Redactie

Why I’m active: Sergej van Middendorp

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As a scientist, I have learned how to evaluate knowledge, view it critically and transform it into new knowledge. And as a practitioner, I have learned how to apply knowledge. Climate science paints a grim picture of the future: if we continue on our current path, we are irrevocably heading for social collapse. Social science … Read more

The State of our Climate

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At the end of January, De Staat van ons Klimaat (The State of Our Climate), the KNMI’s annual report on the year 2025, was published. The report confirms the continuing trend of warming that began during the Industrial Revolution in the early 19th century. The consequences are serious: extreme weather, drought and flooding, and increased … Read more

Europe’s groundwater is declining – but blaming climate change alone doesn’t do justice to the complexity of the problem

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Europe’s water reserves are under pressure. Satellite data show clear declines in water storage across large parts of southern and central Europe over the past two decades, while wetter trends dominate further north. These findings are worrying, policy-relevant and deserving of attention. Jan Verkade But when reporting on such results, precision matters. The recent Guardian … Read more

Climate myth: Winter cold

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Climate sceptics, led by President Trump, were quick to jump on the bandwagon when extreme cold weather hit the US at the end of January 2026. Trump posted on his ‘Truth Social’ account: “Rarely seen anything like it before. Could the Environmental Insurrectionists please explain – WHATEVER HAPPENED TO GLOBAL WARMING???” He was promptly served … Read more

Past the tipping point for coral reefs

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Coral reefs act as climate sensors: since the first bleaching was observed in the 1980s, they have consistently shown the impact of warming and acidification. Overfishing, nutrient pollution and disease have pushed these fragile ecosystems to a critical tipping point, if they have not already passed it. The question is whether recovery is still possible. … Read more

The Minnesota Crisis and Community Resilience

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Despite the federal government’s strong violent response, citizens of Minneapolis are organising non-violent resistance and support groups. They are following ICE agents, who are heavily armed and attempting to arrest alleged illegal immigrants. Recently, they killed two American citizens. New grassroots movements are emerging in cities where people feel threatened by their own government. This … Read more

Why I am active: Ferko Öry

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Along the coastline of Bangladesh stand enormous towers, apocalyptic: apartment buildings by the surf? No, they are storm shelters where villagers seek refuge from yet another cyclone. For twenty years, I worked in Africa and Asia to strengthen rural healthcare in collaboration with colleagues from those countries. There, in Pakistan, Mozambique, Indonesia and Sudan, climate … Read more

Why I ‘m active: Gerrit Schaafsma

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Why I, as a scientist, am a climate activist. I take part in climate protests because research alone no longer feels like an adequate response to the scale of the crisis we face. The science is unequivocal: insufficient action is causing immense suffering and we face the possibility of irreversible harms. Yet despite decades of … Read more