Spawned by El Niños, “Kelvin waves can raise sea levels by as much as 6 to 12 inches—potentially for months. “Those elevated sea levels, when combined with passing weather or storms, can substantially increase flood risk and risk for things like beach erosion.” www.latimes.com/california/s...

'Pretty epic' Kelvin wave is latest threat to SoCal coastal cities. When will it get here?

Coastal communities are beginning to assess the damage from waves and flooding as Southern California braces for more potentially destructive conditions from a 'coastally trapped Kelvin wave.'

latimes.com

Just in case the climate-changing emissions, air pollution, water pollution, and noise pollution weren’t enough www.theguardian.com/world/2026/s...

Datacenter rush will create ‘tsunami’ of discarded electronics, report says

Global push will triple toxic e-waste annually in 25 years, filling enough shipping containers to circle globe six times

theguardian.com

For Mexico’s Independence Day, a brief history of the largest Spanish language newspaper in the US, L.A.’s La Opinión, which began publishing 100 years ago today. From the archives of the Huntington Library. youtube.com/shorts/L1op7...

100 Years of La Opinión, One of the Largest Spanish-language Newspapers in the U.S.

YouTube video by The Huntington

youtube.com

Gift article. An essential way to plan and prepare for disaster, to persevere during disaster, and to recover materially and emotionally afterwards is to find, build, and rely upon community. This is a story about disaster survivors trying to do exactly that. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Six Strangers Connected By Disaster (Gift Article)

After devastating storms, wildfires, and heat waves, members of the Extreme Weather Survivors network learn to rely on one another.

nytimes.com

“Half of the top 10 US datacenter owners are backed by private equity… This industry doesn’t get enough scrutiny and credit for its contribution to global emissions,” Parr said. “It’s a very opaque business model.” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

World’s top 20 private equity firms produce more greenhouse gases a year than most countries, report finds

Firms manage $7.3tn in assets and could afford to transition away from fossil fuels yet invest in natural gas and coal-fired plants to power datacenters

theguardian.com

“Carriers are increasingly refusing to renew homeowners’ policies, especially as Utah has continued to build homes in fire-exposed terrain to keep up with its rapid population growth…insurers have become far more aggressive about managing catastrophe exposure.” www.newsweek.com/americas-hom...

America’s home insurance crisis has a new epicenter

Utah had the highest rate of nonrenewals in the nation last year, as insurers try to cut losses in the increasingly risky state.

newsweek.com

The appeal of iconic LA mid-century Modernism apparently isn’t what it used to be. It would be wonderful if some cultural institution or the city had the money to buy the most famous of all the LA Case Study homes, because so far the super rich aren’t interested. www.sfgate.com/la/article/s...

No one wants to buy LA's most famous midcentury house

"Anything's possible in LA, especially when you're talking about real estate values."

sfgate.com

“The grass, native plants and trees are intended to provide shade and reduce heat on a schoolyard that was previously made up largely of asphalt. The school also has a new lawn for recreation and instruction, stormwater capture features, and solar-reflective basketball and handball courts.”

Los Angeles Times@latimes.com · 4d ago

One L.A. school trades asphalt for trees and grass

🧵 Los Angeles just renamed Pershing Square in honor of Biddy Mason, who was born into slavery but won her freedom and went on to become a prominent landowner, philanthropist, and community leader. Learn more about her extraordinary life with Kevin Waite about his new biography: bit.ly/icwSept24

“We are up against an ideology that has given up not only on the premise and promise of liberal democracy but on the livability of our shared world – on its beauty, on its people, on our children, on other species. There is something treasonous in this.” www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

The end times fascists are plotting their escape from our world. Our mission is clear | Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor

An unholy alliance is working toward an apocalyptic future from which only a chosen few will emerge unscathed. It’s becoming clear how we stop them

theguardian.com

“He hopes the Smithsonian’s museums continue to be places where people can come from around the world and say: “I’m not afraid of the truth, I’m not afraid of my past and I’m not afraid of ambiguity.” www.theguardian.com/culture/2026...

