Sign in

Andrew B. Watkins

@windjunky.bsky.social
1.5K followers 168 following 6K posts

Australian climate scientist rambling about climate drivers, variability, risks, trends & impacts. Once played goalie for Antarctica. Born @ 325ppm. www.linkedin.com/in/drandrewwatkins

PostsRepliesMedia
Andrew B. Watkins @windjunky.bsky.social · 2h
New coal mine approved (by old people). But its cool - we wont be around to pay for the hundreds of millions of dollars *we acknowledge* it costs, or deaths that come from it. Young people of today - you'll find our can kicked somewhere down your road.
010
Andrew B. Watkins @windjunky.bsky.social · 2h
Correct me if I'm wrong, but seems we have equaled the largest temperature departure from normal (+0.73 on 10 Jan 2024) in the global ocean since records began. If the 2023 El Nino (blue line) is a guide, still more ocean warming to come. #buckleup pulse.climate.copernicus.eu?fbclid=IwY2x...
020
Andrew B. Watkins @windjunky.bsky.social · 3h
Some inland grains cropping regions are looking fantastic in Australia right now (eg Mallee in Vic, the result of Feb/Mar rain/soil moisture and occasional top ups), but big high pressure systems bring big frost risk at a critical phase in crop growth theconversation.com/as-el-nino-s...
theconversation.com
As El Niño strengthens across the Pacific, Australian farmers could face fierce frosts
Papua New Guinea’s frost disaster suggests heat and drought aren’t the only symptoms of a changing climate.
010
Andrew B. Watkins @windjunky.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
New website to calculate the real world cost of coal, oil and gas projects. carbonimpactstracer.com E.g., the impact of the Woodside NW Shelf Project extension means an extra 126 people will die form heat stress in Europe alone (but could be as high as 800). Sorry about that, but you know, money.
073
Andrew B. Watkins @windjunky.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
To some degree we can thank former AEMO CEO Audrey Zibelman for this @ketanjoshi.co - incredibly switched on & proactive around climate change and energy impacts. She introduced me to Angus Taylor (then Energy Minister) as the man who scares her before every summer! www.linkedin.com/in/audrey-zi...
160
Andrew B. Watkins @windjunky.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
So BoM, are you saying there have been no climate events worthy of a Special Climate Statement in Australia in 2.5 years? Not even the heatwave in January 2026 that saw 49C reached somewhere in Australia for 6 days in a row, and the worlds most southern 50C on record? www.bom.gov.au/climate/curr...
2228
Andrew B. Watkins @windjunky.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
War! What is it good for? Absolutely Nothing! [But if you pick the Middle East to wage it, it does lower global carbon emissions from oil and gas] www.iea.org/reports/oil-... and media articles www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-glo... and www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
010
Reposted by Andrew B. Watkins
David Jones @ozhillbilly.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
As as a young glaciology student at Melbourne University I loved reading the early historical report on these glaciers. That glaciology team is long gone and soon also the glaciers they helped study www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Indonesia Carstensz Pyramid: Papua's 'eternal snow' on Puncak Jaya is about to disappear forever
Climate change is transforming Papua's snowy peaks, which hold scientific value and spiritual significance.
2178
Andrew B. Watkins @windjunky.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
While all the talk has been about 2027 being odds on to be the globes hottest year on record (as post-El Nino years see a global boost in warmth), 2026 has quietly slipped into a "more likely than not (ie >50%)" chance of becoming the globes hottest year. dashboard.theclimatebrink.com#global
510144
Andrew B. Watkins @windjunky.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Pretty much sums up Snow Season 2026 in Australia. Perisher (NSW) and Hotham (Vic) had their hottest July day on record, then hottest August day on record, and then hottest September day on record. @protectourwinters.bsky.social
1105
Andrew B. Watkins @windjunky.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Me speaking on Mamma Mia from 7:20 mark on the 2026 snow season, and what the future holds. Today the final resort has closed for the season, but most resorts closed weeks ago. Typically we expect skiing in the September school holidays. open.spotify.com/episode/6j7P...
open.spotify.com
Your AM Headlines + Is This The End Of Aussie Ski Seasons?
The Quicky · Episode
041
Andrew B. Watkins @windjunky.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
The final ski run on the final day of the final ski resort open in Australian snow season 2026. www.perisher.com.au/reports-cams...
