Next Week in Science, August 8, 2025
Does it surprise you to know I’m still seeing lightnight bugs? It surprising the hell out of me.
A couple of our articles you might have missed. While on vacation, I got to thinking and trying to parse out the differences between saltwater and freshwater. I then got to an even more fundamental question. Why do we have “different” water at all. You can check it out here.
Here’s what we’re tracking in the upcoming science research.
And what’s been the scuttlebutt around town?
Climate effects of a future net forestation scenario in CMIP6 models
Recent research using CMIP6 models reveals that while forestation initiatives, such as afforestation and reforestation, contribute to global cooling by sequestering carbon and subsequently reducing atmospheric CO2, the anticipated offset by biogeophysical effects—such as changes in land albedo and increased evapotranspiration—is minimal on a global scale. This finding suggests that forestation primarily induces cooling in tropical regions due to increased evapotranspiration, whereas in mid-latitudes, the cooling effect is less robust, highlighting the critical role of targeted tropical forestation in mitigating climate change.
Network science disentangles internal climate variability in global spatial dependence structures
A recent study aims to address the challenge of characterizing internal climate variability (ICV) within Earth system models by using a novel metric called the ‘Connectivity Ratio’ (CR), which examines long-range spatial connections in climate networks. This new quantifier reveals substantial differences in spatial connectivity across model ensemble members and could improve the evaluation of climate models’ structural dynamics, thus contributing to more accurate climate projections by quantifying irreducible uncertainty. This advancement is significant as it provides a complementary metric to traditional statistical diagnostics, enhancing the robustness of climate model assessments and providing insight into the variability induced by differing initial conditions.
NASA faces an existential crisis.
NASA is facing proposed budget cuts that would slash its science funding nearly in half, prompting all living former NASA science chiefs to warn against the potentially catastrophic impact on American leadership in space and science. These cuts threaten to halt numerous space missions, degrade advanced research capabilities, and diminish Earth observation efforts critical for weather forecasting and climate science. The proposed budget would reduce NASA’s funding to its lowest level since Apollo’s early days, igniting bipartisan efforts in Congress to restore essential funding and emphasizing the broader implications for national competitiveness and scientific progress.
How Trump Lost the War on Climate—to China
In April 2024, President Donald Trump allegedly offered a “deal” to oil and gas executives, promising to dismantle U.S. climate policy in exchange for $1 billion in campaign donations, leading to an aggressive rollback of climate initiatives during his administration. This shift includes repealing clean-energy incentives, pulling out of the Paris Agreement, and weakening U.S. climate science, posing long-term threats to both national and global efforts to combat climate change, potentially ceding leadership to China in the clean-energy market. This matters as it could lead to increased geopolitical instability, hinder global progress on climate action, and strain international relationships, undermining efforts to address the climate crisis comprehensively.
