Nasa’s top climate and space monitoring lab, called the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (Giss), has been housed in six floors of a leased building owned by Columbia University on Manhattan’s Upper West Side since 1966. Since then, it has launched the career of a Nobel prize winner, aided missions to Venus and Jupiter, mapped the Milky Way and alerted the world to global heating by creating one of the first climate models. The climate model ran on an IBM computer, the fastest in the world in the 1970s and so gargantuan it took up the entire second floor. But this storied history has meant little to the Trump administration, which is ending the lab’s lease on 31 May, releasing 130 staff to work from home with an uncertain future ahead. Donald Trump, who has called climate science “bullshit” and a “giant hoax” in the past, wants to slash Nasa’s Earth science budget in half. “They are trying to kill the messenger with the bad news, it’s crazy,” said Dr James Hansen, known as the godfather of climate science and previously director of Giss for more than 30 years.

The Guardian talked to Hansen, who was wearing a trademark felt fedora, as he tackled a plate of eggs and bacon at Tom’s Restaurant, which sits below the Giss office. The eggs, as well as some pancakes for your Guardian reporter, were ordered at the barked behest of the manager: “$12 minimum on food! $12! Each!” The diner is famous – its neon-lit exterior regularly appeared on Seinfeld (photos of Jerry, Kramer and Elaine, some signed, adorn the walls inside) and it inspired Suzanne Vega’s 1980s song Tom’s Diner and so is now regularly thronged by tourists as well as Columbia students, though perhaps less so by Giss staff. “Are they going to destroy this place? Are they bombing it?” said Hansen about the dismantling of the institution above where we were poking at our food. “That’s the approach of Doge [Elon Musk’s so-called ‘department of government efficiency’] to blow things up, to use a chainsaw,” he said. “That’s a big mistake because science isn’t something you start over. You’ve got a lot of knowledge there.” Hansen gave Congress and the world its first major warning of a climate crisis in 1988 but left Giss in 2013 to speak out more publicly about climate breakdown. His latent activism became so concerning to Nasa that, Hansen claims, it sought to install a camera outside his office to monitor his movements.

Giss’s independence and nimbleness allowed it to chart the dangerous heating of our planet but also spurred resentment from senior officials who long desired to subsume it within Nasa’s main Goddard space flight center campus in Greenbelt, Maryland. “We survived under a non-supportive situation for decades,” Hansen said. “Somewhat it was a matter of jealousy, of scientists in Greenbelt thinking: ‘Why are these guys getting to this privileged position?’” Ironically for a place that has produced world-leading climate science for a tiny fraction of Nasa’s budget, however, it will be closed down ostensibly for efficiency reasons. Last month, the US president signed an executive order calling for a review of all leased federal office space, particularly in cities, to slash costs. “Over the next several months, employees will be placed on temporary remote work agreements while Nasa seeks and evaluates options for a new space for the Giss team,” a Nasa spokesperson said.It’s unclear where, or if, such a space will eventuate. The move will likely not even save the federal government any money – the $3m a year lease is between Columbia and a different federal agency and cannot be broken early. Researchers, their books and equipment are being packed up and removed so that the US taxpayer can fund an empty building in New York City’s moneyed Upper West Side. “Ours is not to reason why,” said Gavin Schmidt, the current Giss director who noted the lab was only recently renovated at a cost of several million dollars. “It is frustrating.” .....read on   https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/may/21/nasa-giss-lab-trump-shut-down-james-hansen    

Newly elected president of Mexico breaks new ground as a climate scientist in power — but many want to see results before celebrating. On the campaign trail, Sheinbaum promised major investments in clean energy to the tune of nearly $14 billion. The Cool Down Leslie Sattler June 7, 2024 In a historic election, Mexicans chose Claudia Sheinbaum to be their next president, making her both the country's first female leader and the first climate scientist to helm a major nation, according to Climate Home News.Sheinbaum is also the first person with a Jewish background to lead Mexico, the Associated Press reported. An energy engineer who volunteered her time and expertise to work on two major climate reports for the UN (in 2007 and 2014), she will take the reins of the world's 14th-largest economy on Oct. 1. Her term is set to last until 2030. On the campaign trail, Sheinbaum promised major investments in clean energy to the tune of nearly $14 billion. She also pledged to boost electric buses and trains, telling a group of business leaders in April, "We have to speed up the promotion of renewable energies," per Climate Home News. Some climate experts are hopeful. Sheinbaum's scientific background and commitment to climate action will help accelerate Mexico's transition to clean energy. However, others worry that her close ties to outgoing dirty fuel-friendly President Andrés Manuel López Obrador could hinder progress. As mayor of Mexico City from 2018 to 2023, Sheinbaum promoted solar power but made limited progress on urgent environmental issues like air pollution, according to local climate scientists and political experts cited by the news outlet. She has also expressed support for keeping electricity and oil under state control. 

