Tas van Ommen
@tasvo.bsky.social
Climate scientist specialising in ice cores, Antarctica and glaciology. Interested in science and how we use it to navigate our place in the universe. Adjunct Professor at U. Tasmania.
This may be about the UK but has an excellent quote that could be squarely aimed at the Australian Government: ““Future generations will not judge governments by the ingenuity with which they justified expanding fossil fuel production,” the scientists wrote./2 ”
Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research@tyndallcentre.bsky.social · 5d agoOpen letter to the Prime Minister on new North Sea drilling 📢 Prof. Kevin Anderson & other Tyndall Centre scientists at the University of Manchester have urged Andy Burnham to rule out further development of the Rosebank/Jackdaw fields: buff.ly/aGbyTqM
This is at the core of much misguided thinking and disinformation.
Fossil Free Culture NL@fossilfreeculture.bsky.social · 6d agoRahmstorf: “Some people think we can wait and, when it gets too bad, then we reduce emissions People don’t realise that we can’t make it get better again. We can only prevent it from getting much worse.”
Likewise as a climate scientist who began in radio astronomy I can’t understand how such a central and iconic part of your science infrastructure could be lost to current and future generations. 😥
Tamsin Edwards@flimsin.bsky.social · last wk.I've been off socials for 2 years, but have to speak up. Utter madness to defund this flagship institution of UK science + education. International research, UNESCO-level heritage, training physicists (inc. me in 2000), inspiring public w/ visitor centre and bluedot festival. We must #SaveJodrell
😳 hmm, sauce, goose, gander? AI developers complain of IP theft: Illicit distillation "is IP theft and industrial espionage" and "a national challenge that creates serious national security risks for the United States and democratic allies," Sarah Heck, Anthropic's head of public policy, said on X.
AFP News Agency@en.afp.com · 2w agoTrump under pressure to respond to the increasing success of Chinese AI models that many companies prefer to the more powerful, but pricier, US versions from Anthropic or OpenAI u.afp.com/Sreh
A bit thought provoking: (Paywall but refundable in first week) podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/t...
The Day America Cuts Europe Off From AI
Podcast Episode · The Rest Is Politics · 9 July · Subscribers Only · 1hr 2min
podcasts.apple.com
Why did Antarctica freeze millions of years before the Arctic? New research suggests the answer wasn't just climate... Slow-moving mantle waves lifted Antarctica high enough for glaciers to take hold. Once ice formed, powerful feedback loops did the rest. theconversation.com/why-antarcti...
Why Antarctica froze millions of years before the Arctic – new research
New solutions to two interlinked mysteries reveal how and why the Antarctic’s enormous ice sheet formed.
theconversation.com
Me, daughter S and Pandora at Mt. Hotham last year. I'm quoted about my hope that Miss S will be able to enjoy the snow until she is my age. Science says 'maybe'...
Guardian Australia@australia.theguardian.com · last mo.Ski resorts ‘stoked’ as winter snow finally arrives in Victoria and NSW
Excellent explainer about the record heat in Europe by @windjunky.bsky.social theconversation.com/europe-is-ba...
Europe is battling a record-breaking heatwave. What’s making it so severe?
A climate expert unpacks the potential causes and risks of extreme heat.
theconversation.com
Reminded today of this critical piece of reporting that escaped me. Maybe others too, so here it is: www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03...
Foreign Facebook pages have been promoting One Nation. It wants them to stop
An ABC NEWS Verify investigation uncovers a raft of foreign Facebook accounts targeting Australian users. And they're just the tip of the iceberg.
abc.net.au
I found this neat tool that lets you generate text and images just from your ideas. It's really good!
📢The latest Indicators of Global Climate Change report has been published today: doi.org/10.5194/essd... Created by over 70 leading international scientists, this annual update provides key indicators of the state of the climate system and human influence. Read the thread to see key findings 👇 [1/9]
Indicators of Global Climate Change 2025: annual update of key indicators of the state of the climate system and human influence
Abstract. In a rapidly changing climate, evidence-based decision-making benefits from up-to-date and timely information. We track twelve key sets of indicators of the state of the climate system, clos...
doi.org
The National Climate Risk Assessment was not just a science report, it was a report on existential risk commissioned by the very government that has subsequently ignored it. The corresponding government National Adaptation Plan appears to be a plan for a plan. We had such high hopes.
El Niño is here, which means it's time for me to dust off and refine my old collection of ENSO-related climate visualizations. Check out how much sea surface temperatures have already warmed this year across the equatorial tropical Pacific. Wow! Data from psl.noaa.gov/data/gridded...
