John Vaillant
@johnvaillant.bsky.social
I write about collisions between human ambition and the natural world: The Golden Spruce, The Tiger, The Jaguar's Children, FIRE WEATHER: @pulitzerprizes.bsky.social 10 Best Books: @nytimes.com https://www.lyceumagency.com/speakers/john-vailla
ICYMI: “Wildfire smoke and air quality warnings make their way to B.C.'s Lower Mainland” www.cbc.ca/news/canada/... - CBC News BC #Agassiz #BCWildfire #Chilliwack #FraserValley #HopeBC #LowerMainland #WildfireSmoke
Wildfire smoke and air quality warnings make their way to B.C.'s Lower Mainland | CBC News
The Metro Vancouver Regional District has upgraded an air quality warning for the eastern Fraser Valley, urging people residing in the area to avoid outdoor activities.
cbc.ca
Another community burned to the ground. But yes let’s build another pipeline.
Times Colonist@timescolonist.bsky.social · 11h ago
Protestors and Earth defenders are righteously staging a tree sit to save an ancient cottonwood from border wall construction My latest for @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Protesters occupy 200-year-old tree at US-Mexico border to stop its destruction: ‘She’s our Statue of Liberty’
Demonstrators stage ‘tree sit’ in Arizona town to stop felling of ancient cottonwood grove to make way for border wall
theguardian.com
Hello again, on Day 1623 of the full invasion of Ukraine. Every single day I've compiled a thread of the news stories, updated throughout the day (and often night too) When I finished the previous thread in the middle of this night, more things were exploding inside Russia!
This is a remarkably extreme statistic. Bordeaux, France has recorded more days >40°C in 2026 than in the entire 105 year period combined dating back to 1920 when records began. This summer has been so far above extreme it’s difficult to put into words. Chart: @WxNB_
The windfall war profits have reignited calls for oil and gas supermajors such as Saudi Aramco and BP to pay for the environmental damage caused by “cashing in on human misery” and fund a rapid transition to renewable energy. www.theguardian.com/business/ng-...
Revealed: major oil firms make $93bn profits amid war and climate crisis
Iran conflict windfall over three months reignites calls for companies ‘cashing in on human misery’ to pay for environmental damage
theguardian.com
today in "headlines you'd see on a background TV in a disaster movie" www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Rhine Falls to Lowest Since 1880, Disrupting European Trade
The Rhine River’s water levels dropped to the lowest in nearly 150 years as hot, dry weather grips Europe, threatening to disrupt a crucial route for transporting coal, fuel and industrial commodities...
bloomberg.com
Thank you to our new sponsor, FEND foldable bike helmets. FEND is offering 20% off to listeners, which is a great deal! fend.io/pages/thewar...
The War on Cars
Explore FEND's foldable bike helmets. Easily fold and store in any bag. Perfect for urban commuters and designed to go anywhere with you.
fend.io
The War on Cars@thewaroncars.bsky.social · yesterdayNew episode up! We talk with transit planner Jarrett Walker, author of the recently reissued classic Human Transit, about why buses are so great, how we can make them better, & how advocates should fight for public transit in a hostile federal funding environment. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...
Oregon's senators are demanding the CFTC crack down on prediction markets that let people bet on wildfires — warning the practice could tempt gamblers to start fires themselves to win their bets.
Senators warn wildfire prediction markets could spur arson for profit
Oregon's senators are demanding the CFTC crack down on prediction markets that let people bet on wildfires — warning the practice could tempt gamblers to start fires themselves to win their bets.
centraloregondaily.com
Tribune reporter Courtney Tanner and photographer Rick Egan spent the day in Fillmore covering the Widemouth 2 Fire. The story will post tomorrow, but in the meantime, this photo needs to be seen.
Wikipedia remains one of the most useful things online. No subscription fees, no ads, no stupid pursuit of AI, all curated by relentless nerds. Maybe remember to throw them a few bucks every now and again.
