David Johnson
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infpwriter.bsky.social
David Johnson
@infpwriter.bsky.social

Veteran embracing reason, rational thinking, education, facts, and objective truth; insatiably curious; exploring science, climate change, cosmology, and health. Longing for progress.

Economics 35%
Engineering 16%
Pinned
"The idea that some lives matter less is the root of all that is wrong with the world." - Dr. Paul Farmer
If we can capture another country's president, can another country come and capture ours? Asking for a friend.

Reposted by David Johnson

“An organism at war with itself is doomed.”

― Carl Sagan
Cancer research costs too much but we have the money to run Venezuela
It's an old and obvious pattern. An unpopular president - failing on the economy and losing his grip on power at home - decides to launch a war for regime change abroad.

The American people don’t want to “run” a foreign country while our leaders fail to improve life in this one.
Venezuela, to the Trump administration, is about oil, not the Venezuelan people or democracy. There’s no plan for what comes next. Trump’s remarks today confirmed it.
Trump: "We're going to have our very large United States oil companies go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure and start making money for the country. And we are ready to stage a second and much larger attack if we need to do so."
More reaction to Maduro’s “arrest”

Reposted by David Johnson

Tree roots stabilize soil, preventing erosion & landslides. Without them, heavy rains wash away topsoil, causing floods & disasters. Deforestation leads to soil degradation—up to 48% loss of soil carbon when forests turn to cropland. Short-term gain, long-term catastrophe. 🏞️💔 #StopDeforestation

Reposted by David Johnson

Centuries-old trees aren't just wood—they're massive carbon sinks, storing CO₂ that would otherwise fuel climate change. A single ancient tree can hold tons of carbon for hundreds of years. Yet we're burning them for short-term profit. This isn't development. 🌳🔥 #Deforestation
Our Solar System is orbiting the center of our Galaxy at about 220 km/s so in 2025 we collectively traveled something like 7 billion kilometers across the Milky Way. Once in a while, when you have a moment, it’s worthwhile to take a look around, see where you are, and appreciate how far you’ve come.
YEAR ONE MAHA

Reposted by David Johnson

We’re closing out a year filled with unprecedented attacks on science, but the pushback is growing. Hear from UCS President @gretchentg.bsky.social on how UCS and the scientific community are standing up for science:
Ask a Scientist: How Is the Scientific Community Meeting This Moment?
UCS—and scientists generally—are uniquely positioned to resist democratic backsliding. Here's how.
blog.ucs.org

"The evidence is clear: the changes observed over the past century are far larger and more rapid than the natural variations of the previous 2000 years when human society has developed. And, we have long understood the physics of why this is happening - the enhanced greenhouse effect. " - Ed Hawkins
Climate change context: the last 2000 years
Updated climate indicator visualisations
open.substack.com

Reposted by David Johnson

Recommended read: Grist summarised the major stories for Earth’s climate in 2025 – “the good, the bad and the ugly”.
How the planet fared in 2025 — the good, the bad, and the ugly
From winter wildfires in Los Angeles to the unchecked growth of data centers, here are the big climate stories we covered in 2025.
buff.ly
"Trump aims to take down ‘global mothership’ of climate science" by Rafi Schwarz for @theweek.com: theweek.com/politics/tru...
Trump aims to take down ‘global mothership’ of climate science
By moving to dismantle Colorado’s National Center for Atmospheric Research, the White House says it is targeting ‘climate alarmism’
theweek.com

"The loss of sea ice is opening up vast areas of dark ocean, which is absorbing, rather than reflecting, more of the heat that is raising global temperatures. While the melting sea ice isn’t itself causing the seas to rise, the loss of land-based glaciers is..." #climatechange #science #albedo #ice
Arctic endured year of record heat as climate scientists warn of ‘winter being redefined’
Region known as ‘world’s refrigerator’ is heating up as much as four times as quickly as global average, Noaa experts say
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by David Johnson

The U.S. government admitted in court documents to failures that led to the January midair collision between a passenger jet and a military helicopter that killed 67 people in all.
U.S. government admits to errors in deadly midair collision near D.C.
"The United States admits that it owed a duty of care to Plaintiffs, which it breached," it said in a court filing, leading to the Jan. 29 crash between a passenger jet and Army helicopter.
nbcnews.to

One can only hope that he will announce his retirement and leave office by the end of the year.

"...quality, unbiased information just isn’t as easy to access as it used to be. Search results increasingly turn up AI-generated slop, while social media algorithms serve up posts targeted to individual preferences, giving people an off-kilter picture of reality." #disinformation #misinformation
If you want to know what’s causing climate change and how it affects where you live, don’t turn to the Environmental Protection Agency for answers. The government agency purged basic facts about gl...
The EPA website got the basics of climate science right. Until last week.
The Trump administration purged 80 pages of facts about climate change — including that it's caused by humans.
grist.org

Reposted by David Johnson

The annual Arctic Report Card is now out for 2025. It discusses recent changes in the #Arctic, extreme events, and broader human/environmental impacts.

This is the 20th anniversary edition. 20 years of rapid change.

+ Report arctic.noaa.gov/report-card/...
+ Summary arctic.noaa.gov/report-card/...
🔥 Claire McCaskill: “Trump’s Reiner comments laid bare he has no character and is incapable of leading anything that isn’t a parade celebrating HIM… it’s a new low, Republicans that won’t speak up now- this speaks volumes about your character.”

cc: @marshablackburn
Or rather, all too believable. If you want to suppress all knowledge of how a relatively small number are enriching themselves by destroying our shared home then this destruction, following on the heels of the funding freeze for the national Climate Adaptation Science Centers, is completely logical.
Trump officials shut off funding for climate adaptation centers
A third of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Climate Adaptation Science Centers are expected to drastically wind down and possibly close after Sept. 30.
www.washingtonpost.com
An absolute bedrock institution for understanding how the planet works, just civilization-scaled vandalism by the most incurious morons on Earth

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"The Arctic endured a year of record heat and shrunken sea ice as the world’s northern latitudes continue a rapid shift to becoming rainier and less ice-bound due to the climate crisis, scientists have reported." via @theguardian.com
Arctic endured year of record heat as climate scientists warn of ‘winter being redefined’
Region known as ‘world’s refrigerator’ is heating up as much as four times as quickly as global average, Noaa experts say
www.theguardian.com
Exclusive: The Trump administration is moving to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado, according to a senior White House official, taking aim at one of the world's leading climate research labs.
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.
bit.ly

"Grief is just love with no place to go." - Jamie Anderson

Reposted by David Johnson

BREAKING: Director Rob Reiner and his wife are found dead with apparent stab wounds in their Los Angeles home, a source close to Reiner says.
Two found dead at L.A. home owned by director Rob Reiner
Paramedics were dispatched to the filmmaker's home at around 3:30 p.m. Sunday.
nbcnews.to
Rob Reiner was found dead in his Brentwood home alongside his wife Michele Singer. The deaths are being investigated as a homicide. Reiner was finishing a project called "The Spy and the Asset" a documentary about Putin & Trump. RIP Rob & Michele, you will be missed. ❤️

variety.com/2025/film/ne...

"The chemical industry finally got its wish." #TrumpsEPA

Reposted by David Johnson