095
Andrew B. Watkins @windjunky.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
It’s the ‘climate damages makers’ vs the ‘cimate damage insurers’ grand final. (Might just go for a walk in a forest)
032
Reposted by Andrew B. Watkins
Glen @gergyl.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Worst Australian snow season ever -- outright at middle and lower altitudes in NSW; in aggregate at higher altitudes (Spencers Creek). That's in 70+ years of data.
4157
Reposted by Andrew B. Watkins
Tim Baxter @timinclimate.naruresearch.com.au · 23/09/2026
While the LNP fall over themselves to prove that they are worse than One Nation, this year's El Niño - which is both stacked on top of and worsened by global use of coal, oil and gas - is anticipated to kill almost half a million people from the heat alone.
theguardian.com
Huge El Niño projected to cause more than 450,000 deaths by February
New report predicts a heavy toll from Nigeria to the US – and comes on top of existing impacts of the climate crisis
13526
Andrew B. Watkins @windjunky.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
A good article from @phannam.bsky.social on the climate dissonance of governments at all levels.
021
Andrew B. Watkins @windjunky.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Well he certainly hasn’t been inactive on climate change - he’s approved more than 35 new coal and gas projects since coming to power, 6 after his own climate risk assessment said even 2°C global warming would be catastrophic for Australia… Nice work champ. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
theguardian.com
No avoiding the cost of inaction on climate, Anthony Albanese says in New York
Before United Nations meeting, prime minister says Australians knows the impact of global heating as well as anyone
063
Reposted by Andrew B. Watkins
Dana Bergstrom @danambergstrom.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Ummm 🤔 So we are going to curb gas fields and stop extending the life of coal fields and admit we are the 5th largest exporter of methane & 2nd largest exporter of coal. Excellent!
theguardian.com
No avoiding the cost of inaction on climate, Anthony Albanese says in New York
Before United Nations meeting, prime minister says Australians knows the impact of global heating as well as anyone
104619
Andrew B. Watkins @windjunky.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Sadly the gun has been well and truly jumped by the @theguardian.com with this one. El Niño is not yet the strongest on record, even in the latest weekly data. But it seems almost inevitable that it will be. *you have to use a relative index at least a month long to claim an El Niño record.
062
Andrew B. Watkins @windjunky.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Tonight’s PM address to the UN in New York as part of Australias bid for a seat on the UN Security Council is ‘Climate Security is National Security’. Same day the government largely ignores climate change in its Intergenerational Report after approving 6 fossil fuel project extensions in 12 months
054
Reposted by Andrew B. Watkins
Tom Quinn @tomquinn.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
An Intergenerational Report published in the year 2026 that does not list climate change as one of the 6 major transitions for Australia to navigate over the next 40 years is not a serious document. And no, the energy transition is just a small (and relatively easy) subset of climate's impacts.
treasury.gov.au
2026 Intergenerational Report | Treasury.gov.au
The 2026 Intergenerational Report (IGR) is the seventh report in the series. It projects the outlook for the Australian economy and the Government’s budget to 2065–66. These projections help inform an...
721777
Reposted by Andrew B. Watkins
The Point @thepointau.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
The report early on states “AI will be a defining influence on our economy over the coming decades.” Read the full piece on The Point: thepoint.com.au/off-the-charts/2609…
22010
Andrew B. Watkins @windjunky.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
New IGR focuses on 4 physical risks (Sea level coastal damage, heat impacting workforce, tourism decline, agriculture crop losses) when the National Climate Risk Assessment identified 63 "Nationally Significant Climate Risks" & subset 11 "Priority Risks". Do we multiply IGR impact by 2.25 or 15.75?
045
Andrew B. Watkins @windjunky.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
New Intergenerational Report from the Australian government thinks disaster funding will just be a nice smooth requirement into the future with only a small difference between "paris aligned" [code for 1.5C, which we know will be exceeded already] and "more than 3C" which would be catastropic. !WTF!
75334
Andrew B. Watkins @windjunky.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
New Treasury Intergenerational Report has said "we cant model the impacts outlined in the National Climate Risk Assessment so we'll do a conservative estimate across 4 broad sectors". If this isn't at least one to two orders of magnitude out, I'll be monkeys uncle treasury.gov.au/sites/defaul...
