Welcome to another edition of Climatebase Weekly — our newsletter read by 150k+ professionals, delivering insights and perspectives on the latest climate news, curated job opportunities, and key updates from our team and community.

In today’s edition:

In this edition of This Week in Climate, we cover:

Scroll down to the bottom of this newsletter to check out over 40 new jobs we’re featuring — and if you want to see more, go to Climatebase.org to browse over one thousand new jobs that have been posted in the last 24 hours.

Updates on the Climate Week Network — a philanthropically supported project powered by Climatebase and a global community of partners, helping launch and grow climate weeks in cities around the world.

Quick reminders:

We’re excited to officially welcome PNW Climate Week to the Climate Week Network as they prepare for their third year of bringing together the climate community across Seattle, Vancouver BC, Portland, Tacoma, Bellingham, and Bend.

PNW Climate Week will take place July 13–19, 2026, and is unique among Climate Weeks for its regional approach: rather than focusing on a single city, the week spans six cities across Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia, creating opportunities for connection and collaboration across the broader region.

Last year, PNW Climate Week featured more than 200 events across six cities and brought together over 12,000 attendees. This year, the team is building toward an even bigger and more impactful week of events to cultviate community-building and climate action.

In the months leading up to the week, PNW Climate Week is already hosting a series of planning sessions and community gatherings for volunteers and partners to help shape the week.

Get involved with PNW Climate Week:

We’re thrilled to partner with ClimaTech on the official Boston Climate Week Welcome Ceremony, taking place as part of ClimaTech’s programming during Boston Climate Week.

The event will bring together the Boston climate community for an evening of connection, celebration, and inspiration at ClimaTech’s beautiful conference venue at the Boston Center for the Arts. We’re excited to welcome attendees from across the climate ecosystem—including founders, investors, operators, students, policymakers, and community leaders—as Boston Climate Week officially kicks off.

This opening night gathering sets the tone for the week ahead—bringing together the climate community for connection, conversation, and celebration.

What to Expect

Key Info:

📍 Boston Center for the Arts
🗓️ May 4, 2026,
⏱️ 5:00 PM - 7:00PM

How to attend:

This event is open ClimaTech ticket holders only.
Purchase your ticket here

Sacramento Climate Week (May 6th - May 12th) is officially joining the Climate Week Network as they prepare to launch their very first Climate Week.

This inaugural week will bring together climate organizations, businesses, advocates, policymakers, and community members from across the Sacramento region for a packed week of events, conversations, and collaboration. Coming just after SF Climate Week, Sacramento Climate Week is a great opportunity to continue the momentum and bring the climate community together in another important California hub.

The Sacramento Climate Week event submission guide is now live, and organizers can officially begin adding events to the calendar. With the week now just one month away, now is the time to submit your event—don’t wait.

A handful of exciting events are already beginning to appear on the calendar, and organizers expect the lineup to grow quickly over the next few weeks as more events are announced.

👉 View the event submission guide and add your event here.

By Julian Moore

Veteran energy journalist David Fickling argues in a Bloomberg opinion piece that despite headlines suggesting the Middle East energy crisis will trigger an Asian coal revival, the reality is far more nuanced. Asia's coal plants already run at roughly 50% capacity, so some short-term increases are possible — South Korea and Bangladesh have already made modest shifts — but the overall impact will be small.

The math simply doesn't support a coal surge, Fickling says. Even if Gulf LNG exports dropped to zero, replacing them entirely would require only ~102 million metric tons of additional coal — modest against a 9-billion-ton global market. Weather-driven fluctuations in hydroelectric output routinely dwarf that figure.

Meanwhile, countervailing forces are stronger: new U.S. LNG export capacity, restarted nuclear reactors in Japan, and a wave of streamlined renewable permitting across Asia all reduce coal's potential role. Coal prices in Asia have barely reacted to the crisis, suggesting markets agree.

The more likely outcome? A rooftop solar boom, not a coal renaissance.

