Andrew MacDougall
@ahmacdougall.bsky.social
Canadian Climate Scientist from Nova Scotia, specializing in Zero Emissions Commitment, carbon budgets, permafrost carbon, and biogeochemical feedbacks to climate change.
Reposted by Andrew MacDougall
Also this is a story that has nothing really to do with the US. Many, many stories do not.
December 31, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Also this is a story that has nothing really to do with the US. Many, many stories do not.
Reposted by Andrew MacDougall
On the one hand, Nova Scotia could pick up a lot of wind turbine equipment very cheap. On the other hand, this is a disaster for wind investment and investment certainty in general in the US. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/22/c...
Trump Halts Five Wind Farms Off the East Coast
www.nytimes.com
December 22, 2025 at 5:22 PM
On the one hand, Nova Scotia could pick up a lot of wind turbine equipment very cheap. On the other hand, this is a disaster for wind investment and investment certainty in general in the US. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/22/c...
Reposted by Andrew MacDougall
1/ The New York Times reports that Trump plans to name an entire new class of US Navy warships after himself. If so, this will break genuinely new ground in a level of state-sponsored sycophancy never seen before in global naval history.
December 22, 2025 at 10:09 PM
1/ The New York Times reports that Trump plans to name an entire new class of US Navy warships after himself. If so, this will break genuinely new ground in a level of state-sponsored sycophancy never seen before in global naval history.
Reposted by Andrew MacDougall
Hell yeah: @science.org's official Breakthrough of the Year for 2025 is ... [drumroll] ...
... the unstoppable rise & spread of renewable energy.
... the unstoppable rise & spread of renewable energy.
Science’s 2025 Breakthrough of the Year: The unstoppable rise of renewable energy
Clean energy infrastructure is being deployed with unmatched scale and speed—and China is leading the way
www.science.org
December 19, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Hell yeah: @science.org's official Breakthrough of the Year for 2025 is ... [drumroll] ...
... the unstoppable rise & spread of renewable energy.
... the unstoppable rise & spread of renewable energy.
The foundational axiom of science is that reality is real and that it can be understood at least to some approximation.
The foundational axiom of fascism is that there is no such thing as reality, and truth is whatever the leader says it is.
Science will always wither under fascism.
The foundational axiom of fascism is that there is no such thing as reality, and truth is whatever the leader says it is.
Science will always wither under fascism.
I really didn't think modern civilization was this vulnerable to "I don't like what I see so I'm going to gouge my eyes out."
Here's our reporting on the proposed dismantling of the jewel of US atmospheric science, @ncar-ucar.bsky.social.
The plan is to break NCAR apart and disburse some parts to other locations (like the research aircraft fleet) and eliminate others.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
🧪 #AGU25 #climate
The plan is to break NCAR apart and disburse some parts to other locations (like the research aircraft fleet) and eliminate others.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
🧪 #AGU25 #climate
December 17, 2025 at 8:32 PM
The foundational axiom of science is that reality is real and that it can be understood at least to some approximation.
The foundational axiom of fascism is that there is no such thing as reality, and truth is whatever the leader says it is.
Science will always wither under fascism.
The foundational axiom of fascism is that there is no such thing as reality, and truth is whatever the leader says it is.
Science will always wither under fascism.
Reposted by Andrew MacDougall
I really didn't think modern civilization was this vulnerable to "I don't like what I see so I'm going to gouge my eyes out."
Here's our reporting on the proposed dismantling of the jewel of US atmospheric science, @ncar-ucar.bsky.social.
The plan is to break NCAR apart and disburse some parts to other locations (like the research aircraft fleet) and eliminate others.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
🧪 #AGU25 #climate
The plan is to break NCAR apart and disburse some parts to other locations (like the research aircraft fleet) and eliminate others.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
🧪 #AGU25 #climate
Trump team plans to break up ‘global mothership’ of climate science
Much of the National Center for Atmospheric Research’s non-climate portfolio will be dispersed, the White House says.
www.nature.com
December 17, 2025 at 7:55 PM
I really didn't think modern civilization was this vulnerable to "I don't like what I see so I'm going to gouge my eyes out."
