Karin Kirk

@karinkirk.bsky.social

8393 Followers 2669 Following

Geologist, skier, science journalist for Yale Climate Connections. Former Earth and climate science writer for NASA, but our federal govt decided these topics are threatening to them. More determined than ever to keep pushing for climate solutions.

A pie chart: Do you think the ski industry is doing enough to address climate change? 51% said no 18% said yes 31% said IDK Source: New Hampshire survey results, June 2-20, 2025 n=68 NH ski industry professionals
Me, looking tired of this shit, standing outside the office of Republican Senator Steve Daines (Montana), after telling them to fucking do something about Trump's unhinged, illegal, genocidal war crimes. I was going to go running this morning but I did this instead.
A cardboard sign that reads: My sunshine did not get caught in the Strait of Hormuz. Next to the writing is a big yellow Sun with a cord that's plugged into a car.
A map of the USA with states shaded various colors of green. Darker colors show states where charging an EV is cheaper, such as North Dakota, Idaho, Nebraska, and Missouri. Pale green colors show states where charging an EV is more expensive, such as Hawaii, Massachusetts, California, and Maine. In every state, home charging an EV is much cheaper than gasoline.
Screenshot from the Enphase app showing a bar graph of rooftop solar production, electricity consumed, and electricity exported out to the grid. The solar production is shown in blue bars that peak during the middle of the day. Electricity consumption is shown in orange bars, with a large chunk of usage during the middle of the day when the EV is charging. Nothing better than sunshine charging the car.
A tuxedo cat lolling belly-up on top of a catmint plant.
Screenshot that reads: Besides lowering emissions and fighting climate change, using less energy overall is a win for land use, air and water pollution, and environmental justice, while also lowering the cost of driving for everyone. Efficiency is a beautiful thing.
A graph of electricity prices from 1997-2024. The graph tracks the change in electricity price for residential users (like you and me), commercial users (like data centers) and industrial users (like factories). Since 2008, home electricity prices and gone up and up. But the same is not nearly as true for commercial and industrial use. Since 2021, the trend is even worse. Basically, everyday people are paying ever-increasing rates, while tech companies are scoring sweet discounts.
"Gemini, why is my electricity bill going up?"
A Facebook notification that says, "Congrats! You've earned a top fan badge from ExxonMobil.
A woman in a black jacket and jeans is being interviewed by a TV reporter. She's holding a microphone that says MTN News and is smiling while talking.
A small city street with throngs of people lined up on the sidewalk with signs and flags. The sky it pure bluebird, because the atmosphere knows we're on its side.
A short video showing the 5 largest plumes of CO2 in the United States as measured by satellites. The plumes are invisible to the naked eye, but instruments can measure the amount of CO2 coming from point sources. In the US, all of the largest CO2 emitters are coal power plants. The video shows an aerial image of each power plant overlain by a cloud-shaped CO2 plume in colors of yellow, orange, and red. They are 1. Labadie Energy Center, Labadie, Missouri 2. Coal Creek Power Station, Underwood, North Dakota 3. Oak Grove Steam Electric Station, Franklin, Texas 4. Jim Bridger Power Plant, Rock Springs, Wyoming 5. Colstrip Generating Plant, Colstrip, Montana
A display of sweet pea flowers and associated artwork for a flower show. The flowers are shades of pink, fuchsia, and purple with ruffled petals. Too bad you can't smell them through the alt text because the perfume is heavenly! There are two ribbons in front of the flowers, awarded by the show judge.
A Kia EV 6 decked out to drive in a parade. It has a banner that reads "Keep Bozeman Frozen. Protect your powder with electric power." The banner has a drawing of the Earth and some skis. The car is decorated with a string of white snowflakes and there is a row of flowers tucked under the windshield wipers.
A Kia EV 6 decked out to drive in a parade. It has a banner that reads "Keep Bozeman Frozen. Protect your powder with electric power." The banner has a drawing of the Earth and some skis. The car is decorated with a string of white snowflakes and there is a row of flowers tucked under the windshield wipers.
A typo in an email signature, saying "tanks," signed by Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy.
A tuxedo cat sprawled out on the lawn with her white belly facing up into the sunshine. She's looking very relaxed.
A diagram with the heading, Voters across all political parties are opposed to policies that would prohibit federal agencies from sharing information about climate change with the public. A graph shows the data, with red and blue dots plotted on a scale from 1 to 100, indicating the percentage of people that oppose policies that would tell science agencies that they can’t share climate science with the public. The breakout by party line is as follows: Conservative republicans: 58% oppose this policy Moderate/liberal republicans: 69% oppose National average: 78% oppose Moderate dems: 87% oppose Liberal dems: 96% oppose