Wicked Newspeak from a once leading nation in Antarctic affairs: “watering down of references to climate change at the request of the United States, which prefers to speak of sea ice loss or generic environmental changes.”
Tim Stephens@proftimstephens.bsky.social · 2mo agoThe US under Trump is now pushing climate denial talking points at Antarctic Treaty meetings: "Other disappointments at the meeting included watering down of references to climate change at the request of the United States" www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpre...
More on the ultra-cool science of Australia’s Million Year Ice Core Project: www.antarctica.gov.au/news/2026/an...
Analysing ancient air in Antarctic ice cores – Australian Antarctic Program (News 2026)
Greenhouse gases trapped in 3,000 year-old Antarctic ice are being extracted and analysed for clues to Earth’s climate past. The gases – carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide – were trapped as sno...
antarctica.gov.au
New article out: Antarctic science operations must account for climate change and extreme environmental events @bas.ac.uk www.nature.com/articles/s43247-026-03629-2
Antarctic science operations must account for climate change and extreme environmental events - Communications Earth & Environment
As extreme environmental events increase in Antarctica, scientific operations will face mounting challenges, as argued in this Perspective, which assesses potential impacts on research stations and ac...
nature.com
It’s been a good two weeks of Wordle. Wordle 1,807 2/6 🟨⬛⬛🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Archive: May 19, 2026 Wordle 1,795 2/6 🟨⬛⬛🟨⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Tied the Wordle Bot 8 times and beaten it 3 times. Maybe time to retire 😬
It’s worth reading this excellent thread, but if you don’t, this is a good take-home.
Dr. Aaron Thierry@thierryaaron.bsky.social · 3mo ago15/ We didn't dodge the worst case. We narrowed one route to it. Several others have gotten wider. But the worst case was never fixed. It's a function of what we do next. We can always take actions that make it less bad. That's the part the relief takes, and the doom takes, both miss.
ABC burying the lede: www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05... He says: "There's this recognition that on so many of these big challenges we are facing, it's not necessarily left versus right, it's actually vested interests and their stranglehold on the major parties versus the Australian people."
Pocock open to party of independents as One Nation support climbs
The independent senator says Australians are frustrated with a political system that "does not work for them".
abc.net.au
Call it a party or maybe just a nation-wide cohort of independents with ideas and integrity like @davidpocock.bsky.social - I reckon they’d scare the pants off both major parties (albeit LNP already look like Malcolm Fraser in Memphis, iykyk 😉).
Chris Pomfret@chrispomfret.bsky.social · 2mo agoI’d back this party. www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05...
Tell me again mainland footy fans and AFL corporate folk, and build-it-and-all-will-be-excellent-never-mind-the-economic-modeling locals about how much Tasmania needs a stadium. #Priorities #politas www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05...
"Climate risk information is only as reliable as the modelling infrastructure that underpins it. Neglecting Australian #climate modelling capability would be like continuing to use GPS after deciding to stop maintaining the satellites that make it work." 📝 www.scimex.org/newsfeed/ope...
Open letter to Federal Ministers about impacts of CSIRO job cuts
Open letter to Federal Ministers about impacts of CSIRO job cuts Proposed CSIRO job cuts threaten to cripple Australia’s climate modelling capability The Hon. Chris Bowen MP, Mi
scimex.org
bsky.app/profile/wend... This is wilfully crippling our ability to understand what is coming down the climate pipeline and to mange costly and acknowledged risks (www.dcceew.gov.au/climate-chan...) facing our nation. It is madness. Choosing to drive down the highway partly blindfolded.
Wendy Harmer@wendyharmer.bsky.social · 3mo agoWell, this is total garbage ... What are we doing???? theconversation.com/csiro-is-cut...
Love it that Bluesky is labelled a left wing echo chamber and ideological safe space by the right wing media - simply because they can’t manipulate an algorithm and swamp views they want to dismiss with toxic disinformation. 😆
How do we know old Antarctic ice is old? Got a few minutes? Atmospheric argon isotope dating: a process discovered last century here at UMN (Al Nier) & perfected by scientists at Princeton (Bender). This is COLDEX science funded by NSF and conducted in university communities nationwide.
The MYIC @millionyearice.bsky.social project by the Australian Antarctic Program is drilling an ice core to 3,000 metres depth in three-metre segments, and returning the cores in pristine condition to Hobart, Tasmania. Why? And how? Find out at aapp.shorthandstories.com/the-memory-of-ice