Climate roundup: The Longest Day

Happy Solstice to those who observe. Summer in the Northern Hemisphere is heating up, so climate news comes thick and fast.

What the White House is up to

In June, Washington DC experienced one of those stories that make you feel like the Matrix is glitching. Surely this can’t be real, right? Surely it’s a bit too on the nose that our image-obsessed president hired a no-bid contractor to paint the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool a hideous ~~swimming pool~~ “flag” blue? Or that the color blue was too dark and caused the pool to heat up too fast, accelerating algae growth and turning the whole thing green? Or that handing out the job to a crony might result in a shoddily done job with the wrong materials, which then bubbled up and peeled away? Or that bystanders examining the pool–even just reaching out to touch flakes of the failed coating, would get harassed or arrested?

You couldn’t write it in a book. And, wrongful arrests aside, it’s a low-stakes enough embarrassment that it’s almost a relief–at last, a government mistake that is mostly just stupid and corrupt, not quite so deadly. But it is also, of course, a perfect microcosm of this administration’s approach to the environment: no regard for science, experience, or stewardship; only handouts and fuckups. Enjoy some humorous takes:
Promises Made, Promises Kept: The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool Absolutely Looks Like Shit Now (Defector, June 2026)
Dingus of the week: The algae-covered reflecting pool (Men Yell At Me, June 19, 2026)

On a less playful note, the US government continues its commitment to disinformation…
Factcheck: Trump’s false claims about the IPCC and ‘RCP8.5’ climate scenario (Carbon Brief, May 19, 2026)

…deregulation…
Trump officials plan to repeal limits on ‘forever chemicals’ in drinking water (The Guardian, May 18, 2026)

…and defunding.
Trump is taking aim at forest and wildfire research just as the West is poised to burn (WHYY, June 12, 2026)

Another science policy tracker, this time from Eos: Tracking Science Policy Decisions and Approaches

Climate policy (and its failures)

Indigenous health can’t be separated from environmental health, leaders tell UN (Grist, April 22, 2026)

The Long History of Controlling Water and Why It No Longer Works (Counterpunch, May 26, 2026)

Giant fossil fuel companies made about $12,000 in the time it took you to read this headline (CNN, April 27, 2026)

Climate impacts

Loosely grouped, but impacts rarely fall under one category.

Drought
Corpus Christi plans to declare a ‘water emergency.’ What does that mean? (KUT News, April 23, 2026)
The US is seeing stronger storms, so why are droughts getting worse? (The Conversation, May 26, 2026)

Sea level rise
‘Point of no return’: New Orleans relocation must start now due to sea level, study finds (The Guardian, May 4, 2026)

Heatwaves
2026 Has Already Broken Climate Records. El Niño Could Break More. (Eos, May 12, 2026)
“Mind-Bogglingly Crazy”: Climate Experts Alarmed by Europe’s Deadly Spring Heatwaves (Mother Jones, May 28, 2026)

Habitat/biodiversity loss
Why I Write About Extinction (The Revelator, April 27, 2026)
Hantavirus is a climate story (HEATED, May 14, 2026)
Rainforests pushed to breaking point by new demands for resources, report says (The Guardian, May 20, 2026)

Fires
In the AI era, New Jersey relies on humans and a 1911 invention to spot wildfires (WHYY, June 9, 2026)
In 2025, 27,229 acres burned during N.J.’s wildfire season. Climate change is making them harder to contain (WHYY, June 20, 2026)
Wildfire season doesn’t have to be like this (HEATED, June 18, 2026)

Pollution

We Are Bombarding America’s Forests With Roundup (Mother Jones, May & June 2026 Issue)

No One Knows How to Handle Nurdle Spills (BioGraphic, June 11, 2026)

AI and the environment

After several years of AI in the news, it’s been fascinating to watch data centers shift to a hot topic in the national conversation about AI ethics and impacts.

Want to Resist a Data Center? These Organizers Share How They Did It. (Truthout, April 19, 2026)

Anti-data center measures gain traction at state, local level (The Hill, April 24, 2026)

UK quietly increases AI emissions forecast 100-fold (Politico, April 24, 2026)

New Evidence Data Centers May Cause Hotter Weather (Forbes, May 19, 2026)

How Pennsylvania towns are protecting themselves from the noise, heat and utility costs of massive data centers (The Conversation, June 11, 2026)

People Living Near xAI’s Dirty Data Centers Are Pissed About the SpaceX IPO (WIRED, June 11, 2026)

Locals affected by Ireland’s AI data centre boom share ‘cautionary tales’ (ABC News, June 14, 2026)