal welfare outcomes and support human health, while accessing premium markets and connecting with consumers...

Our blood chemistry is changing as carbon emissions rise, reveals a new study.

WASHINGTON—Touting the new vessel as an investment that could discreetly transport the nation’s chief executive for years to come, President Donald Trump unveiled Tuesday a new 250-foot gilded caterin...

As the dusk of summer nears, I feel embodied with a renewed sense of possibility. Summer has a way of inviting us into our bodies and the landscapes we inhabit. With each hike, I feel stronger. I am acutely aware of my heartbeat on steep inclines, sweat rising and drying almost instantly in the summer sun. I am in awe of the orchestra of wildflower bloom, the air alive with aromas of sage, grass, and juniper. Immersion in forests is itself a practice of health. Summer can bring another kind of abundance through food. Vegetables and fruits that we eagerly await all year pop with the flavors of the landscape. For our family, the long-awaited fruits of the summer are Flathead cherries. Plump, sweet, tart, and minerally. We eat more whole foods grown close to home, carrying memories of soil, season, interactions with other life, and the hands of our community. This summer, an unknown about my own health shifted the intensity with which I listen to my body. Health is something we wonder about and manage every day, yet sometimes an unknown can bring it into extraordinary focus, reminding us how deeply we value each other and participating in...

US researchers have for the first time successfully synthesised brand-new viruses not found in nature, based on designs generated by artificial intelligence. The researchers' paper, published in the journal Science on Thursday, details how scientists from Stanford University and the Arc Institute, a California-based non-profit dedicated to "high-risk, high-reward" research, were able to create the viruses using DNA sequences generated by two "genome language models" named Evo 1 and Evo 2. Loading... Genome language models operate in a broadly similar way to large language models (LLMs) except that they predict genetic code instead of written text, having been trained on the genomes of other viruses and bacteria, as well as more complex organisms such as plants and animals. The two models in question were told to generate complete genomes for a viable bacteriophage — a type of virus able to infect and replicate itself inside bacteria, destroying them from the inside. Using an existing bacteriophage as an example — ΦX174 (pronounced "fie-ex-1-7-4"), known for its ability to infect and destroy E. coli bacteria — the models generated about 700,000 potential designs, of which the researchers picked 285 that looked most promising. The researchers then synthesised new DNA molecules using those...

A growing disconnect exists between the scientific consensus on climate change and the Trump administration's public messaging, as devastating wildfires continue across the Pacific Northwest and Canada. While researchers and humanitarian organizations cite rising temperatures and prolonged drought as key drivers of increasingly severe fire seasons, administration officials have questioned the certainty of climate science. Senate Democrats are asking every Trump nomination a question about the 2020 election,” “who won?” The point is to get on the record willful ignorance. It should be the same for the climate. Every nominee should be asked about how they view global warming and what is there policy response. Of course there won’t be answers. Like the election question, there’s no satisfactory response that will serve President Trump’s commandment (the climate “hoax” or “scam”) yet the conditions that we see every day continue to deteriorate. News stories about the fires in the Pacific Northwest are consistent, citing the long drought and the changing climate. Grist is a good example: “(Betsy) Robertson, a communications director for the Red Cross, is from Washington, and has been with the organization for 10 years. She has seen communities devastated by wildfires before. But never like this. “The scale...

Summary: In honey bees, sublethal exposure to the herbicide glyphosate reduces foraging and induces positive correlations in the brain content of octopamine and its precursors tyramine and tyrosine.