Climate scientist, prof at UBC, writer, speaker, aquatic mammal, dragger of sand into the house.https://bsky.app/profile/simondonner.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/simondonner.bsky.social/post/3mr4jfg5h7k2mI appreciate how the Marvel movies are going full Fast and the Furious, just bringing back characters that definitely died or disappeared in a previous film.21 Jul 2026 00:09 +0000at://did:plc:zij25ev763zos5cdeo5ybqqa/app.bsky.feed.post/3mr4jfg5h7k2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/simondonner.bsky.social/post/3mqu6fllkj227I too wish that the wildfire smoke spreading across the eastern US and Canada would inspire deep, sustained action to reduce climate-warming emissions. We've been here many times before, mistakenly thinking that "this" will be the event that tips the scale towards action. (1/2)17 Jul 2026 16:31 +0000at://did:plc:zij25ev763zos5cdeo5ybqqa/app.bsky.feed.post/3mqu6fllkj227https://bsky.app/profile/simondonner.bsky.social/post/3mqs3wf2qqc23Let's not fuel this BS again, it is purely about getting attention... the four Republicans or their social media teams probably don't even believe what they are saying. https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/widlfires-smoke-air-quality-michigan-congress-republicans-9.727253816 Jul 2026 20:41 +0000at://did:plc:zij25ev763zos5cdeo5ybqqa/app.bsky.feed.post/3mqs3wf2qqc23https://bsky.app/profile/simondonner.bsky.social/post/3mqrqnvne6k2hAs smoke from heatwave-fueled wildfires spreads across eastern US and Canada, the National Academy of Sciences releases a report confirming the link between extreme events and climate change. Coincidence? Yes... but a likely one given the rise in extremes. https://www.nationalacademies.org/publications/28590 [contains quote post or other embedded content]16 Jul 2026 17:20 +0000at://did:plc:zij25ev763zos5cdeo5ybqqa/app.bsky.feed.post/3mqrqnvne6k2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/simondonner.bsky.social/post/3mqrgjy7kz222Appreciate how the U.S. media coverage of the terrible wildfire smoke pretty much always labels the wildfires "Canadian", as if our Parliament met and voted to export smoke to the U.S.16 Jul 2026 14:19 +0000at://did:plc:zij25ev763zos5cdeo5ybqqa/app.bsky.feed.post/3mqrgjy7kz222https://bsky.app/profile/simondonner.bsky.social/post/3mqkpdcbjwc2aWhen I resigned from chairing Canada's Net-Zero Advisory Body last December, we had completed an annual report (https://www.nzab2050.ca/publications/net-zero-advisory-body-3rd-annual-report) full of climate policy advice. I recommend reading the introduction to the report, if not the whole report, which remains timely. Here's an excerpt:13 Jul 2026 22:07 +0000at://did:plc:zij25ev763zos5cdeo5ybqqa/app.bsky.feed.post/3mqkpdcbjwc2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/simondonner.bsky.social/post/3mprnhowrss2zRead Alan's post for details on the dangerously warm overnight low temperatures during the July 4th weekend heatwave. [contains quote post or other embedded content]03 Jul 2026 22:58 +0000at://did:plc:zij25ev763zos5cdeo5ybqqa/app.bsky.feed.post/3mprnhowrss2zhttps://bsky.app/profile/simondonner.bsky.social/post/3mprlcgthrk2zHigh overnight temperatures are a key fingerprint of human activity on the climate. The planet is warming faster when you are asleep, in part because unlike the sun, greenhouse gases warm the planet 24 hrs a day. Here is the daytime high vs. overnight low temperature trends for Canada since 1948.03 Jul 2026 22:19 +0000at://did:plc:zij25ev763zos5cdeo5ybqqa/app.bsky.feed.post/3mprlcgthrk2zhttps://bsky.app/profile/simondonner.bsky.social/post/3mprk34cigc2jWhen I look at heatwave forecasts, I focus on that overnight low, like the shocking 27 C for NYC. "Tropical nights", when temps stayed above 20 C / 68 F, drove much of the mortality during past European heatwaves, and 2021 Pacific NW heat dome. Inability to cool