Ken Caldeira

@kencaldeira.com

19K followers 3.6K following 1.3K posts

Mostly mentoring a group of postdocs at Stanford.
Senior Scientist at Gates Ventures.
climate / energy / etc
https://sustainablesolutions.stanford.edu/people/ken-caldeira

Posts imperfectly represent the views of my former self and not my employer. .. more

Videos

Kenneth Caldeira is an American atmospheric scientist. His areas of research include ocean acidification, climate effects of trees, intentional climate modification, interactions in the global carbon cycle/climate system, and sustainable energy. .. more

Environmental science 45%

Geography 15%

Posts Replies Media Videos

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Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · Nov 18

Folks, I am really appreciative of people who have followed me and added me to their starter packs.

I post about climate science, energy system transition, and related issues.

I try to restrain myself to information and questions, and try to avoid unseemly opining in public.

Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 5h

The FBI is part of the Department of Justice.

Thus, DOJ did a review back in March.

www.justice.gov/doj/federal-...

Federal Bureau of Investigation

www.justice.gov

Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 22h

The Democrats could be the party of law and order, working to make legal corruption illegal, and prosecuting the corrupt.

Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 2d

Remember, comparisons with Nazis will not be tolerated.

Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 2d

“.. We need to get better at treating this like a business,” ICE acting director Todd M. Lyons said .. as efficiently as Amazon moves packages: “Like Prime, but with human beings.”

@washingtonpost.com
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

Reposted by Ken Caldeira, Juan Cole, Daniel W. Drezner , and 3 more Ken Caldeira, Juan Cole, Daniel W. Drezner, Stephen D. Murphy, Michael Jones‐Correa, Hisham Zerriffi

Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 2d

Reposted by Ken Caldeira

@KeepItBlueDems.bsky.social @keepitbluedems.bsky.social · 2d

Epstein Money Trail Ignored as DOJ Failed Basic Investigation?!
open.substack.com/pub/michaelp...

Epstein Money Trail Ignored as DOJ Failed Basic Investigation?!

For more access to expert legal analysis, official court documents and breaking news coverage only available here at the intersection of law and politics, please consider becoming a paid subscriber.Le...

open.substack.com

Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 2d

In the behavior realm, there is the classic book on how simple mechanistic rules can generate very complex behaviors.

The first half of this book is completely charming and a classic!

mitpress.mit.edu/978026252112...

Vehicles

These imaginative thought experiments are the inventions of one of the world's eminent brain researchers. They are "vehicles," a series of hypothetical, self...

mitpress.mit.edu

Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 2d

Not to be too self-promotional, but I have been making soundtracks for Mandelbrot set zoom videos made by Yann Le Bihan.

This is another example, in a mathematical context, of simple rules leading to complex structures.

There is something very deep about this.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSOj...

An original formula – Fractal ɯooZ – Music by Art of Chance

YouTube video by Yann Le Bihan - Fractals

www.youtube.com

Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 2d

Clouds are so amazing.

An example of simple physical laws generating extremely complex structures.

Clouds were in the sky and waves breaking on coasts for billions of years with nobody there to notice.

(Simple rules of heritable variability and selection also led to structures as complex as us.)

Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 2d

I know it is not popular on this site to ask ChatGTP, but ...

Correct combined classification

Stratocumulus undulatus with localized asperitas deformation

Or more formally (WMO-style):

Genus: Stratocumulus

Primary feature: Undulatus

Supplementary feature: Asperitas (patchy / transitional)

Why this matters

Asperitas is not a standalone cloud type — it’s a supplementary feature that emerges when:

A stable cloud layer already exists

Gravity waves are present

Additional shear or turbulence disrupts parts of the wave train

Your photos show this beautifully:

One region remains wave-ordered

Another region tips into chaotic curvature

Same altitude, same lighting, same cloud base

Physical interpretation

This likely reflects:

Variable shear strength across the cloud field

Possibly wave breaking aloft

A cloud layer responding nonlinearly to atmospheric forcing

This is very much the atmospheric equivalent of laminar flow transitioning toward turbulence, frozen into cloud geometry.