Reposted by Andrew MacDougall
The beautiful idea of NCAR, to improve understanding of our planet through a cooperative, shared and open intellectual team effort, is literally what has got me out of bed every morning for nearly two decades. This cannot, CANNOT be allowed to happen.
eu.usatoday.com/story/news/p...
eu.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.
eu.usatoday.com
December 17, 2025 at 7:39 AM
The beautiful idea of NCAR, to improve understanding of our planet through a cooperative, shared and open intellectual team effort, is literally what has got me out of bed every morning for nearly two decades. This cannot, CANNOT be allowed to happen.
eu.usatoday.com/story/news/p...
eu.usatoday.com/story/news/p...
Reposted by Andrew MacDougall
2025 marks another year of record clean energy additions, electrification and declining fossil reliance.
Check out: ember-energy.org/lat...
(8/8)
Check out: ember-energy.org/lat...
(8/8)
Highlights of the global energy transition in 2025 | Ember
Synthesis of Ember's key findings from 2025, tracing how clean electricity expanded, where new growth centres emerged and how technologies like batteries and electrotech reshaped global energy dynamics.
ember-energy.org
December 17, 2025 at 10:01 AM
2025 marks another year of record clean energy additions, electrification and declining fossil reliance.
Check out: ember-energy.org/lat...
(8/8)
Check out: ember-energy.org/lat...
(8/8)
Reposted by Andrew MacDougall
And here, friends, is why the assurances one hears about how AI errors are being fixed ring hollow.
On the left, Grok four minutes ago as I post.
On the right, an actual news story from a reporter published 52 minutes ago.
Note the novelistic invented detail in the Grok account.
On the left, Grok four minutes ago as I post.
On the right, an actual news story from a reporter published 52 minutes ago.
Note the novelistic invented detail in the Grok account.
December 14, 2025 at 9:08 PM
And here, friends, is why the assurances one hears about how AI errors are being fixed ring hollow.
On the left, Grok four minutes ago as I post.
On the right, an actual news story from a reporter published 52 minutes ago.
Note the novelistic invented detail in the Grok account.
On the left, Grok four minutes ago as I post.
On the right, an actual news story from a reporter published 52 minutes ago.
Note the novelistic invented detail in the Grok account.
Reposted by Andrew MacDougall
Sam Altman: hey I made a machine that stole literally all your stuff in order to make CSAM of your child actors, sometimes it encourages people to kill themselves
Disney: Holy shit here's a billion dollars
Altman: the machine loses more than that each week but thank you. Soon it will become god.
Disney: Holy shit here's a billion dollars
Altman: the machine loses more than that each week but thank you. Soon it will become god.
December 12, 2025 at 10:27 AM
Sam Altman: hey I made a machine that stole literally all your stuff in order to make CSAM of your child actors, sometimes it encourages people to kill themselves
Disney: Holy shit here's a billion dollars
Altman: the machine loses more than that each week but thank you. Soon it will become god.
Disney: Holy shit here's a billion dollars
Altman: the machine loses more than that each week but thank you. Soon it will become god.
People might laugh but indoor air quality in rinks is generally terrible, and hockey kids get asthma at disproportionate rates. Electric Zambonis really are an important innovation.
December 7, 2025 at 7:10 PM
People might laugh but indoor air quality in rinks is generally terrible, and hockey kids get asthma at disproportionate rates. Electric Zambonis really are an important innovation.
Reposted by Andrew MacDougall
People used to say, with great confidence, that variable renewables could never safely provide more than 5% of grid power. That estimate has crept up ever since, though the "great confidence" part never wavers.
Anyway, about China ...
Anyway, about China ...