Still, Sheinbaum has broken with López Obrador on key issues in the past, like pandemic safety measures. Observers are cautiously optimistic that she will chart a more independent, climate-focused course when serving as president. "I believe she knows enough about climate change and the need to solve it," said Xochitl Cruz Núñez, a climate scientist who worked with Sheinbaum on a major UN climate report, per Climate Home. Cruz Núñez expressed hope that Sheinbaum will use her knowledge and new platform to establish a clear emissions reduction and climate adaptation plan for Mexico. With her historic victory, all eyes are on Sheinbaum to see if she can transform Mexico into a global leader on climate action and a model for balancing economic growth and environmental protection. Her success could inspire a new generation of climate scientists to step into the political arena.....explore other actions and articles  https://guide.thecooldown.com/actions/vote-for-pro-climate-candidates/

Climate Change in the American Mind: Beliefs & Attitudes.  Climate Communication.......Yale.edu by Anthony Leiserowitz, Edward Maibach, Seth Rosenthal, John Kotcher, Emily Goddard, Jennifer Carman, Matthew Ballew, Marija Verner, Jennifer Marlon, Sanguk Lee, Teresa Myers, Matthew Goldberg, Nicholas Badullovich and Kathryn Thier Fall 2023

1. Global Warming Beliefs

1.1. Most Americans think global warming is happening. Americans who think global warming is happening outnumber those who think it is not happening by a ratio of nearly 5 to 1. About seven in ten Americans (72%) think global warming is happening. By contrast, only 15% of Americans think global warming is not happening. Twelve percent say they don’t know if global warming is happening. 

1.2. When Americans who “don’t know” if global warming is happening are asked for their best guess, more say “yes” than “no.” Survey respondents who say they “don’t know” whether global warming is happening in response to the question in Section 1.1 (refer to data tables, p. 31) are then asked to provide their best guess as to whether or not global warming is happening. Over time, this follow-up question has produced a relatively stable pattern in which more of these Americans “lean” toward “yes” than “no” (refer to data tables, p. 32). When the “leaners,” as determined by this follow-up question, are added to the totals of those who responded “yes” or “no” to the question reported in Section 1.1, we find that a total of 80% of Americans think global warming is happening or lean toward that position, while 20% think global warming is not happening or lean toward that position.

1.3. About half of Americans are “extremely” or “very” sure global warming is happening. About half of Americans (49%) are either “extremely” or “very” sure global warming is happening. Far fewer (8%) are “extremely” or “very” sure global warming is not happening. 1.4. A majority of Americans think global warming is mostly human-caused. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Sixth Assessment synthesis report, summarizing the work of thousands of climate experts worldwide, states: “Human activities, principally through emissions of greenhouse gases, have unequivocally caused global warming.”1 A majority of Americans (58%) understand that global warming is mostly human-caused. By contrast, 29% think it is caused mostly by natural changes in the environment.

1.5. About half of Americans understand that most scientists think global warming is happening. A review by Cook and colleagues2 found that six independent, peer-reviewed studies examining the scientific consensus about global warming have concluded that between 90% and 100% of climate scientists are convinced human-caused global warming is happening. A more recent study found that as many as 98% of climate scientists are convinced global warming is happening and human-caused.3 About half of Americans (53%) understand that most scientists think global warming is happening. By contrast, one in four (25%) think there is a lot of disagreement among scientists about whether or not global warming is happening. Very few Americans (3%) believe most scientists think global warming is not happening......read on    https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/climate-change-in-the-american-mind-beliefs-attitudes-fall-2023/toc/3/