Lisa Thalheimer, DPhil
@lisathalheimer.bsky.social
Oxford trained climate scientist visiting @hsph.harvard.edu. Interested in the climate-health impacts of AI infrastructure and data centers. Also at @iiasa.ac.at studying extreme weather impacts on society.
Trump Administration Is Repurposing Federal Land for A.I. Data Centers www.nytimes.com/2026/07/29/c...
Trump Administration Is Repurposing Federal Land for A.I. Data Centers (Gift Article)
In the latest example, the Energy Department will convert a shuttered Cold War-era uranium enrichment facility into a data center campus and gas plants.
nytimes.com
According to #ClimateCentral's @kaitlyntrudeau.bsky.social, "Climate change is increasing the risk of critically-dry conditions that set the stage for extreme fire behavior — and that's exactly what we've seen so far in 2026.” 🎥Watch our latest Monthly Climate Briefing: youtu.be/XUtVXGG1UqA?...
Sudden streamflow changes (e.g., regime shifts and extreme events) have been increasing with time across the continental United States. This is another signal of #climate change. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Streamflow in the United States: Characteristics, trends, regime shifts, and extremes - Scientific Data
Scientific Data - Streamflow in the United States: Characteristics, trends, regime shifts, and extremes
nature.com
The global surface temperature record is one of the most iconic figures in climate science. We now have 12 different groups of researchers from the US, UK, EU, Japan, and China (among others) that have calculated it and found nearly identical results:
The ongoing EU heat wave is undoubtedly already historic. The extent of Saturdays convective activity determines Germany's fate on Sunday. Everything from mind-boggling 43°C to just above 40°C is up for grabs. Extremely dangerous, but synoptically tantalizing 🔥 kachelmannwetter.com/de/modellkar...
Great to see our work in involuntary immobility in the context of extreme weather highlighted in the IIASA 2025 Annual Report!
IIASA@iiasa.ac.at · last mo.🔴The IIASA Annual Report 2025 is here. Discover how international scientific collaboration, systems analysis, and science diplomacy are helping tackle today’s biggest challenges: from climate change and biodiversity loss to demographic change and sustainable development. ▶️ iiasa.ac.at/ar
Lead by Sabine Undorf, this review synthesizes the latest opportunities and guard rails of impact attribution.
Nature Reviews Earth & Environment@natrevearthenviron.nature.com · 2mo agoNew online! Approaches, challenges and applications of climate change impact attribution
Interesting take on the geopolitical distribution of US data centers. www.linkedin.com/posts/jeremy...
US Data Center Development Trends Shift to Local Sentiment | Jeremy Solomon posted on the topic | LinkedIn
As demand for AI continues to grow, it appears that the U.S. data center map is splitting in two. Where data centers can be built is increasingly determined by local sentiment and permitting condition...
linkedin.com
Listen to @hollyjeanbuck.bsky.social talk to @milkepescs.bsky.social about her article that made people big mad.
Holly Buck: A Pause on New Data Centers Isn't Really Going to Slow the Progress of AI
Podcast Episode · The Gist · May 27 · 32m
podcasts.apple.com
In late February, after reopening thousands of refugee claims in Minnesota, the White House said ICE agents would be empowered to detain legal refugees in the U.S. indefinitely for “aggressive rescreening.” trib.al/H9nHeqf
Somali Immigrants Fled Climate Change. Now They’re Facing ICE.
Somali immigrants in the U.S. haven’t just fled violence—they’ve fled climate catastrophes that the U.S. has helped create.
trib.al
My take on the impact of climate change on Somalis in today’s @newrepublic.com article by @eshirin.bsky.social.
The New Republic@newrepublic.com · 5mo agoSomali immigrants in the U.S. haven’t just fled violence—they’ve fled climate catastrophes that the U.S. has helped create. trib.al/2uwMUTM
For so long, fossil fuel projects have said their contribution to climate change is "negligible". Turns out that's wrong. Our research in NPJ Climate Action proves it. Every tonne of CO2 matters. @21stcenturyweather.bsky.social @minderoo.bsky.social #climatechange www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Quantifying the regional to global climate impacts of individual fossil fuel projects to inform decision-making - npj Climate Action
npj Climate Action - Quantifying the regional to global climate impacts of individual fossil fuel projects to inform decision-making
nature.com
In 2022, flooding displaced millions of people in Pakistan. An international team of researchers used open data and tools to help understand differences in vulnerability to floods and better predict displacement in the future. Read more 👉 iiasa.ac.at/news/sep-202... @lisathalheimer.bsky.social
Attributing migration to human-caused climate change isn’t as simple as you might think @lisathalheimer.bsky.social walks through the detective work involved on our podcast, Changing Climate, Changing Migration. Find it wherever you get your podcasts
@lisathalheimer.bsky.social and I are looking forward to a great panel discussion on Wednesday at the #MR2025 conference on the use of quantitative models and data to inform policy on climate-induced migration (8.30am, Geffen Hall room #320).