December 2, 2025 at 6:01 PM
People used to say, with great confidence, that variable renewables could never safely provide more than 5% of grid power. That estimate has crept up ever since, though the "great confidence" part never wavers.
Anyway, about China ...
Anyway, about China ...
Oh boy definitely some Technocracy vibes here. Might be time to brush up on mid 20th century science cults.
electrek.co/2025/11/21/e...
electrek.co/2025/11/21/e...
Electricity is about to become the new base currency and China figured it out
As we accelerate into an all-electric, all-digital age, the ultimate representation of productive capacity becomes the kilowatt-hour (kWh).
electrek.co
December 2, 2025 at 12:28 AM
Oh boy definitely some Technocracy vibes here. Might be time to brush up on mid 20th century science cults.
electrek.co/2025/11/21/e...
electrek.co/2025/11/21/e...
And there goes short haul trucking. Another ‘hard to mitigate’ sector that turned out not to be hard to mitigate.
More Chinese #electrotech "propaganda" - the diesel freight truck is dying a quick death in China, and what's replacing it is simpler, more reliable, costs less in terms of CAPEX and OPEX, and doesn't emit local air pollutant nor GHGs. cleantechnica.com/2025/11/26/c...
China’s BEV Trucks and the End of Diesel’s Dominance - CleanTechnica
China’s electric heavy truck boom signals a freight transition as low cost BEVs outpace diesel and gas across short haul markets. Exports are rising.
cleantechnica.com
November 30, 2025 at 3:15 PM
And there goes short haul trucking. Another ‘hard to mitigate’ sector that turned out not to be hard to mitigate.
Reposted by Andrew MacDougall
For a yr, I've been working on a series for The New Atlantis about the vast systems that underlie our lives. Our ancestors built them up over decades to fend off hunger, thirst, darkness and disease. But too few of us know about them—and they're all at risk. The conclusion is now available online:
Why We Are Better Off Than a Century Ago
Our ancestors built grand public systems to conquer hunger, thirst, darkness, and squalor. That progress can be lost if we forget it.
www.thenewatlantis.com
November 25, 2025 at 8:59 PM
For a yr, I've been working on a series for The New Atlantis about the vast systems that underlie our lives. Our ancestors built them up over decades to fend off hunger, thirst, darkness and disease. But too few of us know about them—and they're all at risk. The conclusion is now available online:
Reposted by Andrew MacDougall
Fossil fuel enthusiasts keep arguing that we need to increase our exports of LNG and oil to address energy poverty in the developing world.
I call bullshit — and I bring my receipts. #abpoli #cdnpoli
www.nationalobserver.com/2025/11/25/o...
I call bullshit — and I bring my receipts. #abpoli #cdnpoli
www.nationalobserver.com/2025/11/25/o...
The energy poverty trap
Will more oil and gas production in Canada help alleviate energy poverty in the developing world? Of course not — but that hasn't prevented Danielle Smith and other industry champions from pretending ...
www.nationalobserver.com
November 25, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Fossil fuel enthusiasts keep arguing that we need to increase our exports of LNG and oil to address energy poverty in the developing world.
I call bullshit — and I bring my receipts. #abpoli #cdnpoli
www.nationalobserver.com/2025/11/25/o...
I call bullshit — and I bring my receipts. #abpoli #cdnpoli
www.nationalobserver.com/2025/11/25/o...
Reposted by Andrew MacDougall
Q Anon may just have been the single greatest success in the history of Nigerian financial fraud.
November 23, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Q Anon may just have been the single greatest success in the history of Nigerian financial fraud.
Reposted by Andrew MacDougall
I'm really glad renewable technology development doesn't depend on the COP negotiations.
Petrostates, fossil fuel companies, and their lackeys can sabotage diplomacy, but it's becoming increasingly transparent what they do is simply evil, while we will ditch fossil fuels anyway.