‘Don’t I deserve a little grace?’: Lonnie Bunch on pressure from Trump and leaving the Smithsonian on his own terms

The man who shepherded the creation of the National Museum for African American History and Culture discusses his tenure and interference from the White House

theguardian.com

Accurate AF about water in the West! ❤️💧❤️

B. Erin Cole@berincole.bsky.social · 5d ago

the most excited any comic has ever been about historiography #skystorians

Um, what could possibly go wrong? “Storm-driven erosion exposes the vulnerability of the California coast, reviving questions about keeping 3.6 million pounds of radioactive waste just 100 feet from the Pacific at decommissioned San Onofre nuclear power plant.”

Ian James@ianjames.bsky.social · 5d ago

The twin domes that once housed the nuclear reactor cores will start coming down early next year. But the 3.6 million pounds of high-level waste will stay in the coastal community indefinitely. @blancabegert.bsky.social www.latimes.com/environment/...

“But this is fascism with a difference. Its proponents are actively willing an apocalypse, or a wave of interconnected apocalypses brought forth by climate change and financial chaos, to hasten us towards a post-democratic world in which only a rich few survive to prosper.”

Naomi Klein@naomiaklein.bsky.social · 5d ago

"People are really mad and however mad you are, it’s not enough. Because there is something so profound about no longer believing in the future, about seeing no value in our shared home, in the natural world. They’re traitors to creation.” www.theguardian.com/books/2026/s...

Warming “will likely be even larger than most projections currently account for, as they do not factor in the methane and CO2 that will spew from permafrost, wetlands, freshwaters and wildfires…a hidden multiplier missing from the models guiding climate policy.” www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Climate ‘feedback loops’ could worsen global warming by 30%, study finds

Emissions of planet-heating methane and CO2 from natural sources are worsening the climate crisis, paper says

theguardian.com

The sinkhole at Nicholas Cage’s Malibu house might seem like something out of a movie, but potential damage from a supercharged El Niño this winter along the SoCal coast is definitely real: “Experts say it could be only a taste of what is ahead as the El Niño forecast continues to strengthen.”

Los Angeles Times@latimes.com · last wk.

'The whole beach is gone': Big waves, flooding bring destruction to SoCal coast. It's a warning

Gift article: “A convergence of a climate crisis and a housing crisis” in Lahaina: “Many are scrambling to rebuild, while others won’t ever return. Those who are staying worry that old Lahaina will be replaced by short-term rentals built by disaster capitalists.” www.nytimes.com/2026/09/09/m...

The Long Road to Rebuilding Lahaina After the 2023 Wildfire (Gift Article)

Hawaii’s housing crisis was at a breaking point even before the fire. Since then, displaced families have struggled to rebuild their lives.

nytimes.com

Climate change comes for LA’s comfortable, idealized climate, sold relentlessly since the 19th century: “This will probably not be the most extreme humid heat event we see even this decade in Southern California, even though it is at the very upper edge or even beyond what we’ve seen historically.”

Los Angeles Times@latimes.com · last wk.

What happened to L.A.'s 'perfect' Mediterranean weather? Humidity challenges a birthright

Gift article: NYC “is no longer dealing just with the usual water challenges of the past century. The rain has become worse — a lot worse. That’s a function of New York’s changing climate, now considered a humid subtropical zone.” www.nytimes.com/2026/09/08/m...

New York’s Subways Weren’t Built for This (Gift Article)

In an era of heavy rain, a transit system with 47,000 openings is bound to leak.

nytimes.com

"After all, a library serves no purpose unless someone is using it." -Mr. Atoz, All Our Yesterdays In honor of the show's 60th anniversary, here are a few Star Trek-related items from @ransomcenter.bsky.social's collections. #StarTrek #StarTrek60 #StarTrekDay #LLAP #scifi 🖖 🗃️ 📜

“There really is nowhere that is terribly well adapted to these very extreme events”… Poor countries are the most vulnerable to climate change, but even wealthy countries are failing to adapt fast enough, the U.N. report found.”

