Another Near-Record Hot Year Is ‘Warning Shot’ From Shifting Climate

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Another Near-Record Hot Year Is ‘Warning Shot’ From Shifting Climate, Scientists Say (Maria)

The author writes, “Earth’s average temperature last year hovered among one of the three hottest on record, while the past three years indicate that warming could be speeding up, international climate monitoring teams reported. Six science teams calculated that 2025 was behind 2024 and 2023, while two other groups — NASA and a joint American and British team — said 2025 was slightly warmer than 2023. World Meteorological Organization, NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials said 2023 and 2025 temperatures were so close that it’s pretty much a tie.”

Minneapolis Turmoil Has Democrats Scrambling to Figure Out Political Strategy on Immigration (Reader Steve)

From the AP: “Democrats had planned to campaign in the midterm elections on affordability and health care, two issues where Americans are particularly unhappy with President Donald Trump. But the aggressive immigration crackdown in Minnesota, including the killing of Renee Good during a confrontation with federal agents, has scrambled the party’s playbook. Now Democrats are trying to translate visceral outrage into political strategy, even though there’s little consensus on how to press forward on issues where the party has recently struggled to earn voters’ trust.”

‘It’s Now Happening’ — Urgent $38 Trillion US Dollar ‘Collapse’ Warning Issued As Markets Brace For Gold And Bitcoin Price Shocks (Sean)

From Forbes: “Bitcoin and gold have split in recent months as gold soars and the bitcoin price plummets — with US president Donald Trump’s tariff trade war again threatening to weigh on the US dollar. The bitcoin price has fallen sharply overnight, dropping from almost $96,000 per bitcoin to just over $90,000 in a matter of minutes, while gold hit a fresh all-time high after Trump threatened to escalate tariffs on eight Nato allies unless Denmark agreed to a deal for Greenland. Now, as Bank of America’s chief executive issues a stark $6 trillion crypto warning, traders are braced for this week’s inflation reading to be higher than previously expected — triggering warnings of ‘unprecedented stagflation.’”

Third Immigrant Detainee at Facility in El Paso Has Died, ICE Says (DonkeyHotey)

The authors write, “A third undocumented immigrant detained at a sprawling tent camp in the Texas desert has died, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced Sunday, in the third such death in 44 days. Camp East Montana on Fort Bliss, an Army base in El Paso, is one of the largest ICE detention centers in the country, with 2,903 detainees as of Jan. 8, according to ICE data. The facility is a soft-sided tent-style structure, which ICE increasingly favors over brick-and-mortar buildings. ICE identified the detainee as Victor Manuel Diaz, 36, from Nicaragua, who first encountered ICE officers in Minneapolis. He was pronounced dead at 4:09 p.m. Wednesday after contract security staff members found him ‘unconscious and unresponsive’ in his room.”

Why Is Everyone Suddenly Talking About Putting Data Centers in Space? (Laura)

From The Intercept: “Data centers present sprawling engineering and political problems, with ravenous appetites for land and resources. Building them on Earth has proven problematic enough — so why is everyone suddenly talking about launching them into space? … Technologists, investors, and the world’s richest humans are now talking about bypassing Earth and its logistical hurdles by putting data centers in space. And if you take at face value the words of tech barons whose wealth in no small part relies on overstating what their companies may someday achieve, they’re not just novel but inevitable. The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Jeff Bezos’s space launch firm Blue Origin has been working on an orbital data center project for over a year. Elon Musk, not known for accurate predictions, has publicly committed SpaceX to putting AI data centers in orbit.”

Scientists Discover What’s Linking Floods and Droughts Across the Planet (Mili)

The author writes, “Scientists tracking Earth’s water from space discovered that El Niño and La Niña are synchronizing floods and droughts across continents. When these climate cycles intensify, far-apart regions can become unusually wet or dangerously dry at the same time. The study also found a global shift about a decade ago, with dry extremes becoming more common than wet ones. Together, the results show that water crises are part of a global pattern, not isolated events.”

The World Is Running Out of Sand — And Thieves Are Willing to Kill for It (Dana)

From Popular Mechanics: “A global shortage of construction-grade sand is reshaping coastlines, destabilizing ecosystems, and putting activists in the crosshairs of violent mafias.”