Petrostates, fossil fuel companies, and their lackeys can sabotage diplomacy, but it's becoming increasingly transparent what they do is simply evil, while we will ditch fossil fuels anyway.
COP30 BREAKING NEWS: The likely final text of the "global mutirão" has been published, ahead of the closing plenary
Here's the snap analysis from the CB team…see last line
unfccc.int/sites/def...
Here's the snap analysis from the CB team…see last line
unfccc.int/sites/def...
November 23, 2025 at 12:03 PM
I'm really glad renewable technology development doesn't depend on the COP negotiations.
Petrostates, fossil fuel companies, and their lackeys can sabotage diplomacy, but it's becoming increasingly transparent what they do is simply evil, while we will ditch fossil fuels anyway.
Petrostates, fossil fuel companies, and their lackeys can sabotage diplomacy, but it's becoming increasingly transparent what they do is simply evil, while we will ditch fossil fuels anyway.
Canadian Universities do not, and have never used standardized tests for entry. So we just built systems to deal with these kinds of problems.
I did not take a single standardized test between grade 6 and completing my PhD.
I did not take a single standardized test between grade 6 and completing my PhD.
This is mind-boggling:
"“Of those who demonstrated math skills not meeting middle school levels,” the report found, 42% reported completing calculus or precalculus."
How can they be expected to even begin understanding calculus, if they haven't mastered fractions?
♾️🎢
"“Of those who demonstrated math skills not meeting middle school levels,” the report found, 42% reported completing calculus or precalculus."
How can they be expected to even begin understanding calculus, if they haven't mastered fractions?
♾️🎢
Oooo I first heard about this here
substack.com/@kelseytuoc/...
Lemme see what this Atlantic article is all about
substack.com/@kelseytuoc/...
Lemme see what this Atlantic article is all about
November 23, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Canadian Universities do not, and have never used standardized tests for entry. So we just built systems to deal with these kinds of problems.
I did not take a single standardized test between grade 6 and completing my PhD.
I did not take a single standardized test between grade 6 and completing my PhD.
Reposted by Andrew MacDougall
I wrote a little bit about the "missing heritability" question and several recent studies that have brought it to a close. A short 🧵
The missing heritability question is now (mostly) answered
Not with a bang but with a whimper
theinfinitesimal.substack.com
November 21, 2025 at 10:34 PM
I wrote a little bit about the "missing heritability" question and several recent studies that have brought it to a close. A short 🧵
Reposted by Andrew MacDougall
Reposted by Andrew MacDougall
The North American #petrostate bubble is so weird. Even the classic Middle Eastern autocratic petrostates don’t construct weird alternative realities to justify fossil fuels, they actively & transparently follow the money wherever it flows, including into the clean energy transition.
November 15, 2025 at 7:57 PM
The North American #petrostate bubble is so weird. Even the classic Middle Eastern autocratic petrostates don’t construct weird alternative realities to justify fossil fuels, they actively & transparently follow the money wherever it flows, including into the clean energy transition.
Reposted by Andrew MacDougall
Now that the Sept and Oct data are (belatedly) in, it looks like 2025 will be the second warmest year in the record (~80% probability). The last three years are in a class of their own.
November 15, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Now that the Sept and Oct data are (belatedly) in, it looks like 2025 will be the second warmest year in the record (~80% probability). The last three years are in a class of their own.
No emission peak this year. Emissions up in China, US and EU. Land use change emissions are down.
Published today in Earth System Science Data: The Global Carbon Budget 2025
essd.copernicus.org/preprints/es...
essd.copernicus.org/preprints/es...
Global Carbon Budget 2025
Abstract. Accurate assessment of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and their redistribution among the atmosphere, ocean, and terrestrial biosphere in a changing climate is critical to bette...
essd.copernicus.org
November 13, 2025 at 8:04 PM
No emission peak this year. Emissions up in China, US and EU. Land use change emissions are down.