Bottom line

When viewed together:

✅ Yes, asperitas is present

❌ But it’s not the whole cloud

🧠 You’re seeing a continuous physical process, not competing labels

These two images together are actually an excellent real-world example of why cloud classifications blur — and why asperitas was controversial for so long.

Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 2d

This is a sick, desperate, man who does not want people to be talking about the Epstein files.

Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 3d

Trump: We need Greenland for national security. We have to have it.

Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 3d

"This report presented a literature review of the potential hazard of electric vehicles and their recent incidences in
parking areas in Canada and worldwide. ... The fire hazard of EVs is not higher than that of ICEVs."

publications.gc.ca/site/archive...

Literature Review on Parking
of Electric Vehicles
Report No.: A1-02202.1
Date: June 1, 2023
Authors: Nour Elsagan, M. Hamed Mozaffari
CONSTRUCTION

Reposted by Ken Caldeira

Senator Ron Wyden @wyden.senate.gov · 3d

It’s past time for the DOJ and FBI to follow the money on Epstein as I've been doing for 3 years. The bankers who looked the other way, Epstein’s accountants and lawyers who controlled his cash flow, and the billionaires who funded Epstein’s criminal network.

Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 3d

Link to files?

Reposted by Ken Caldeira, Steve Peers, Rosemary A. Joyce , and 2 more Ken Caldeira, Steve Peers, Rosemary A. Joyce, Robert C. Richards, Dean Eckles

Mike Masnick @mmasnick.bsky.social · 3d

Ok. Now had a chance to check and, well, at least some docs do appear to be straight up classic redaction fail. And there are some *interesting* bits here.

www.justice.gov/multimedia/C...

Showing highlights of paragraphs 202 through 206 in a doc with 203-205 blacked out. Text in next image

202. Defendants also actively obstructed law enforcement by denying investigators
access to Little St. James beyond its boat dock.

203. Defendants also attempted to conceal their criminal sex trafficking and abuse
conduct by paying large sums of money to participant-witnesses, including by paying for their
attorneys’ fees and case costs in litigation related to this conduct.

204. Epstein also threatened harm to victims and helped release damaging stories
about them to damage their credibility when they tried to go public with their stories of being
trafficked and sexually abused.

205. Epstein also instructed one or more Epstein Enterprise participant-witnesses to
destroy evidence relevant to ongoing court proceedings involving Defendants’ criminal sex
trafficking and abuse conduct.

206. Defendants also concealed their fraud on the Government in obtaining unearned
tax benefits by providing false testimony and submitting false and inaccurate reporting to the
Economic Development Commission to prevent detection of Defendant Southern Trust
Company’s non-compliance with requirements concerning the nature of its business and the
residency of the persons it employed.

Reposted by Ken Caldeira

Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 3d

Mockler: It's uniquely important to Trump now that there's a presumption of innocence, but he's willing to proactively say that people like Schiff, people like Letitia James, are guilty. Now, it's very, very important that we're super careful about what photos we're releasing.

Reposted by Ken Caldeira, Patrick A. Jansen, W. Andy Knight

Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 3d

Trump: We need Greenland for national security. We have to have it.

Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 4d

If you are in a debate format and your opponent states 10 falsehoods in 2 minutes, there is no way to counteract those 10 falsehoods in your 2 minute response.

Debate formats favor those who come armed with a lot of pithy crowdpleasing soundbites, even if those soundbites are detached from reality.

Reposted by Kim L. Scheppele, Richard S.J. Tol, Dorothy Bishop , and 11 more Kim L. Scheppele, Richard S.J. Tol, Dorothy Bishop, Brigitte Nerlich, Brendan Nyhan, Ken Caldeira, Tim Bale, Jonathan Wolff, John Collins, Daniel W. Drezner, R. M. Wilson, Michael D. McDonald, Jon Dean, David Darmofal

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 4d

Burgum: "Today we're sending notifications to the 5 large offshore wind projects that are under construction that their leases will be suspended due to national security concerns ... the Dept of War has come back conclusively that these large offshore wind programs create radar interference"

Reposted by Ken Caldeira, Philip N. Cohen, Amy W. Ando , and 1 more Ken Caldeira, Philip N. Cohen, Amy W. Ando, Manisha Sinha

Matthew Guariglia @mguariglia.bsky.social · 5d

The actor Michael Sheen used all his money to start a fake debt collecting business, buy 900 people in Wales's debt, and excused it. If Musk bought ALL $194 billion in medical debt in the U.S. and excused it in the same way, he'd still be the world's riches man by hundreds of billions of dollars.