off overnight is the silent killer.03 Jul 2026 21:57 +0000at://did:plc:zij25ev763zos5cdeo5ybqqa/app.bsky.feed.post/3mprk34cigc2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/simondonner.bsky.social/post/3mprjli6cn22jRecord daytime high temperatures and heat indices are getting all the attention in this N American heatwave, as in the recent European heatwave. As big a health risk is the high overnight temperatures; inability to cool off overnight is a primary driver of sickness and death during heatwaves.03 Jul 2026 21:48 +0000at://did:plc:zij25ev763zos5cdeo5ybqqa/app.bsky.feed.post/3mprjli6cn22jhttps://bsky.app/profile/simondonner.bsky.social/post/3mpj7hcprlk2uDefinitely would not have predicted that the only player remaining from the Raptors championship team seven years later would be Kawhi Leonard.30 Jun 2026 14:25 +0000at://did:plc:zij25ev763zos5cdeo5ybqqa/app.bsky.feed.post/3mpj7hcprlk2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/simondonner.bsky.social/post/3mph3rc4lzk2rSince the sweltering day 38 years ago that James Hansen sat in front of the US Congress and announced that global warming "is here", we keep making the mistake of thinking this will be the heat wave, the storm, the flood that forces the world to take climate action. (1/3)29 Jun 2026 18:14 +0000at://did:plc:zij25ev763zos5cdeo5ybqqa/app.bsky.feed.post/3mph3rc4lzk2rhttps://bsky.app/profile/simondonner.bsky.social/post/3mp2vg4etbk23Great interview about our Urban Future Walks project! You can register for a free tour here: urbanfuturewalks.com https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/can-a-walk-downtown-change-your-mind-on-climate/id1135887105?i=100077396100924 Jun 2026 21:49 +0000at://did:plc:zij25ev763zos5cdeo5ybqqa/app.bsky.feed.post/3mp2vg4etbk23https://bsky.app/profile/simondonner.bsky.social/post/3mp2abjq6js2qThe European heatwave is not the new normal. "Normal" is going to keep changing until we stop adding greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. The more we emit, the more the planet warms, the more people suffer, that is the basic math of climate change.24 Jun 2026 15:30 +0000at://did:plc:zij25ev763zos5cdeo5ybqqa/app.bsky.feed.post/3mp2abjq6js2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/simondonner.bsky.social/post/3moycu2jo2k2yA Q&A about our Urban Future Walks project, which involves completely free guided tours of downtown Vancouver https://news.ubc.ca/2026/06/downtown-vancouver-walk-climate-change/ (Register here: urbanfuturewalks.com)23 Jun 2026 21:11 +0000at://did:plc:zij25ev763zos5cdeo5ybqqa/app.bsky.feed.post/3moycu2jo2k2yhttps://bsky.app/profile/simondonner.bsky.social/post/3moxsrhkmd22vIt is very reminiscent of the 2021 heat dome here in the Pacific Northwest, which started just after the solstice, when there's ~18 hours of daylight in much of British Columbia. [contains quote post or other embedded content]23 Jun 2026 16:23 +0000at://did:plc:zij25ev763zos5cdeo5ybqqa/app.bsky.feed.post/3moxsrhkmd22vhttps://bsky.app/profile/simondonner.bsky.social/post/3moxsr45dts2vA key feature of the devastating European heatwave is the timing. Summer heatwaves are most common in late July and early August, as in 2003 when >70,000 people died. This one is right at the summer solstice, which while early, means longer days and less time for the land to cool off overnight.23 Jun 2026 16:23 +0000at://did:plc:zij25ev763zos5cdeo5ybqqa/app.bsky.feed.post/3moxsr45dts2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/simondonner.bsky.social/post/3mow4udzzy226Check out this new limited podcast from @nationalobserver.com that traces the five stages of grief about our rapidly changing world. In episode 2, I have some blunt things to say about the harms done by clickbait climate doom-ism. [contains quote post or other embedded content]23 Jun 2026 00:19 +0000at://did:plc:zij25ev763zos5cdeo5ybqqa/app.bsky.feed.post/3mow4udzzy226https://bsky.app/profile/simondonner.bsky.social/post/3mnsqx474622hI