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@arctic.basecamp

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Bringing the global climate risks from polar change to the world's most powerful audiences #SpeakingSciencetoPower #ArcticAlarm

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A dried lakebed and a case of ‘adaptive injustice’*: Who and what can adapt and at what rate and cost?

What happens when the water is gone? We hear the term ‘adaptation’ in climate change discussions, but adaptation is by-default framed only in human terms. The rate of change in ecosystems in the Himalayas is beyond the rate of plant and animal evolution. The pika, the marmot, the Tibetan Wolf, the Bharal, Chough, the Chukar Partridge, the emblematic and mystical snow leopard, and all our non-human and plant friends depend on these water sources, too. Heat is already pushing species up to higher altitudes, but without water, life cannot exist. There is no ‘adaptation’ without water.

Humans are at a great disadvantage when water sources dry up - and some of the first climate refugees in India are because of water sources disappearing - but at least humans can move. In places with extreme water scarcity, temporary solutions are employed to store & conserve water: ice dams, ice stupas, water pumping from lower-elevation rivers, smart-watering systems, and locally-appropriate, less water intensive crops. But, these solutions are only temporary. If we want to preserve the irreplaceable biological diversity of the Himalayas and the invaluable lives and livelihoods of the peoples of the Himalayas, we need strategic climate action now. Nature is showing us very clearly what the future will look like if we do not act.

*I coined this term ‘adaptive injustice’ in a paper I wrote on plastic pollution in 2020 and I’m expanding the definition to include climate change.
**footprints are 🐺 and snow leopard 🐆 ❄️ . #adaptation #environmentaljustice #climatechangeisreal #waterscarcity #noplanetb🌎

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🎤 Meet some more of the speakers taking the stage at the 2026 Textile Exchange Conference in less than two weeks!

There’s still time to join us in Vancouver for three days of collective learning focused on the ways that we produce, choose, and reuse materials ⬇️

Under the theme The Implementation Era, this year’s event explores how we can scale what works across businesses, supply systems, and landscapes. The agenda is rooted in the realities of those leading and delivering change—from sustainability executives and practitioners to material producers.

📆 October 12-16, 2026
📍 Vancouver, Canada
🎟️ Registration is still open!

Swipe to meet the voices leading these important conversations ➡️

Learn more about the conference and register at our link in bio.

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Third Pole Day 7: shifting landscapes of ecology and culture. The Third Pole is warming almost twice as fast as the rest of the world. What does this mean for the lives of people and the ecological integrity of this critical region? We set out on a two week trek across terrain mostly over 5000m, encountering nomadic herders, villagers, dried up springs, shrinking glaciers, and landscapes that people cannot relate to as they have for centuries. While traversing the terrain we reflect on what it means for these water towers to deglaciate, and how these changes impact communities who have never been to these heights downstream. These narratives are part of the backstory that forms our multi-year research project at the Third Pole. Catch up on our other videos days 1-6 if you haven’t watched already! #himalayas #glaciers #thirdpole #climatechange #climateaction

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Canada 'invaded' the US with wildfire smoke. Trump hit back with 50% tariffs to make them pay for the damage. Now Canada's issued a formal apology to the US, taking full responsibility for everything it has sent across the southern border.

What's next, tariffs on maple syrup for 'invading' American pancakes?

Maybe it's time we stopped pretending we can tariff our way out of a burning planet.

Read more climate stories across North America with the link in bio!

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I must emphasize here that – I am a scientist. I think science is the ONLY way to understand the natural world - not one way, not even the best way – the ONLY way.

But the natural world is very complex and therefore very difficult to understand. So we understand fragments of most phenomena. Small pieces.

Science has been good at describing the world but less successful at explaining why the world is the way it is. That is, science has been relatively good at descriptive knowledge (i.e. what, where, when, who), not as good at mechanistic understanding (why and how). Most of the benefit to decision-making comes from mechanistic understanding rather than descriptive knowledge. And mechanistic understanding is where science is weakest.

There have been a handful of climate change model validation papers published in the past decade and they all show the same pattern – that the observed changes in temperature were broadly consistent with the model forecasts, but that the forecasts often missed by 50% or more of the observed values (Hausfather 2020). Raisenan (2022) did a similar validation study and found that the global mean forecast and the observed mean global temperature were identical. But the observations in the North were twice as warm as the forecasts and the temperature observations in the south were half as warm as forecast. So, the average was correct because the north and south predictions were poor but in opposite directions. Raisanen (2022) also concluded that precipitation models incorporating anthropogenic atmospheric forcing (e.g. carbon emissions) made predictions that were no better than precipitation models that did not include human atmospheric forcing.

