Ben Kopec

360.6 inches! ❄️ That's how much total snowfall we saw in the Keweenaw Peninsula this winter season, just 30 inches shy of the all-time record! Read more about ongoing snow research at Tech: mtu.news/57a650YXCGJ

New paper by @PetePuleo shows why humble aquatic brown mosses just might be the awesome-est of water isotope archives. They capture seasons! 🤯 w/@ProfMaggie @kopec_ben @PeteScientist @TennaRiis

A stagnant jet stream is giving rise to severe heat across much of the globe, and climate change may be making it worse, a new study finds. Read more @YaleE360: bit.ly/3pT3qun

Tuesday was the hottest day on Earth since at least 1979, with the global average temperature reaching 62.92 degrees Fahrenheit, according to data from the U.S. National Centers for Environmental Prediction. Some scientists believe July 4 may have been one of the hottest days on Earth in around 125,000 years. wapo.st/3pIvXTg

“Spike in ocean heat stuns scientists. But have we breached a climate tipping point?” A very detailed analysis from the experts: wfla.com/weather/climat… @WFLA

I was told not to tweet this until the houses adjourned for fear of jinxing it, but the Minnesota legislature just completed what is probably the most productive session anywhere in the country since probably the New Deal. Sweeping bills and reforms across every area of life.

Even before the pandemic, too many pedestrians and cyclists were being killed in the United States. Then, the pandemic began–and pedestrian fatalities soared. Why? I visited the deadliest road in the country to find out. For @voxdotcom: vox.com/23178764/flori…

Extraordinary global heating in the Arctic revealed by new data - temperatures in the Barents Sea region are ‘off the scale’ and may affect extreme weather in the US and Europe #ClimateCrisis Story by me theguardian.com/environment/20…

The surface of Lake Mead, the country's largest reservoir, is now at 1,045 feet above sea level. Below about 895 feet, water would no longer pass through Hoover Dam. "We are 150 feet from 25 million Americans losing access to the Colorado River." latimes.com/environment/st…

BREAKING: This evening alone, the United States of America has been struck by no fewer than 6 natural disasters. A thread on these events. 🧵 First, a massive flash flood has torn through Yellowstone National Park destroying roads and bridges. twitter.com/YellowstoneNPS…

@PeteScientist This is great! The level of detail is amazing and fun to see all the lakes we sampled. You might also consider extending the map a little north to make sure we can see those three glaciers entering the fjord...

My long-running pandemic project: a map of Thule with all my field site names and landmarks labeled. A lot of hand-digitizing and Illustrator tweaking, but it’s great to have it physically in hand for some proofing. Next step: make it, like, 2 m long !

“The danger is twofold: heatwaves at the poles are a strong signal of the damage humanity is wreaking on the climate; and the melting could also trigger further cascading changes that will accelerate climate breakdown.” theguardian.com/environment/20…

An Arctic Encounter – a great story on meeting a fellow Susuqehanna alum on board the USCGC Healy Arctic cruise susqu.edu/live/news/1361…

“We are dealing with an event that no human has ever witnessed,” one scientist told me. “We have no analog for this.” rollingstone.com/politics/polit…

Throughout its first two centuries, Chicago became famous as a city that pushed water around like none other. Now, in our warming world, the water is pushing back. nyti.ms/36rfIwI

“We know there are tipping points in Antarctic ice sheets, and we also know that Antarctica is the biggest wildcard in the future sea level rise projections,” says @DrAndreaDutton. “Basically, it all comes down to ‘when will we reach that tipping point?’” rollingstone.com/politics/polit…

Am off to walk to NY today. A slow stroll, I like to say, through the fast corridor. DC to Manhattan. Off to take in a founding slice of America. Talk to her. Wonder at her. Maybe make a little sense of her. Will paddle across New York Harbor before the end of April.

New essay by me in the New Yorker. When it comes to data - in order to count - one must first decide what should be counted. newyorker.com/magazine/2021/…

Silicon Valley spent billions building convenient, sustainable travel. The answer has been right there all along. It’s a bus. All we have to do is pay for good bus service. Millions of people’s lives would be instantly improved. Me ⁦@nytopinion⁩ nytimes.com/2021/03/18/opi…