1147
Andrew B. Watkins @windjunky.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
From the Guru (Blair) to show just how crazy warm London was this summer: "The summer mean maximum temperature for Heathrow Airport was 27.2, and for July 29.2. These would rank in the top ten seasonal/monthly {summer/January} values respectively if they'd happened in Melbourne {Australia}"
162
Andrew B. Watkins @windjunky.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Early snapper season? Port Phillip sea surface temperature currently running warmest this century, about a month ahead of normal. www.baywx.com.au/temps.html
074
Reposted by Andrew B. Watkins
Zack Labe @zacklabe.com · 19/09/2026
The average global temperature so far this year (for the January-August period) is now up to the 2nd warmest on record since the start of this dataset... This data is using NOAAGlobalTempv6.1.0: www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/lan...
Line graph time series of global land mean surface temperature anomalies for each January-August period from 1850 through 2026. There is a long-term increasing trend and large year-to-year variability. The mean surface temperature anomaly averaged for January-August 2026 was 1.16°C for global land areas. Anomalies are computed relative to a 1901-2000 climate baseline. Data from NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI NOAAGlobalTemp v6.1.0.
112450
Reposted by Andrew B. Watkins
fluids_guru @fluidsguru.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
I don’t understand the hand-wringing reaction to claims that nueral networks have a 10% chance of destroying civilisation. Fossil fuel companies have a 100% chance of initiating a mass extinction event. Maybe we could address that?
8408148
Andrew B. Watkins @windjunky.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
More than half of September gone and less than 20% of normal September rainfall recorded, with 'bugger all' in the ten day forecast. Worth keeping an eye on the heat too, as flash drought looks decidedly possible. Observed: www.bom.gov.au/climate/maps... Forecast: www.bom.gov.au/jsp/watl/rai...
0158
Andrew B. Watkins @windjunky.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
This is a fantastic article by @adammorton.bsky.social . Offsets for the most climate polluting 200 companies mean they have no incentive to stop polluting. Some have increased their pollution, while the offsets themselves are questionable.
1206
Reposted by Andrew B. Watkins
Peter Gleick @petergleick.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
This is just a tiny slice of a global problem. There is no way to save vast swaths of coastal property that will be swallowed up by now unavoidable #climatechange induced sea-level rise and there's no way to compensate all the owners who will lose property. www.npr.org/2026/09/17/n...
npr.org
People's houses are collapsing into the ocean. FEMA gives them no other option
Waterfront homes are collapsing along the coast. Homeowners generally have plenty of warning before their house buckles. So why aren't most houses removed, or at least emptied, before they fall?
67127
Andrew B. Watkins @windjunky.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Direct link to todays interview on the NCRA with ABC radio drive.google.com/file/d/1dEWB...
drive.google.com
AUDIO-2026-09-18-13-58-36.mp3
042
Andrew B. Watkins @windjunky.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Great questions (and hopefully I gave some good answers) on the National Climate Risk Assessment 1-year anniversary. I think this was pretty good chat about related science and policy. From the 1:07 mark of today’s ABC SA Northwest radio with Tom Mann. www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...
abc.net.au
Breakfast - ABC listen
Local news, weather and information from across the north and west of South Australia
043
Reposted by Andrew B. Watkins
Peter Gleick @petergleick.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Ice melt and sea-level rise are accelerating due to #climatechange and impacts of flooding are worsening. www.nbcnews.com/science/clim...
nbcnews.com
Satellites show Earth lost more than 12 trillion tons of ice from Greenland, Antarctica in 47 years
The numbers behind the melting ice are both mind-bogglingly huge and deceptively small.
16741
Andrew B. Watkins @windjunky.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Panama Canal ship traffic cut a second time, as climate change and El Niño reduce lake levels that supply water to the canal locks #climaterisk www.theguardian.com/world/2026/s...
theguardian.com
Panama canal traffic facing further cuts as drought from El Niño worsens
Planned daily reductions will further choke one of the world’s most important shipping lanes
0167
Andrew B. Watkins @windjunky.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Food insecurity (and starvation) in Australia’s backyard caused by El Niño and Climate Change.