A study I co-authored in 2023 found ExxonMobil’s predictions of global heating over the following decades to have been mostly accurate, as skilful as independent academic and government models, and also very much at odds with its public statements on the matter. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
‘We can’t make it better again’: what Europe’s wildfires tell us about the climate crisis
In this week’s newsletter: As France and Spain battle huge fires in this summer of relentless heat, will it be enough to spur us to take action?
theguardian.com
If you're looking for a way to support folks in Spokane, we're sending support directly to community organizations. Donate here: donate.rebuild.us/page/wa-fires
Support Wildfire Survivors in Washington State
Fires are raging across Spokane and Eastern Washington: - There are active fires burning in urban areas in Spokane County. - The fires have spread across 8,000+ acres. - 640 homes have already burned,...
donate.rebuild.us
Eric Holthaus@ericholthaus.com · 2d agoWe at rebuild.us are activating to help community organizations in Spokane survive and come together after these devastating fires. This is how disaster survivors are uniting to support each other. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_oJ...
Glad to see the NYT (unlike certain politicians I could name) explaining the full context behind California's declining wine sales, rather than simply blaming Canada.
Sales Are So Low, California Wineries Are Burning Their Vineyards
The rise and fall of pinot noir symbolizes the larger struggles of the wine industry as younger generations turn to other beverages.
nytimes.com
The wildfires in the Pacific NW are incredibly sad and devastating. We have to face the fact that a warming climate is unsustainable. As you can see, fires in the Pacific NW are getting much larger in recent decades. The largest fires (100K acres+) have increased by 10-15X since the 1980s. 1/
🌊 Record heat has shallowed Europe’s rivers, exposing mammoth bones, sunken ships In Bulgaria, a mammoth jawbone and tusks have been found on the bare bottom of the Danube, in Croatia, the cargo ship Fulton, which sank in 1937, and in Serbia, a German warship from World War II.
1/5 I went back to China to parse what is real tech from what is hype. The clearest fact: the depth of an alternative technological universe: ubiquitous E.V.s, more clinical trials than the U.S.; A.I. systems reaching into workplaces, schools, and even neighborhood trash bins.
Librarians and Booksellers Will Be Arrested For Doing Their Jobs in Arkansas A Federal Judge has allowed an Arkansas law to go into effect that will lead to widespread book bans and jail time for librarians. What to know, who is involved, and how you can act. bookriot.com/arkansas-act...
Librarians and Booksellers Will Be Arrested For Doing Their Jobs in Arkansas
A Federal Judge has allowed an Arkansas law to go into effect that will lead to widespread book bans and jail time for librarians.
bookriot.com
If you're wondering why we keep lurching from "the longest ever wet period" to "longest ever dry period", then (wherever you are in the world) this article explains it: www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/world/enviro...
Why isn’t it raining?
One statistic helps us understand climate change—and why we are lurching from droughts to floods to droughts again
prospectmagazine.co.uk
All of this – and much more – covered in this new Q&A, which explores the role CCS is expected to play in achieving net-zero, its record to date and the reasons it has been criticised. ➡️ www.carbonbrief.org/qa-does-the-...
Q&A: Does the world need ‘carbon capture and storage’ to reach net-zero? - Carbon Brief
In this Q&A, Carbon Brief explores the role CCS is expected to play in achieving net-zero, its record to date and the reasons it has been criticised, using the UK as an example.
carbonbrief.org
And imagine how much -more- energy will be required by any effort to increase this paltry number. Where is it going to come from?
Josh Gabbatiss@joshgabbatiss.bsky.social · 2d agoCarbon capture and storage is the subject of considerable hype – but as it stands, very little CO2 is being captured and stored.
My latest: 'Smoke-Proofing': The Need for a National Effort via @thetyee.ca thetyee.ca/Analysis/202...
‘Smoke-Proofing’: The Need for a National Effort | The Tyee
Fouled air by wildfires has become a fact of life. We must act to lessen the health impacts.
thetyee.ca
A Nature study published in March 2026 reveals that U.S. carbon emissions since 1990 have caused over $10 trillion in global economic damage. It links historical emissions to restrained global GDP growth, hitting developing nations hardest and fueling ongoing debates over climate justice.
Senator Whitehouse said it better than anyone: "Climate risk makes things un-insurable. No insurance makes things un-mortgageable. No mortgages crashes the property markets. Crashed property markets trash the economy.” #wildfire #Spokane #insurance
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse@whitehouse.senate.gov · 3d agoThe Great Climate Insurance Collapse is beginning before our eyes. How does it happen? Gradually, and then all at once. Buckle up. subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...
Daniel Sanchez Estrada moved a box full of radical literature. A right-wing judge sentenced him to 30 years in prison.
How anti-ICE protesters became prisoners in Trump's war on antifa
“We are not terrorists.”
motherjones.com