am testifying before the House of Commons' Environment and Sustainable Development committee on Tues June 9 at 3:30 pm EDT about why I resigned from Canada's Net-Zero Advisory Body. You can watch live, if that's your jam... https://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/45-1/ENVI/meeting-43/notice08 Jun 2026 22:42 +0000at://did:plc:zij25ev763zos5cdeo5ybqqa/app.bsky.feed.post/3mnsqx474622hhttps://bsky.app/profile/simondonner.bsky.social/post/3mnlpzw3lgk2aThe business case for LNG just keeps getting weaker... https://www.nationalobserver.com/2026/06/03/opinion/lng-business-case-keeps-weakening06 Jun 2026 03:37 +0000at://did:plc:zij25ev763zos5cdeo5ybqqa/app.bsky.feed.post/3mnlpzw3lgk2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/simondonner.bsky.social/post/3mnkpdhj7i22iNew modelling supports what many have been saying about the Canada-Alberta deal. It is bad emissions math. This may lock Canada into a industrial C pricing system that is far too weak to make up for concessions around a new pipeline, carbon capture, etc. https://440megatonnes.ca/insight/canada-alberta-mou-leaves-emissions-largely-unchanged/05 Jun 2026 17:52 +0000at://did:plc:zij25ev763zos5cdeo5ybqqa/app.bsky.feed.post/3mnkpdhj7i22ihttps://bsky.app/profile/simondonner.bsky.social/post/3mnknu56wgs2aInteresting debate about the limits of pressuring investors on climate change action, which is essentially an argument for strengthening climate policy. https://www.climatechangenews.com/2026/06/03/investor-climate-group-closes-down-blaming-limits-of-shareholder-activism/?_sc=ODI2MTE3OCMyOTQyNw%3D%3D&utm_campaign=CW+-+June+5+2026&utm_id=244&utm_medium=email&utm_source=brevo05 Jun 2026 17:25 +0000at://did:plc:zij25ev763zos5cdeo5ybqqa/app.bsky.feed.post/3mnknu56wgs2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/simondonner.bsky.social/post/3mmmjjk2clk2aHow the Words "Be Average" Saved Me https://open.substack.com/pub/mypublisherimploded/p/how-the-words-be-average-saved-me?r=36q3f&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email24 May 2026 17:48 +0000at://did:plc:zij25ev763zos5cdeo5ybqqa/app.bsky.feed.post/3mmmjjk2clk2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/simondonner.bsky.social/post/3mmhncgrbss2eHope for meaningful emissions cuts from industrial pricing now rest heavily on negotiations around tightening the emissions benchmarks and the delivery of "contracts for difference", which encourage companies to act by locking in the future carbon price (regardless of future policy changes). (1/2)22 May 2026 19:12 +0000at://did:plc:zij25ev763zos5cdeo5ybqqa/app.bsky.feed.post/3mmhncgrbss2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/simondonner.bsky.social/post/3mmhmvsio522e... and there it is. The Canadian gov't has officially cut the rate of increase in the industrial carbon price by 75%, matching the deal with Alberta. Sadly predictable. You let one province weaken a federal policy, and it reverberates nationally. https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/climate-change/pricing-pollution-how-it-will-work.html22 May 2026 19:05 +0000at://did:plc:zij25ev763zos5cdeo5ybqqa/app.bsky.feed.post/3mmhmvsio522ehttps://bsky.app/profile/simondonner.bsky.social/post/3mmdbhu2s7s2y... we will look back in 10 years and think, ‘What the hell were we doing?’ https://grist.org/business/once-a-climate-leader-canada-is-now-doubling-down-on-oil/21 May 2026 01:30 +0000at://did:plc:zij25ev763zos5cdeo5ybqqa/app.bsky.feed.post/3mmdbhu2s7s2yhttps://bsky.app/profile/simondonner.bsky.social/post/3mm5mrcjoxs2aThanks to Destination Vancouver for featuring Urban Future Walks! https://www.destinationvancouver.com/inspirations/city/discover-downtown-vancouver-through-university-of-british-columbia-urban-future-walks18 May 2026 19:36 +0000at://did:plc:zij25ev763zos5cdeo5ybqqa/app.bsky.feed.post/3mm5mrcjoxs2a