133
Andrew B. Watkins @windjunky.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
“The ice sheets lost 11,309 ± 565 billion tonnes of ice between 1979 and 2023, with glacier dynamical imbalance driving 84% of the ice loss and surface mass balance the remainder.” 11 trillion tonnes… If you spread that over Australia it would be 1.6m thick. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Mass balance of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets from the 1970s to 2023 - Scientific Data
Scientific Data - Mass balance of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets from the 1970s to 2023
050
Reposted by Andrew B. Watkins
Luke Plunkett @lukeplunkett.com · 15/09/2026
i drove one of these as a loaner for a day and it was extremely fun. sub-aud$20k is an absolute steal, they're gonna sell a ton of these
thedriven.io
BYD stuns market as it slashes price of Australia’s cheapest EV to less than $20,000 driveaway
BYD gives another boost to EV affordability, cutting driveaway price of Atto 1 to less than $20,000, competing with low-cost petrol cars.
8689171
Andrew B. Watkins @windjunky.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
#ridetoworkmelb #melbweather
040
Andrew B. Watkins @windjunky.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
The PNG National Weather Service Drought Early Warning System has been warning of drought for some time. www.facebook.com/share/p/1K8W... The PNG DEWS is issued monthly by PNG-NWS, and was built by a collaboration between the PNG-NWS, the UN, and BoM.
272
Reposted by Andrew B. Watkins
Oliver @oliver48.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
"On an atmospheric sciences mailing list, Prof. Gary Lackmann (meas.sciences.ncsu.edu/people/gary/) pointed out that August 2026 set a record for the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere" '"More water vapor means more rocket fuel for extreme rain — this record is not good news"' via Isabel Ebert
217272
Andrew B. Watkins @windjunky.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Excellent segment on El Nino and Climate Change related drought and serious PNG / Vanuatu impacts, including lack of drinking water and food. Some excellent discussion of the role of women in building climate resilience. ABC-TV Pacific News. From the 4 minute mark: iview.abc.net.au/video/NC2617...
iview.abc.net.au
The Pacific
This week on The Pacific: Solomon Islands PM Matthew Wale survives a no-confidence vote, clearing the way for a $980-million defence treaty with Australia. Plus El Nino brings school closures and risi...
264
Andrew B. Watkins @windjunky.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
My latest for the Conversation - a year on from the release of the NCRA, so what do we have to show for it (TL:DR not much). We have to do better, because we know the future we face. theconversation.com/its-been-one...
theconversation.com
It’s been one year since Australia assessed its national climate risk. But have we listened?
Over the past 12 months, the federal government has approved multiple fossil fuel projects and cut climate science funding.
196
Andrew B. Watkins @windjunky.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Bugger… IOD up again. Not exactly what we want to see in spring when the rNINO34 is at +2.5 www.bom.gov.au/climate/enso...
171
Reposted by Andrew B. Watkins
Ⓜ️𝖆𝖗𝖎𝖊 💙 🦋 @lmariev.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Milwaukee Brewers owner Mark Attanasio is being forced to dedicate a $2 million beachfront property for public use after his company allegedly used heavy machinery to rip sand and rocks from a protected California beach to shore up his Malibu mansion. currently.att.yahoo.com/att/billiona...
currently.att.yahoo.com
Billionaire Brewers owner ordered to spend $2 million returning sand he ‘stole’ from California beach to protect his Malibu mansion
Milwaukee Brewers owner Mark Attanasio must give up the $2 million property.
1722160686
Andrew B. Watkins @windjunky.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
#ridetoworkmelb #melbweather
131
Andrew B. Watkins @windjunky.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
I’m the person with the longboard surf SUP - and the final speaking voice - in this amazing music video by Nat Bartsch. Released yesterday. As Molly would say ‘do yourself a favour’… and have a listen. Congrats Nat - amazing. youtu.be/U4gaaLBdn0Q?...
youtu.be
020
Andrew B. Watkins @windjunky.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
August 2026 was the globes hottest month ever recorded, beating July 2023 by a bees whatsit. Sea surface temperatures also had their hottest day(s) ever recorded. Made possible by the burning of coal, oil and gas: it would not have happened by El Niño alone. climate.copernicus.eu/copernicus-a...
1138
Andrew B. Watkins @windjunky.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Talking sea level rise and the highly vulnerable Gold Coast on SBS News last night www.sbs.com.au/news/video/q...
sbs.com.au
Queensland set to feel the cost of rising sea levels
Rising sea levels could cost Australia more than $850 billion this century, with Queensland flagged as having the greatest number of properties at risk. It's an issue impacting coastal communities acr...
021