2025 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #32

2025 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #32

Posted on 10 August 2025 by BaerbelW, John Hartz, Doug Bostrom

A listing of 30 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, August 3, 2025 thru Sat, August 9, 2025.

Stories we promoted this week, by category:

Climate Change Impacts (12 articles)

• Troubling scenes from an Arctic in full-tilt crisis The heat that hit Svalbard “The heat that hit Svalbard in February was so intense that scientists could dig into the ground with spoons, ‘like it was soft ice cream’.” Climate, Grist Magazine, Matt Simon, July 29, 2025.
• 5 Graphics Explain the Climate-Fire Feedback Loop Insights, World Resources Institute, Kaitlyn Thayer & James MacCarthy, Aug 1, 2025.
• `A bellwether of change`: speed of glacier shrinking on remote Heard Island sounds alarm Glacial retreat on pristine world heritage-listed island as temperatures warm could endanger unique plant life The Guardian, Graham Readfearn, Aug 04, 2025.
• Canada wildfires prompt severe air quality alerts across country and US More than 700 active wildfires burning across Canada and about two-thirds are currently out-of-control World, The Guardian, Olivia Bowden, Aug 4, 2025.
• ‘The forest had gone’: the storm that moved a mountain On a small ledge in the “On a small ledge in the Swiss mountains, 200 people were celebrating the end of a summer football tournament. As night fell, they had no idea what was coming” World, The Guardian, Jonah Goodman, Aug 5, 2025.
• Australia’s Great Barrier Reef devastated by worst coral bleaching on record, new report finds Climate, CNN, Jessie Yeung, Aug 6, 2025.
• Great Barrier Reef on the Brink: Australia’s Natural Wonder Suffers Worst Coral Collapse in History Scientists warn Australia’s Great Barrier Reef may be nearing a point of no return after its worst coral cover collapse in nearly 40 years, driven by record marine heatwaves, cyclones and starfish outbreaks. International Business Times, Andrea Trinidad, Aug 06, 2025.
• How rising seas are threatening the crucial art of weaving in Samoa Weaving is central to cultural life in Samoa but climate change is disrupting conditions needed for plants used to make the intricate mats The Guardian, Lagipoiva Cherelle Jackson, Aug 06, 2025.
• ‘Unprecedented’ wildfire burns area size of Paris in southern France “Advancing blaze scorches 16,000 hectares near Spanish border, destroying homes and forcing people to flee” The Guardian, Angelique Chrisafis in Paris and agencies, Aug 6, 2025.
• ‘Climate change hasn’t stopped,’ warns EU climate monitor as global heat record streak ends “Extreme heat, deadly floods and widespread wildfires hit Europe in July, despite the end of a record-breaking global temperature streak.” Euronews.com, Rosie Frost, Aug 7, 2025.
• Human-caused climate change is expanding California’s destructive fire seasons “Global warming has advanced wildfire season from one to almost seven weeks earlier, a new study shows” UCLA Newsroom, Jason Islas, Aug 8, 2025.
• “Several factors will be aligning to boost tropical activity.” “Several factors will be aligning to boost tropical activity.” Yale Climate Communications, Bob Henson, Aug 8, 2025.

Climate Policy and Politics (10 articles)

• We Need a New Punctuation Mark to Catch the Essence of Trumpian Decline “What we really need is to turn the exclamation point in any Trumpian sentence into a red tie! Or even a series of them!” TomDispatch/Common Dreams, Tom Engelhardt, Aug 1, 2025.
• How the DOE and EPA used and misused my research Elevating contrarian views while burying the actual science The Climate Brink, Zeke Hausfather, Aug 03, 2025.
• Why a NASA satellite that scientists and farmers rely on may be destroyed on purpose NPR Topics: Climate, Rebecca Hersher, Aug 04, 2025.
• A new report shows how local climate activism leads to `remarkable` gains Efforts to pass laws and advance clean energy projects can significantly reduce emissions, and at a low cost. Grist, Matt Simon, Aug 05, 2025.
• New York Can’t Meet Its Ambitious Climate Targets. Maybe the Plan Was Doomed From the Start “As progress stalls, disadvantaged communities continue to struggle with high utility bills.” Justice & Health, Inside Climate News, Lauren Dalban, Aug 5, 2025.
• Labor was in a climate crouch. It now has the chance to stand up to News Corp and put the national interest first “Australia’s political landscape is barely recognisable from four years ago. Will Labor abandon its risk-averse past and take an aggressive stance on emissions?” Environment, The Guardian, Adam Morton, Aug 5, 2025.
• Environmental Groups, EPA Spar In Court Over Trump’s Cancellation of Resiliency Funding “A U.S. District Court judge in Washington hears arguments over the cancellation of funding for flood mitigation and other projects. Among them are those that would have benefited Southwest Virginia.” Justice & Health, Inside Climate News, Charles Paullin, Aug 6, 2025.
• As US joins oil states in blocking production cuts, UN plastics treaty talks remain deadlocked “As negotiations near the mid-way point, no agreement is in sight amid opposition to measures on production from the US, Gulf states, Russia and India” Climate Home News, Matteo Civillini & Ana Carolina Amaral, Aug 8, 2025.
• Sabin Center Submits Comment Letters on EPA`s Proposed Repeal of Power Plant GHG Emission Standards Climate Law Blog, Olivia Guarna, Aug 08, 2025.
• ‘If the reef had a voice, it would sing’: could legal personhood help the Great Barrier Reef? “As the natural wonder faces mounting ecological threats, traditional owners and environmental lawyers are calling for a radical new approach” Environment, The Guardian, Rosamund Brennan, Aug 8, 2025.

Health Aspects of Climate Change (2 articles)

• Depression, suicides, overdoses: broad impacts of US wildfires revealed in study “Fallout goes beyond deaths and injuries, including lung damage and deaths caused by healthcare disruptions” US News, The Guardian, Dani Anguiano, Aug 6, 2025.
• Explainer: What is `climate anxiety`? As temperature records are shattered, ice rapidly melts and extreme weather events worsen, many people around the world say they are feeling more worried about climate change. Carbon Brief, Daisy Dunne, Aug 07, 2025.

Public Misunderstandings about Climate Science (2 articles)

Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation (1 article)

Climate Education and Communication (1 article)

Climate Law and Justice (1 article)

Miscellaneous (1 article)