Newsom has done a lot of shady stuff while in office, but working with utilities to limit liability for fires their equipment caused (usually due to poor maintenance or some other form of negligence) is just a major betrayal to the people he’s supposed to serve. www.latimes.com/business/sto...

Utilities threaten action if lawmakers fail to cut their wildfire liability risk

Top executives of California’s two biggest utilities warned they would take action to protect their shareholders if Sacramento lawmakers fail to pass legislation limiting their companies’ liabilities ...

latimes.com

I may borrow this for next time I go to the field off grid.

Nick Mustoe@nickmustoe.bsky.social · 23h ago

Hello,Thank you for your email. I am currently out of the office. I will not be checking emails during this time. Upon my return, your email will be entered into a weighted reply lottery based on our past correspondence and likelihood I'll find your email interesting. May the odds be in your favor.

In the southwestern US, there is no clear signal of ENSO on summer/monsoon precipitation. Plot shows El Nino and La Nina years (columns) for 3 time periods (rows) from 1896 to 2022 for 5 regions. From Woodhouse et al. 2025 rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

I have noted this problem. It has become exacerbated by GenAI because the attitude of the students is “why should I develop these skills when I can just ask ChatGPT.”

The Economist@economist.com · 2d ago

It is growing common to hear academics shrug that perhaps students no longer need strong basic skills. That is not pragmatism—it is surrender

More than 600 (likely homes) burned in and around Spokane County yesterday. The devastation is incomprehensible www.spokesman.com/stories/2026...

Wildfire in northwest Spokane destroys 640 structures

The Old Trails wildfire in northwest Spokane destroyed 640 structures Saturday, according to Cody Rohrbach, Spokane County Fire District 3 fire chief.

spokesman.com

Nature did a short piece on our preprint about how LLMs will affect the practice of science; my more detailed thread is below.

Scientists using LLMs will ‘do more, less well’, modelling study predicts

Research suggests that the combination of incentives to publish and the use of large language models will lead to more papers, but they will be less refined.

nature.com

Carl T. Bergstrom@carlbergstrom.com · 2w ago

1. We—@eduede.bsky.social, @mjcrockett.bsky.social, Kevin Gross, and I—have a new preprint on the arXiv today, based on ideas that emerged during an @sfiscience.bsky.social workshop in November 2024: The unintended consequences of large language models as a labor-augmenting technology in science.

I am pleased to announce that we are inviting applications for a Lead Laboratory Coordinator at the University of Arizona’s Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research. Review of applications will begin on September 15, 2026. For details and to apply, visit arizona.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...

Absolutely nuts: Google Earth now has a feature that lets you convincingly fabricate satellite imagery www.digitaldigging.org/p/how-to-pla...

A testament to the sorry state of geography education in the US.

Little Marco’s Goons Get Every Single Country Wrong in Map Disaster

There were a few glaring errors in a map the State Department used at a global conference.

thedailybeast.com

This is important - Honest Brokers (TM) and their echo chamber will often point to the decreasing global wildfire, but that reflects changing human land use practices. In temperate and boreal forests, climate's role is more clear. See this paper by Cunningham et al. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Increasing frequency and intensity of the most extreme wildfires on Earth - Nature Ecology & Evolution

Analysis of fire radiative power derived from satellite data finds that the frequency of extreme fire events increased 2.2-fold from 2003 to 2023 and that these increases were mostly driven by extreme...

nature.com

The Associated Press@apnews.com · last wk.

Experts say the world is experiencing two opposing fire trends because of human impact.

This is an excellent piece - "remote control science" captures it so well.

Pablo Garcia-Diaz@pablo-ecology.bsky.social · last wk.

Have you seen this paper that makes a distinction btw helicopter, parachute, and remote-control science? onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Just saw the first post arguing that El Nino means it will be a snowy winter in the central Sierra. I thought it would be a good time to share this graph the Central Sierra Snow Lab made in 2023 showing the top 10 snowiest winters and what phase of ENSO they were in. 1/3

"In the past few years, I’ve spoken to a number of academics and instructors at the college and high-school level who have said similar things. They talk about a sense of loss and of despair, because the one thing that brought them meaning has been erased, or blotted out, by the arrival of A.I."