Grist@grist.org · last wk.

The world is adapting to extreme heat — but not nearly fast enough

One of the most respected historians in the United States and a giant in the museums world—but above all, an incredible kind man. He will be president of the AHA in 2027 (taking the gavel during the January conference), and I could not be happier to have him lead the association in these times.

Karin Wulf@kawulf.bsky.social · last wk.

More to say but, mostly he's just the best. www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026...

Gift article. It’s fascinating how unimpeded access & transit through the Arctic has been an obsession of nations and empires since the Northwest Passage and the doomed British Franklin Expedition, fantasies now made fact by how radically we’ve changed the planet. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/08/w...

Chinese Ship Takes Arctic Shortcut: Smart Business? Or a Political Flex? (Gift Article)

Melting ice is opening a trade route through the Arctic. China has begun the first regular service, part of its polar ambitions.

nytimes.com

“Regions that had recorded a fall in pollution are facing new threats to air quality because of wildfire smoke...pollution generated by these climate-linked events is…creating a feedback loop that risks dragging the world deeper into environmental catastrophe.” www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Heatwaves and wildfires are setting back air quality improvements, UN finds

WMO report details extreme weather events causing climatic feedback loop with serious health consequences

theguardian.com

“Cities have always learned from one another. We have adapted successful transport systems, housing policies and public health measures for generations. Heat adaptation should be no different.” www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

We’re the mayors of Paris, Milan and Phoenix. The heat crisis has us all facing the same question | Emmanuel Grégoire, Giuseppe Sala and Kate Gallego

Our three cities are learning from each other about how to protect residents. These climate policies are also public health measures

theguardian.com

One example of a global story: In high-altitude Utah, lower temps & cool nights once meant people used AC rarely, or didn’t have it at all. Now more days are hot, and cool nights may be smoky. “Demand for air conditioning in Salt Lake City jumped 76% from 1970 to 2025.” www.kuer.org/science-envi...

Mountain life didn’t use to need AC. Then Utah summers got warmer and smokier

“It felt like you were suffocating,” said one Wayne County resident. When smoke from the Widemouth 2 fire overlapped with a heat wave this summer, it left some Utahns without air conditioning in a tou...

kuer.org

Gift article. In many parts of the US, summer has transformed from a season of outdoor recreation to a season of smoke and dangerous heat. It’s also MUCH longer—35 years ago, my hometown of Birmingham averaged 63 days a year with a heat index of 90°+. Now it’s 96. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Opinion | Summer Has Gotten Much Hotter. See How Bad It Is Where You Live. (Gift Article)

The notion of enduring the summer rather than embracing it has spread far beyond the Sun Belt.

nytimes.com

Gift article. “Unstinting heat waves have forced a cultural shift in a country where homeowners usually weather the summer with open windows and fans, diners eat outside even in the hottest months, and doctors tell patients to avoid getting too close to chilled air.” www.nytimes.com/2026/09/03/w...

Many Italians Long Resisted Air-Conditioning. Then Europe Got Hotter. (Gift Article)

Amid record-breaking temperatures on the continent, households and businesses in Italy are increasingly installing cooling units.

nytimes.com

“Working-class Black and rural communities are bearing the brunt of fallout from extreme weather events and the pressure that our grids are facing from the AI datacenter boom.” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

When Memphis went dark, community members brought the light: ‘We keep ourselves safe’

A storm lasting about 30 minutes wreaked $18m in damage and left tens of thousands without power in the US city

theguardian.com

On September 4, 1781, El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles de Porciúncula was officially established. "L.A. History: A Mexican Perspective" mural by Barbara Carrasco via @nhm.org: nhm.org/mural-rememb...