A diagram with the heading, Voters across all political parties are opposed to policies that would stop climate research at federal agencies. A graph shows the data, with red and blue dots plotted on a scale from 1 to 100, indicating the percentage of people that oppose policies that would tell science agencies that they can’t do climate science anymore. The breakout by party line is as follows: Conservative republicans: 56% oppose this policy Moderate/liberal republicans: 73% oppose National average: 79% oppose Moderate dems: 89% oppose Liberal dems: 98% oppose
The American public overwhelmingly wants science agencies to keep doing climate research, and to keep making the results public. A graph showing that 79% of American voters oppose ordering federal agencies to stop doing research on global warming. Similarly, 78% of American voters oppose ordering federal agencies to stop informing the public about global warming.
A screenshot of the NASA website with a graph of CO2 over time, from 1958 to the present. The graph goes up and up, with a slightly steeper slope in recent years. The text reads Carbon Dioxide, last measurement May 2025. 431 ppm.
A handful of people with pro-democracy signs pose for a photo-op with a man in a Trump costume riding a giant chicken. Everyone is standing on the sidewalk of a classic American Main Street, with wide sidewalks and brick buildings. Many waving flags are seen in the edges of the photo. We were having so much fun!
Hand drawn poster that reads: "It's up to us to fix this hot mess."
A map of the United States with each state shaded either a shade of green or a shade of orange. 48 states are shades of green, with darker green indicating stronger agreement that clean energy should be a priority for Congress and the president. Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, California, Oregon, Washington, and Hawaii are shaded darker green. Only two states are orange: Wyoming and North Dakota. In these states, only 47-48% of the population think clean energy should be a priority. The states also have a number labeled on them, which is the proportion of people in that state who think clean energy should be a priority. The numbers range from 70% in Massachusetts to 47% in Wyoming.
An animated map of the western US with river drainages shaded in different colors. Blue and green colors show areas with an average or above average snowpack. Red and orange ares indicate below average snowpack. In March, many areas have above average snowpack. The snowpack shrinks rapidly through April and May, and by early June many regions have only around 25% of the normal snowpack for this time of year.
A screenshot of NASA's carbon dioxide vital sign. A graph shows CO2 climbing ever higher, based on atmospheric measurements since 1958. The most recent data point is from April 2025, at 430 ppm, which is an all-time record since measurements began. In fact, every year brings a new all-time record, because we are failing to limit CO2 emissions.
An infographic showing silhouettes of an oil extraction "pumpjack" and an oil refinery on the White House lawn. Text reads: A fossil-fueled government. In the 2023-2024 election cycle, the oil and gas industry gave $219,079,058 to political parties and federal candidates. The text explains: Most of this money was outside spending, which is not subject to contribution limits. Some of this money was "dark money," which means the source of the money is untraceable. Data source: Open Secrets. Image is by Karin Kirk for Yale Climate Connections.
A satellite image of Hawaii. In the center of the image, Mauna Loa volcano is a light brown landscape with dark brown lava flows fanning out from the central crater like spokes on a wheel. Next to Mauna Loa is a smaller volcano with a small puff of steam and gases coming from the crater. The surrounding landscape is vibrant green and dotted with small puffy clouds.
Hundred of people gathered on a sidewalk and a sloping lawn for the Hands Off rally against Trump. Lots of signs, flags, and Patagonia jackets.
A black and white tuxedo cat sleeping next to a tray of plant seedlings. The cat has one paw draped lovingly over the seedlings and is resting her chin on the tray. Her face is utter contentment as she snoozes in the sunshine inside a greenhouse.
A black and white tuxedo cat lounging with her chin resting on the back of the sofa.
A woman standing outdoors holding a sign that reads: Montanans wear boots Steve Daines licks boots Steve Daines is a MAGA senator from Montana. This photo is from a protest march in Montana.
A graph of how much CO2 is in the atmosphere over time. The trend of this line is up, up, up, and CO2 is rising faster now than it ever has since we've been able to measure it. The graph starts in 1955 and goes through the present day. The overall line is has a sawtooth pattern because CO2 goes down over the summer because plants use some of it up. Then it goes up over the winter as plants slow down and die off. But that's just a seasonal pattern. The overall trend is starkly, tragically, unrelentingly upward.
A screenshot from NASA's Worldview tool which shows real-time images and data from satellites. This screenshot is centered over the Gulf of Mexico, and the body of water is labeled 'Gulf of America.'