Patrick Flamm
@ptrckflmm.bsky.social
Peace & Security in the ‘Anthropocene’, from Low Earth Orbit 🛰️ to Antarctica 🇦🇶. Senior Researcher at Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (@prif.org). Head of Research Group ‘Ecology, Climate, and Conflict.’ Formerly at VUW&UoA in Aotearoa New Zealand 🇳🇿.
Europe experiences another record-breaking heatwave and devastating wildfires 🌡️🥵🔥. Why should we look at Antarctica now? Our YAS-Member @ptrckflmm.bsky.social shares the valuable lessons the frozen continent has to offer when we choose to listen. More about YAS: uni-freiburg.de/frias/resear...
Too much of everything. Too little of what matters. #whatthefinal
It really baffles me how very smart European colleagues can be full of Schadenfreunde over England‘s loss for reasons that have little to do with football, while they are totally blind to the nationalist jingoism and racism displayed by a large number of Argentinian football fans…
🌊 New Antarctic research shows the deepest layer of the Southern Ocean – Antarctic Bottom Water, or AABW – is shrinking faster than scientists realised, with the rate of change accelerating over the past decade. This is important because we all depend on it. ▶️ aappartnership.org.au/antarctic-ch...
Antarctic change drives slowdown of global ocean circulation - AAPP
Deepest layer of the Southern Ocean is shrinking faster with accelerated change
aappartnership.org.au
📣The Antarctic Treaty has long been a model of peace, science & environmental protection. Yet, in a world of rising tensions, the system seems incapable of living up to its own commitments. On #PRIFBlog, @ptrckflmm.bsky.social asks: How can Antarctica remain a space for peaceful cooperation?
Sitting on Emperor Penguins: The Discomfort of Protecting a Peaceful Antarctica - PRIF BLOG
Patrick Flamm attended the Atlantic Treaty’s most recent diplomatic gathering in Hiroshima as an advisor to the German delegation. He argues that, because of the significant uncertainty and instabilit...
blog.prif.org
Geopolitics, it seems, is now a key consideration in the geoengineering discussion, as I try to summarise in a new online piece: Simon Dalby “Geoengineering: Infrastructures for a Global Climate?” Oxford: Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Science, Technology and Society. 2026. 16pp. lnkd.in/gUebMZkY
From 8-9 June, the Ecology, Climate & Conflict research group at @prif.org organised a workshop on sustainability, peace, & security. We were very excited to have @mattuq.bsky.social, Solveig Richter, Chloe Vongyer, Judith Nora Hardt, & @frederic-hanusch.bsky.social with us!
We need ~30 years of data from the AMOC to be able to finally determine if it's actually collapsing. We're at 20 years of data. Removing this now means we can't definitively determine a potential AMOC collapse that could result in substantial climate disruptions. www.livescience.com/planet-earth...
Tump administration to remove 900 deep sea monitoring instruments that would have studied the collapsing Atlantic current
The Ocean Observatories Initiative has been collecting data on physical, chemical, geological and biological conditions in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans for the past decade
livescience.com
AI infrastructure needs freshwater for cooling. As many data centers are already located in water-stressed areas, proposals to move computation into the orbit arise. However, this could risk international security, writes Sarah McKee on #PRIFblog. Read the full piece here ⬇
Escaping the Heat? The Politics and Problems of Orbital Data Centers - PRIF BLOG
What happens when digital systems outgrow the Earth that sustains them? Computing has always consumed energy and water, but the growing ambitions of the AI industry are pushing demand to an unpreceden...
blog.prif.org
“The film closes with a quote from Eisenhower, who allegedly told John F. Kennedy that the Allies won the war because, "We had better meteorologists than the Germans."”
NPR@npr.org · 2mo agoThe new movie tells a story about how good meteorology can literally win wars. It also takes us back in time, to when the United States was at a disadvantage when it came to weather science. n.pr/43uRbEv
Update: The Polish government yesterday announced defensive nature restoration efforts, including a ban on clear-cutting of border forests, and millions in cash for restoring bogs and other wetlands: www.gov.pl/web/klimat/k...
Komponent przyrodniczy Tarczy Wschód - Ministerstwo Klimatu i Środowiska - Portal Gov.pl
Zmiana gospodarki leśnej na terenach przygranicznych, odbudowa ekosystemów i renaturyzacja zasobów wodnych - Polska wykorzystuje naturalny potencjał do tworzenia unikalnej na skalę europejską bariery,...
gov.pl
Zia Weise@ziaweise.bsky.social · 11mo agoA tank-trapping, carbon-capturing bog barrier to keep out Putin? Governments in Finland and Poland say they're looking into making this a reality. My big summer read, w/ @nikamelkozerova.bsky.social and @wojciechkosc.bsky.social, on defensive bog restoration: www.politico.eu/article/russ...
“Relations have deteriorated since; it has become clear that normalising ties will be harder than during past feuds. Backchannels that once helped ease the relationship are bunged up. And growing warmth between America and China bodes ill for chances of a rapprochement.” (Gift article)
Why Japan and China will struggle to end their feud
Warming relations between America and China bode ill for Japan
economist.com
“The Gulf’s shallow sandy seabed and warm waters have put ships at anchor or adrift there at risk of sand and sea creatures clogging up gratings that protect the vessel’s internal pipework. Seafarers are also struggling to get hold of critical parts when systems have broken down.”
Barnacles and jellyfish infest ships trapped in the Gulf
Sea life could impede the ability of vessels to leave the region when the conflict ends
ft.com
“The government in Beijing has turned the greatest crisis facing humanity – climate breakdown – into an opportunity to finally lay to rest the “humiliation” of the opium war.”
