Joe Ko
@joe-ko.bsky.social
Postdoc at LEAP / Columbia University at the intersection of atmospheric science and AI for science. Currently studying ice clouds ❄️☁️
“Today’s gasoline-fueled cars and trucks waste around 80% of the energy that gets pumped into their gas tanks. Electric vehicles operate with only around 11% energy loss, meaning that most of the energy that goes into the car ends up turning the wheels.” yaleclimateconnections.org/2024/01/elec...
Electric vehicles use half the energy of gas-powered vehicles » Yale Climate Connections
They’re just much more efficient.
yaleclimateconnections.org
New Marron survey of 400+ subway lines across the world from London to Paris to Shanghai finds just 6% still use two-person train operation, which would be required by a TWU-backed bill. “It doesn’t really matter to us what the data shows,” says TWU boss Samuelsen www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/n...
Does the Subway Still Need Train Conductors?
nytimes.com
Wind shear 🌬️ leading to two distinct ☁️ layers moving in opposite directions.
Arizona has paused development of hundreds of thousands of homes on the far Phoenix fringes due to insufficient groundwater supplies, @highcountrynews.org finds: www.hcn.org/issues/57-10...
The dried-out subdivisions of Phoenix - High Country News
A groundwater crisis halted the construction of thousands of homes and pitted affordability against environmental concerns.
hcn.org
In an op-ed for TR, @davidkeith.bsky.social & @danvisioni.bsky.social voice deep concerns about Stardust & other for-profits racing into solar geoengineering — and asserting claims that, they argue, the science doesn't support.
Why the for-profit race into solar geoengineering is bad for science and public trust
Two scientists argue that the growing commercial efforts to counter climate change by reflecting away sunlight will thwart responsible research in the field.
technologyreview.com
In Germany, a standard 7kW rooftop solar system costs $10,000. In Australia, it costs $4,000. In the US, the same system costs about $28,000 — thanks partly to a mess of state, local, and HOA rules, per a new analysis shared with @alexckaufman.bsky.social: heatmap.news/energy/solar...
Simpler Solar Regulations Would Save Americans $1.2 Trillion
A new analysis by Permit Power calculates the cumulative benefits of cheap rooftop solar over the lifetime of a typical rig.
heatmap.news
NPR ran a story last night about NSF terminating funding for AI focused meteorology research & the (IMO) insane explanation they got from OMB. I shared my perspective on this and our continued insistence to shoot ourselves in the foot when it comes to scientific R&D. tinyurl.com/2kzujwz8
Trump Administration confirms that NSF AI meteorology institute funding cut because of "climate hysteria"
Ending of NOAA billion dollar climate disaster tracking another example of us becoming less prepared for a future affected by climate change.
tinyurl.com
How is the Google DeepMind model doing so far this Atlantic hurricane season? My *preliminary* homogeneous verification shows that the DeepMind ensemble mean "GDMN" is dominating in both track and intensity, beating the revered "HCCA" consensus and the NHC ("OFCL") at all/most lead times. [1/2]
In the first half of 2025, renewables led by solar and wind generated more electricity worldwide than coal, www.zmescience.com/ecology/rene...
Renewable Energy Overtook Coal As the World’s Top Power Source for the First Time, Marking a New Era
Renewable energy finally surpassed coal and it’s a turning point decades in the making.
zmescience.com