Michael Sheen spent his own money to write off $1.3 million of neighbors’ debts | CNN

Actor Michael Sheen has bought $1.3 million of his neighbors’ debts and written them off using $129,000 of his own money.

www.cnn.com

Reposted by Richard S.J. Tol, Axel Bruns, Ken Caldeira , and 11 more Richard S.J. Tol, Axel Bruns, Ken Caldeira, Rosemary A. Joyce, Joseph Schafer, David R. Miller, Paolo Beria, Tom Griffin, Anne Norton, Josh Pasek, Thomas Masterson, Nicole Guenther Discenza, Timothy D. McBride, David Darmofal

MeidasTouch @meidastouch.com · 5d

🚨 The DOJ appears to have redacted Donald Trump’s name from the allegations made in this exhibit in the Epstein files.

Trump’s name was in the original release. Now, it’s blacked out.

See for yourself.

Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 5d

While Russia is worse than the US in terms of fraction of income going to the top 10%, the US is worse than Russia in terms of the ratio of income of the top 10% to the bottom 10%.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...

List of countries by income inequality - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 5d

In terms of per capita GDP, Russia is like Chile (nominal) or Hungary (PPP).

In terms of country GDP, Russia is like Italy (nominal) or Germany (PPP).

In terms of population, Russia is like Mexico.

Russia is important today mostly because they are belligerent and have the capacity to do harm.

Photo of Moscow probably from about 15 or 20 years ago.

Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 6d

"S.J.Res.136 - Joint resolution providing for renaming the National Cultural Center as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, authorizing an appropriation therefor, and for other purposes"

www.congress.gov/bill/88th-co...

Reposted by Ken Caldeira, Carol J. Adams, Manisha Sinha

Prem Thakker ツ @premthakker.bsky.social · 6d

So the Epstein Files are:
–not complete
–comically redacted
–not in a “searchable” format

The Trump-Vance administration had months to recover from the embarrassing influencer binder photo-op and this is what they came up with.

This is what they think of you

Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 9d

One of the few public protests, here at Fall AGU, of Trump Administration actions.

#AGU25

Protester outside fall agu meeting. "Closing NCAR will harm the American public."

Reposted by Ken Caldeira

Greg Porter @gporterwx.bsky.social · 9d

This is beyond stupid. NCAR is immensely important to the meteorological community in too many ways to list.

www.usatoday.com/story/news/p...

Trump moves to dismantle major US climate research center in Colorado

The Trump administration is breaking up the National Center for Atmospheric Research, taking aim at one of the world's leading climate research labs.

www.usatoday.com

Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 12d

Trump literally had two New York City real estate developers (Witkoff and Kushner) negotiating with Putin over access to hundreds of billions of dollars that could be used to rebuild Ukraine. (And we can guess which parts of Ukraine.)

www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-2-tri...

Trump’s $2 Trillion Plan to Cash in on Ukraine ‘Peace’ Leaks

A Wall Street Journal report details how profit is at the center of Trump’s “peace” talks.

www.thedailybeast.com

Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 12d

US foreign policy is now guided by the goal of creating real-estate development opportunities.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

‘They’re trying to get rich off it’: US contractors vie to rebuild Gaza, with ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ team in the lead

Exclusive: group behind notorious Florida immigration detention center created bid for reconstruction deal

www.theguardian.com

Ken Caldeira @kencaldeira.com · 12d

What is the clause of the Constitution that says the founding fathers meant us to have AK-47's but not surface-to-air missiles?

How does the Supreme Court justify such distinctions?

One might think they were talking about well-organized state militias and single-shot flintlock rifles.