The American epoch of oil is collapsing. What comes next could be ugly | Jonathan Watts
China is dominating the energy transition with astonishing result, while fossil fuel fascists in the US try to turn back the clock
theguardian.com
www.koreatimes.co.kr/southkorea/s...
Blade threat at Korea's Antarctic base puts crew member under police investigation - The Korea Times
A member of a Korean Antarctic research team threatened fellow crew members with a blade at Jang Bogo Station, raising concerns about conduct and o...
koreatimes.co.kr
“The most consequential element is the proposed sovereignty designation, which would mark a departure from the 1951 U.S.-Denmark Defence Agreement under which Washington currently operates in Greenland with Danish consent.” www.arctictoday.com/us-pushes-fo...
US pushes for three new Greenland bases, with 'sovereign territory' status on the table - ArcticToday
The United States is in advanced, closely-held talks with Denmark and Greenland to open three new military bases in southern Greenland, with U.S. officials floating an arrangement that would designate...
arctictoday.com
On my way to Hiroshima now for the 48th Antarctic Treaty Consultative meeting, and just saw that this great Politico piece about the plight of Ukrainian Antarctic researchers these days is online now (with a short quote from the interview I did with Emily Schultheis.) Give it a read!
The 14 Scientists and a Penguin Colony Fighting for Ukraine
How a mint-green research base, 14 scientists, and a gentoo penguin colony became part of Ukraine's war strategy.
politico.com
One chokepoint, global compounding effects: 18 PRIF researchers show how the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz affects different regions and intersects with conflict dynamics. Read now on #PRIFblog ⤵️ blog.prif.org/en/2026/05/0...
The Strait of Hormuz in Perspective: One Global Chokepoint, Multiple Vulnerabilities, Compounded Effects - PRIF BLOG
The Strait of Hormuz has been blocked by both Iran and the US. The result is a disruption of a large share of the supply of global crude oil and gas, but also petrochemical feedstock materials for fer...
blog.prif.org
Together with 17(!) PRIF colleagues, we looked at how this crisis ripples and rips through different economies and societies, with an eye also to emerging, compounding, and cascading second-order effects.
PRIF@prif.org · 3mo agoOne chokepoint, global compounding effects: 18 PRIF researchers show how the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz affects different regions and intersects with conflict dynamics. Read now on #PRIFblog ⤵️ blog.prif.org/en/2026/05/0...
I have a really nice (horrifying) image stack that one of my research team members made, that powerfully demonstrates what a huge problem satellite streaks are for wide-field imaging. This is a 3 hour stack of star-subtracted 5 minute exposures using the […] [Original post on mastodon.social]
After WWII, Idaho relocated dozens of beavers via airdrop — into an area that they ecologically transformed & make more fire resistant to this day These days the forest service dumps Roundup on forests We’ve lost our way on the conservation of wild lands www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts...
US officials parachuted 76 beavers into the Idaho wilderness – then something astounding happened | Discover Wildlife
In post-World War II North America, beavers were wreaking havoc in rural communities. So the state department came up with an ingenious solution involving parachutes
discoverwildlife.com
“Antarctica is the only continent without a fiber-optic connection. The technology required to get one there is available, but the creation of such infrastructure raises geopolitical questions, including its potential military use, say researchers from Germany.”
The Politics of a Subsea Data Cable Link to Antarctica
Antarctica is the only continent without a fiber-optic connection.The technology required to get one there is available, but the…
marinetechnologynews.com
What will the global fossil fuel market look like once the closure of the Hormuz ends? In short, volatile and risky but oversupplied - terrible for fossil fuel investors, less so for clean energy investors. The UAE's decision to leave OPEC reinforced this.
1/ Academic research has a key role to play in #Ukraine's sustainable recovery. Our new report explores the war's impact on higher education and reviews over 5,000 publications to analyse recovery-relevant research trends. ceobs.org/report-acade... #AcademicSky
Report: Academia's role in Ukraine’s sustainable recovery - CEOBS
Report on sustainable recovery research among Ukrainian and global academia, with a major literature review identifying trends and gaps.
ceobs.org
A Japanese oil tanker has crossed the Strait of Hormuz after paying transit fees to Iran in Chinese yuan, according to official Iranian media.
BREAKING: The United Arab Emirates said it quit OPEC and OPEC+, dealing a heavy blow to the oil exporting groups and their de facto leader, Saudi Arabia, at a time when the Iran war has caused a historic energy shock and unsettled the global economy reut.rs/4vXsBJy
New study by AWI scientist Ole Zeising @olezsng.bsky.social: The bed beneath the Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica is characterized by a complex subglacial environment with hard, steep basal slopes and extensive water-bearing sediments.
“When Russia targets Ukraine's energy system, it's not just turning off the lights — it's creating conditions for nuclear disaster. Each attack forces a rethink: more solar, more batteries, more distributed, harder-to-hit systems. (…) What can the rest of the world learn from this?”
Racing to war-proof Ukraine's power grid
When Russia targets Ukraine's energy system, it's not just turning off the lights — it's creating conditions for nuclear disaster. Each attack forces a rethink: more solar, more batteries, more distri...
dw.com
Antarctica’s fiber-optic future: Connecting the last continent could transform climate monitoring. But without clear rules, this tech advance risks escalating tensions, argue Christian Reuter @peasec.de, @ptrckflmm.bsky.social, & @jonasfranken.bsky.social. ⬇️ www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Subsea cables to Antarctica: Technological challenges and geopolitical implications of connecting the material internet’s last frontier
Antarctica remains the last continent unconnected to the global fiber-optic network, relying instead on costly and limited satellite communications. T…
sciencedirect.com