The Despair of the Professor in the Age of A.I.

“Was it always the case that half of our students would cheat if it were easy enough?”

newyorker.com

From the LinkedIn of an academic I have a lot of respect for.

Heartbroken to see that UC Davis Stable Isotope Facility is closing in a couple days after nearly three decades of service. UCDavis SIF was integral to the research I did before and during my PhD. They made stable isotopes accessible even for small scale projects, and will be sorely missed. 🧪

New paper! "Paleohydrologic conditions in the Mojave Desert during the last deglaciation recorded by core-to-shore lacustrine records," led by postdoc Gavin Piccione, with contributions from prof @danibarra.bsky.social, grad affiliate Justin Custado & more. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Had the realization today that in my entire career, I have never worked in a University building where the HVAC properly regulated temperatures.

News In Photo:

Smoke from U.S. wildfires affecting air quality in B.C. #Canada www.ctvnews.ca/vancouver/ar...

Smoke from U.S. wildfires affecting air quality in B.C.

Wildfires south of the border are responsible for “much” of the smoke that has prompted an air quality warning in one region of B.C., according to officials.

ctvnews.ca

'Our findings indicate that more severe fire effects are expected in Canada because of the warming climate' www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Canadian forests are more conducive to high-severity fires in recent decades

Canada has experienced more-intense and longer fire seasons with more-frequent uncontrollable wildfires over the past decades. However, the effect of these changes remains unknown. This study identifi...

science.org

Just back on the grid after 2 weeks of fieldwork on Banks Island. Was a very successful trip so I will post more about it later.

When you are making a big decision, you need something to run toward, not just something to run away from. Climate action needs to be about the world we are trying to create--one with less air pollution, more efficient machines, etc.--not only the world we are trying to avoid. (3/3)

Catastrophic capitalism www.hcn.org/articles/peo...

People are betting on wildfires. Should they? - High Country News

Fire survivors say “it’s morally reprehensible,” and experts worry the wagering could lead to arson.

hcn.org

Love exploring climate change in the geological record? Want to teach about climate change with fabulous undergraduates? Yearning to advance your paleoclimate research in a supportive, scholarship-forward environment? Then come work with us at Colgate University! ⚒️🧪❄️🧪🌊🧪 apply.interfolio.com/188708

So, what do geographers even do? For anyone curious about the vast careers geographers have working in education, nonprofits, or government agencies, read AAG’s profiles to discover why they chose to pursue their path and how exciting and successful a career in geography can be. buff.ly/ZuH8rnu

I'm convening a session at #AGU26 on behalf of the PAGES Volcanic Impacts on Climate and Society working group: Past Eruptions, Future Risk: Connecting Paleo Records to Hazard Assessment. Deadline 5 Aug. Submit an abstract and/or share: agu.confex.com/agu/agu26/pr...

Two points: 1. There are 101 mentions to 2 CFR 200 (i.e. relating to the new OMB rule) in this NSF proposed rule change 2. The 15% de minimis indirect cost rate is for institutions without negotiated rates. It is _not_ the same as the 15% cap for unis with a negotiated rate.

Elizabeth (Bit) Meehan, PhD@elizabethbitmeehan.com · last mo.

my siblings in Christ, the OMB proposed rulemaking still has not closed it comments yet the draft GFA put forward by NSF is trying to go through with (1) 15% de minimis indirect rate and (2) disallowing publication costs

I feel attacked.

Christopher Callahan@ccallahan45.bsky.social · 2mo ago

and all of them are senior university administrators

Matt Novak@paleofuture.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Only 16% of Americans believe AI will have a positive impact on society

I'm looking for a post-doc to work on the interaction between past hydrological changes and vegetation in a disturbed peatland, using paleoecological and modelling approaches. The post-doc duration is 18 months and start date is any time before Jan 2027. DM if you are interested / have questions! 🌿🧪