Japan has just set a new word to describe days that are 40C and above - 'kokushobi,' which can be translated as 'cruelly hot.' There are many days I feel out of words to describe what is happening, so I'm appreciating this approach.

Japan reveals new name for 40C-and-hotter days after blistering summer

The term - kokushobi - translates to "cruelly hot", "brutally hot" or "severely hot", and comes after Japan's hottest summer on record.

bbc.com

I'm not of a Tribe, I add my objection to theirs.

Shameless promo - event next week on climate risk, resilience, and heritage by @antarcticheritage.bsky.social and I get to be part of it. Please join us! 16 March, 16:00 GMT (free, virtual) #climateheritage

Extreme Heritage: Climate Change Risk and Resilience |

Join us for specialist panel discussion exploring the threats posed to heritage sites by the changing climate

eventbrite.co.uk

“We exist in a time of profound significance for all human history, as we transform the ways we live to ensure a flourishing future for life on our planet. We cannot do it without the storytellers." No we can't and I'm so looking forward to what comes from this -

Shakespeare’s Globe launches environmental playwright prize

Theatre says it will harness art ‘to inspire societal shifts towards restorative relationship with nature’

theguardian.com

I work with archaeology in relation to climate and this article on gaps in AI explains beautifully why this matters. Because many ways of living well in the world are held in webs of words, practice, and perceptions that are not digitized.

“Some of them [children] have their mouths wide open when they first open a drawer,” she said. “I tell them, these are from your ancestors.” Typhoon Halong ate 60 ft. of Alaskan shoreline in a night. This damaged not only recent infrastructure but also sites and deep time connections they hold.

A Storm Hit Alaska. Now, a Native Community Is Racing to Save Its History.

nytimes.com

So much wasn't done before demolition of the White House East Wing began. Next week the Senate is holding a hearing on the main process, Section 106, that protects heritage across the country. I think we should expect they're not looking to strengthen it. www.energy.senate.gov/hearings/202...

Full Committee Hearing to Examine the Section 106 Consultation Process Under the National Historic Preservation Act

energy.senate.gov

❤️ Safe home Dr. Goodall. Your beautiful work has touched us all. (photo by Hugo van Lawick, via the BBC)

So happy to welcome Marcy Rockman as Visiting Researcher @liftingrocks.bsky.social @linneuni.bsky.social 👇 lnu.se/en/meet-linn... #heritagefutures #futuresliteracy #climateheritage

At the intersection of climate change and cultural heritage

Dr Marcy Rockman is a new addition to the UNESCO Chair on Heritage Futures. Over the past 15 years, she has focused on climate change and how archaeology can support adaptation. When continuing climat...

lnu.se

"Across numerous surveys, a majority of Americans consistently say they want a full, honest, and unvarnished presentation of our nation’s history."

The Organization of American Historians@oah.org · 12mo ago

📢 The OAH has issued a Statement on the White House Review of the Smithsonian. Read the statement: ow.ly/hgLR50WGhfQ

The @nationalacademies.org has just launched a fast-track review of evidence regarding whether greenhouse gas emissions endanger public health and welfare. You can submit papers, articles, data, and other comments through August 27 at their main input portal: nas.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?...

If you are having trouble finding National Climate Assessment reports, they are here. www.realclimate.org/index.php/ar...

RealClimate: National Climate Assessment links

RealClimate: For some reason, it has become hard to locate the various National Climate Assessments (NCAs) that have been produced by the USGCRP over the decades (and it's pretty hard to find the USGR...

realclimate.org

"You cannot heal a wound by pretending it does not exist, and we cannot honor Americans' shared history by sweeping it under the rug." Statement from the National Assoc. of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers on NPS's removal of a sign in Muir Woods with updates to its historical story.

NATHPO July 25th 2025 News Release

The National Association of Historic Preservation Officers (NATHPO) condemns the erasure of Indigenous history as the Department of Interior implements "Secretarial Order 3431 - Restoring Truth and Sa...

nathpo.org

“To me, the biggest irony is that the Trump administration says it wants to tell a more balanced version of history, and that’s exactly what this sign did,” Villano said. “It didn’t remove anything. It just layered in what had been missing.”

