curious when D.C.'s cherry trees will be in full bloom this year? i've built a statistical model and tracker page that updates daily: tinius.github.io/blossoms/ now waiting for NPS and @capitalweather.bsky.social predictions to compare
Niko Kommenda 🍌🐟
@bananafish.bsky.social
words, charts and maps in london. austrian. formerly wapo, ft, guardian
it's that time of the year -- weather and stats nerds in DC are about to announce when they think the cherry blossoms at the tidal basin will be in peak bloom this year. i built my own little model this year and my current prediction is mar 30 ...
check out this gorgeous illustrated guide to 50 species that may save us -- plants and animals that play key roles in human health research by my colleagues @dinograndoni.bsky.social, katty huertas and hailey haymond www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
NEW: Data from inside workers' bodies shows they routinely reach fever-like temperatures over the course of a workday. A federal rule that would guarantee paid breaks on hot days has been in development for 4 years and faces an uncertain future under Trump www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solu...
British NIMBYism is truly a sight to behold. “We are rejecting this solar farm, because one time I saw an electric vehicle on fire, which reminded me that decades ago a coal mining disaster killed lots of children”.
Oxford Clarion@oxfordclarion.bsky.social · 11mo agoA solar farm that could have powered “all the households in Witney” has been refused permission by West Oxfordshire District Council. Councillors were concerned about the risk of fire, one drawing parallels to the 1966 Aberfan disaster: “Until someone can guarantee it is safe, I can’t support it.”
NEW: These are the most and least polluted national parks in the U.S. National parks enjoy special air quality protections b/c of their stunning vistas. I looked at sources of pollution clouding the view and how they're changing over time www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
fantastic first climate lab column from daniel on where climate change might make flights bumpier
Daniel Wolfe@sadbumblebee.buzz · last yr.warming temperatures means an increase in severe turbulence during flights across the US. try putting in your typical routes, favorite destinations and see how you'll be impacted. 📊 gift link: wapo.st/4e870pe
A trick for fitting world maps on phones: Stack two azimuthal equal-area projections, clipped at 90° longitude, each one rotated 180° from the other. The bottom map covers the top's Antarctica, which reduces the total height and looks nice. As seen in www.nytimes.com/2025/04/25/c...
PITCH: An updated version of the curse of Cassandra where she's describing things that are happening now, in front of everyone, but still isn't believed.
Something is happening with engagement on Bluesky. I ran a little analysis looking at a few recent news stories from NYT, WSJ and CNN across X, Threads and Bluesky and it looks like engagement on Bluesky is much higher when you account for the size of the platforms. sherwood.news/tech/bluesky...
Okay, I have to do a thread on this pretty amazing article because it is just seriously chockers with eye-opening stats about 'direct air capture' - ie, sucking up air and trying to remove carbon dioxide from it news.mit.edu/2024/reality...
Reality check on technologies to remove carbon dioxide from the air
An MIT Energy Initiative study finds many climate-stabilization plans are based on questionable assumptions about the future cost and deployment of “direct air capture” and therefore may not bring abo...
news.mit.edu
In July, a storm hit Houston, knocking out power for millions of residents and leaving them in the dark -- and in the heat. But it could have been much worse. @bananafish.bsky.social, Simon Ducroquet, and I explored the disaster no one is ready for. www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
The disaster no major U.S. city is prepared for
Experts warn this type of catastrophe -- a power outage combined with a heat wave -- could yield a major death toll.
washingtonpost.com