This not an indictment of science - it's an acknowledgement of the complexity of the world and the uncertainty around most scientific predictions.

for full manuscript see Link in Bio

#scientificuncertainty #followthescience #evidencebased #publicpolicy

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Interglacial: this is more than just an art show. This is an ode to the glaciers and a celebration of glaciologists and scientists from various fields whose work overlaps with glaciers, such as wildfire ecologists and hydrologists. The show inspires awe, immersion, reflection, and will leave visitors curious to engage more with environmental concerns. Desirée’s grande vision is uniquely relevant in her focus on glacier melt and present day impacts to the cryosphere, employing art to highlight and communicate critical science. And, in the art field that is too-often dominated by big egos, her approach is collaborative and community-strengthening, bringing new audiences into the fold of dedicated earth scientists across Canada. Glaciers impact us all, and their protection and stewardship requires such creative, aesthetically-moving, and inclusive approaches. Interglacial will open in Vancouver, BC in the coming months (I got a sneak peak!), and I recommend to not miss it! Desirée’s art it also informed by her lifelong immersion in the wilds of BC, trekking, snowboarding, climbing and spending formative time in the mountains. As a mother, she instills this love for nature in her daughter and is a true embodiment of ‘protecting what she loves,’ using her platform as an artist for environmental engagement. You shine so bright @desireepatterson_ !🏔️🩵✨🏔️🩵🏔️🩵✨🏔️ #glaciers #earthart #cryosphere #sciencecommunication #canada

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Goodbye @ldnclimateweek - you were frantic, way too hot but ultimately inspiring, uplifting and necessary. Met so many inspiring people - mostly women I must say. #womenleadingonclimate @womenleadingonclimate

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Our favourite foods are on the frontline of the climate crisis - and for brands, communicating that reality to customers could become a competitive advantage 🥇

Steve Walls, Founding Director @climatebasecamp, Katie Gilbert, Managing Director of Global & Social Issues @mcsaatchiuk, and @paulgoodenough, CEO & Founder @rewritingearth, met in Davos to explore lessons from #SaveTheFlavors - a live campaign making climate relevant through the things we love 😋

If your favourite food got a marketing makeover, where would climate fit in the picture?

Featuring #MonkeyRock - an installation created by Professor @gail.whiteman and @joepvanlieshout of @atelier_van_lieshout

@uniofexeter #UnleashImpact #SaveTheFlavours

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🌊 The ocean is full of remarkable characters, and today we’re diving into the frozen world of the Arctic Cod!

❄️ Known as the “energy bridge” of the North, these silvery specialists are built for the extreme. Living in water that would freeze most species solid, they carry a biological secret: antifreeze proteins that stop ice crystals from forming in their blood.

Check out the slides to learn all about them.

#arcticcod #lifeofanarcticcod #oceancommunity #oceanlife

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Polar ice formed over hundreds of thousands of years.
Its future is now changing within a single generation.

As climate change accelerates, ice loss is increasing, raising questions about how stable these ice sheets are, and whether some changes may be difficult to reverse.

We all know that the Antarctic and Greenland are melting. But what makes matters complicated is that the ice sheets may be pushed into irreversible decline not in one, but in three different ways:

• crossing a temperature threshold – i.e. a certain level of global warming (we are currently at about ~1,44 °C)

• repeated shocks – extreme events, or disturbances in climate system, such as marine heatwaves or unusually warm summers

• climate change happening too quickly – rate of change, which has been accelerating.

In our next webinar, Ricarda Winkelmann (@pik_klima & @mpi_gea ) will talk about these different dynamics in Greenland and Antarctica.

5 May 2026 @ 14:00–15:00 CEST

❗️New link: https://bit.ly/climtip-webinar-new

#Antarctica #Greenland #ClimateScience #climatetippingpoints #climtip

Photo by an amazing Ukrainian photographer Tetiana Gry consuela_bananahamock on @unsplash

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At the @planetarygdns event in Santa Marta, Colombia, as part of the @fossilfueltreaty, Former President of Ireland and Planetary Guardian #MaryRobinson spoke about the importance of moving away from fragmented efforts to an Earth System led approach to tackling the climate crisis.

From this global position, Chief Planetary Scientists would play a key role advising governments and leading shared equity models with local communities.

The Planetary Guardians are an independent collective elevating science to make the Planetary Boundaries a measurement and operating framework for the world. Of the nine planetary boundaries that sustain life on Earth, seven have already been breached. Yet there is still hope.

#leadership #weareallforests #goal13climateaction #collectiveaction

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We’re so glad you could make it! Thank you for joining us for Harmony With Nature with performances by Prof. Gail Whiteman and Grammy Award Winning Jazz Musician Terence Blanchard bringing focus to how societies can adapt to extreme weather events and how art can help us face loss and find hope 💚

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