Muir Woods exhibit is first casualty of White House directive to erase history

"In order to know your role in history, you need to see yourself in it."

sfgate.com

For a long time, I wanted there to be clear culture & heritage expertise on the State Dept. climate team. Now the team is gone entirely. There are so many dimensions to this loss, it's hard to capture - #ClimateHeritage

The State Department fires remaining employees who worked on climate change

The firings of nearly a dozen people in the State Department’s Office of Global Change include the last U.S. climate negotiators.

wapo.st

This is also my concern for tipping points - the social ones that are held off, which pushes us over the physical ones. www.carbonbrief.org/experts-whic...

Look what I made! Ask me for a postcard next time you see me. #ClimateChange #Heritage #HeritageAtRisk #BannedWords

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights issued an opinion saying that nations have legal obligations to try to reduce the impacts and eliminate the human causes of global warming.

Nations Must Act to Face Climate Crisis, Top Regional Court Says - Inside Climate News

An advisory opinion from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights also concluded that governments have special obligations to protect and support environmental defenders.

insideclimatenews.org

BREAKING: During parks' moment of greatest need, the House voted to finalize the reconciliation bill, which claws back $267 million of previously committed staff funding. Now it will move to the president’s desk. www.npca.org/articles/958...

Ignoring Public Outcry, House Votes for National Park Service Staffing Cuts

"Lawmakers must do better before we become the generation that stands by as our national parks and this American legacy collapse.” - Daniel Hart, NPCA's Director of Clean Energy and Climate Policy

npca.org

The White House took down a website hosting the nation's top report on how climate change is affecting the United States.

The White House took down the nation's top climate report. You can still find it here

The National Climate Assessment is the most influential source of information about climate change in the United States.

n.pr

okay and here is my ‘sounds like a shitpost but it’s genuine’ UK heatwave tip: if there is a Saxon or Norman church near you, and it’s open, go sit in it. not gothic, they have too many windows, get you some thick stone walls with some high up tiny windows. they stay cold. and you can just sit there

What @aroddick.bsky.social said-

This adds to my hope: "Instead, in the nearly 200 submissions NPS received in the first days since the solicitations were posted, visitors implored the administration not to erase U.S. history and praised agency staff for improving their experiences."

‘Censorship:’ See the National Park visitor responses after Trump requested help deleting ‘negative’ signage

The administration asked for help erasing language on park displays that failed to emphasize American grandeur, but visitors have not identified any examples.

govexec.com

"Scotland’s Solway Firth is our first Landscape Connections project ... It will use the grant to plan a ‘whole seascape approach’ to protecting and developing the coast’s natural and cultural heritage." #coastalhistory #environmentalhumanities www.heritagefund.org.uk/news/scotlan...

The Antiquities Act gives the president power to CREATE national monuments. Not ERASE them. That is illegal. Sign your name at npca.org/protectmonuments

Secretary Burgum must protect our monuments.

We are on the verge of what could be the largest rollback of protections for national parks and monuments in U.S. history. By taking action today, you can support our parks, monuments, and communities...

npca.org

DOJ opinion from May 27 sets a foundation for undoing protections of the 1906 Antiquities Act, potentially very broadly. This is not good news for public lands, and cultural and natural heritage, Tribal places, and marine areas now held as national monuments. www.justice.gov/olc/media/14...

Some short powerful letters from students on what studying history now is teaching them- wapo.st/45evxXm

Opinion | 13 students on what studying history taught them about the present

Progress can be undone. There’s plenty we don’t know. But change is possible.

wapo.st

The wonderful writer @robgmacfarlane.bsky.social will be in DC tomorrow (6/5, 7pm ET) to talk about his new book! So looking forward to this. politics-prose.com/robert-macfa...

Robert MacFarlane — Is a River Alive? - with Ross Andersen — at Conn Ave

politics-prose.com

The phrase "national parks" is most often linked to nature and scenery such as at Yellowstone and Yosemite. But ca. 2/3 of all national parks were established to recognize history and culture (and all parks hold these).

Hands Off Our History

The president’s shameful “skinny budget” would decimate national parks. NPCA explains why we must continue to defend the integrity of our historic sites.

npca.org

Adding to this article to note that all three legs of US archaeology are being cut: - loss of federal staff, care of federal lands - cuts of funding, university research & elsewhere - challenges to NEPA & archaeology as part of other environmental compliance

In the U.S., Archaeology Stares Down an Uncertain Future

nytimes.com