Interested in learning how to warn vulnerable groups ahead of floods and drought through digital tools? I'll present joint work with @ununiversity.bsky.social & others today @egu.eu: 📍Room 1.31/32 🕟 01 May, 17:30–17:40 (CEST) 🔗 meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU25/EGU25-... @iiasa.ac.at #EGU25
Thank you, @mongabay.bsky.social for featuring our @natcomms.nature.com paper on involuntary immobility. Open access paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Prioritizing involuntary immobility in climate policy and disaster planning - Nature Communications
Climate change and extreme weather events will influence migration patterns. However, it is important that our policies do not forget about those who are immobile to migration. This perspective explor...
nature.com
Mongabay@mongabay.com · last yr.The world’s most vulnerable people increasingly face threats related to climate change. Many lack the ability to move away from impacts like heat, flooding and landslides. Experts say governments and organizations can invest in low-cost interventions aimed at reducing suffering.
#ClimateChange impacts “can force people to stay in place” resulting in involuntary immobility due to various obstacles, e.g., political & social. As @lisathalheimer.bsky.social et al. note, a lack of data & knowledge inhibits policy & planning to address this growing problem doi.org/10.1038/s414...
Flooded refugee camps. Heat-stricken urban communities. Displacement isn’t always a choice—many people want to leave but can’t. "Leaving isn’t an option, and staying is increasingly dangerous." – @lisathalheimer.bsky.social, IIASA. #scicomm #climatechange #refugees
‘Trapped populations’ need help to escape climate risks
For many refugees and other populations trapped by poverty and conflict, migration is not an option. So how can they be helped?
scidev.net
As climate risks intensify, many communities are forced to relocate, but what about those who can’t move? A new Nature Communications study led by IIASA researcher @lisathalheimer.bsky.social highlights the struggles of populations trapped in high-risk areas 🌊🌪️🌩️ 👉 iiasa.ac.at/news/mar-202...
📢 We're hiring: Climate & Migration Researcher! 🌍📊 Join the Migration & Sustainable Development Research Group to study how climate impacts migration. We seek a postdoc with expertise in statistics, modeling (R, STATA, Python), and large-scale climate & migration data. iiasa.ac.at/employment/j...
📣 #Postdoc opportunity with the brilliant Roman Hoffmann and me on modeling climate migration to and within Europe. 🔎 Please see details below.
IIASA@iiasa.ac.at · last yr.📢 We're hiring: Climate & Migration Researcher! 🌍📊 Join the Migration & Sustainable Development Research Group to study how climate impacts migration. We seek a postdoc with expertise in statistics, modeling (R, STATA, Python), and large-scale climate & migration data. iiasa.ac.at/employment/j...
Join the wonderful @lisathalheimer.bsky.social and Roman Hoffmann as a post-doc at @iiasa.ac.at in our joint project on climate migration to and within Europe: iiasa.ac.at/projects/ccm...
Quantifying the Impacts of Climate Change on Migration to and Within Europe (CCMIG-EU)
The CCMIG-EU aims to analyze, quantify, and project the impacts of climate change on migration patterns towards and within Europe, focusing on Austria.
iiasa.ac.at
Lisa Thalheimer, DPhil@lisathalheimer.bsky.social · last yr.Join us @iiasa.ac.at as a Researcher/ Postdoc on climate migration modeling to and within Europe as part of our #FFG project CCMIG-EU. iiasa.ac.at/employment/j... cc @sarahnash.bsky.social, @mtzatzanis.bsky.social, @ununiversity.bsky.social, @columbiaclimate.bsky.social, @smconstantino.bsky.social
Join us @iiasa.ac.at as a Researcher/ Postdoc on climate migration modeling to and within Europe as part of our #FFG project CCMIG-EU. iiasa.ac.at/employment/j... cc @sarahnash.bsky.social, @mtzatzanis.bsky.social, @ununiversity.bsky.social, @columbiaclimate.bsky.social, @smconstantino.bsky.social
Job openings
iiasa.ac.at
Attributing climate change to drought severity in 2021-2022 in the Horn of Africa region. Our new study shows classic attribution results and the role of vulnerability and humanitarian needs for addressing drought impacts before conditions become dire. doi.org/10.1016/j.wa...
Redirecting
doi.org
Whether and to what extent does climate change impact migration to and within Europe? @sarahnash.bsky.social, Roman Hoffman and I (@iiasa.ac.at) are asking exactly this question in the @ffg.bsky.social -funded CCMIG-EU project. More info here: iiasa.ac.at/projects/ccm...
Quantifying the Impacts of Climate Change on Migration to and Within Europe (CCMIG-EU)
The CCMIG-EU aims to analyze, quantify, and project the impacts of climate change on migration patterns towards and within Europe, focusing on Austria.
iiasa.ac.at
Confusing title - it sends a *wrong* signal that people can migrate under future warming. Heat and other extremes force people to stay in disaster areas. We discuss some of these involuntary immobility challenges in our upcoming publication. Stay tuned.
INET Complexity Economics@inet-complexity.bsky.social · 2y agoNext up on 29 January, we're delighted to have @leoniewenz.bsky.social from @pik-potsdam.bsky.social talking about climate-induced cross-border #migration at global scales www.inet.ox.ac.uk/events/clima...
2024 is almost history and the global temperature forecast for the remaining few days is rock solid now. Time to wrap up. In most datasets, 2024 will be 0.1 degree C warmer than 2023. Also, 2024 will be the 1st individual year above the 1.5 degree Paris warming threshold in all datasets. (1/10)