A new global study in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases warns that climate change will push venomous snakes toward densely populated coastlines and higher latitudes, increasing snakebite risks for millions. Researchers modeled all 508 medically important venomous snake species, projecting range shifts through 2050 and 2090. The greatest human-snake overlap increases are expected across South Asia, eastern North America, and parts of China. In Australia, snakes are forecast to move from the arid interior toward populated southern coastal areas.

Snakebites already kill ~138,000 people and cause 400,000 disabilities annually, mostly in poor rural communities. The study's findings could help direct antivenom stockpiling and healthcare resources. However, not all species will expand — some in the Congo, Amazon, and Southeast Asia face range reductions, raising conservation concerns. The research coincides with UN warnings that 2015–2025 were the hottest 11 years on record.

A record-shattering March heatwave has left western U.S. snowpack at historic lows, portending a severe water and wildfire crisis. California's Sierra Nevada sits at just 18% of average snow water equivalent — the second-worst April reading on record. The Colorado River headwaters, which supply 40 million people across multiple states, are at 24% of average, less than half the previous record low. The Rio Grande is at just 8%.

More than 1,500 monthly heat records fell in March, triggering rapid melt-off weeks ahead of schedule. Lake Powell and Lake Mead — holding 90% of Colorado River storage — sit at just 33% and 25% capacity, with experts warning Powell could approach "deadpool" levels not seen since the 1960s. Seven states remain deadlocked over river management as early water restrictions take hold across Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming.

The consequences extend well beyond water supply. Over 1.5 million acres have already burned nationally — more than double the 10-year average — and experts warn fire season could begin weeks to months earlier than normal. Climate scientists note this year exemplifies what the West faces increasingly: compounding heat, drought, and fire hazards arriving faster and more intensely than ever before.

A persistent high-pressure system has driven California's coastal ocean temperatures to record highs, with the La Jolla monitoring station registering temperatures 10°F above historical averages last month. Unlike typical El Niño warming, this marine heatwave stems from prolonged calm, sunny atmospheric conditions — drawing comparisons to "the Blob," a devastating three-year marine heatwave a decade ago that wreaked havoc on marine ecosystems.

Scientists are watching closely to see whether spring upwelling winds will dissipate the heat or whether it persists into a potentially compounding El Niño later this year. Prolonged warmth suppresses the nutrient-rich upwelling that underpins California's marine food web, threatening phytoplankton, sea lions, seabirds, and fisheries.

Researchers warn that if such high-pressure systems become annual occurrences, they could permanently suppress upwelling and fundamentally alter the West Coast's marine ecosystems. Climate change is making these events both more frequent and more intense.

Check out some of the latest featured jobs below. If you don't see anything that speaks to you, you can always go to Climatebase to explore over 50,000 new climate jobs.

The Change Climate Project

“The Change Climate Project is a fast-growing tech nonprofit that creates incentives and tools to get companies to eliminate carbon emissions”

Hourglass Careers

“Hourglass Careers connects early-career talent with expert mentors, offers tailored career resources, and helps members build confidence, skills, and job opportunities.”

Rune Energy

“Rune helps solar and wind power plants turn financial and operational losses into revenue.”

Planetary Scale

“We partner with climate-focused founders and early-stage leadership teams to increase access to capital, accelerate growth, and de-risk the pathway to massive impact.”

Community Energy Labs

“Optimize building energy use for a greener planet with AI-driven smart control solutions.”

VIDA.place GmbH

“Empower companies to track their climate impact globally.”

Epic Cleantec

“Revolutionizing wastewater reuse to slash water demand by up to 95% and bolster sustainability.”

King Energy

“Solar solutions for multi-tenant properties to combat climate change.”

Equilibrium Energy

“Accelerating clean energy with data-driven solutions to significantly reduce global carbon emissions.”

Causal Labs

“Causal Labs is building a Large Physics foundation Model (LPM) to learn causality through physics and weather. ”

SINAI Technologies

“Transforming global carbon emission analysis and reduction with advanced technology.”