Paul van Brakel
banner
paulvanbrakel.bsky.social
Paul van Brakel
@paulvanbrakel.bsky.social
Retired enviro eng
1st cab off the rank will probably be AMOC
Net Zero = BAU Marketing Strategy
Embrace Biodiversity
No profile = no follow
Smile while you work
Aotearoa New Zealand
Pinned
One species of New Zealand's endemic bees in Maramaratotara Bay.
One hovering and the other on a flax flower.
Reposted by Paul van Brakel
This is not exactly news. We've known about the perfidy of FF companies hiding their model results for about 50 yrs. They could have LED the transition to green energy. Instead they STILL only give lip service to it. Even as they realize the FF industries are on their way out. Bears repeating, tho!
Warm air masses in the atmosphere rise upward, causing cooler air from neighboring areas, sometimes from the arctic, to rush in. This is how atmospheric heat powers storms. In other words, global warming causes colder, more intense winter storms. www.scientificamerican.com/article/exxo...
Exxon's Own Models Predicted Global Warming--It Ignored Them
Scientists working for the oil giant Exxon in the 1970s and 1980s estimated temperature increases with remarkable accuracy. Those findings could now be used as evidence in climate litigation
www.scientificamerican.com
February 1, 2026 at 6:15 PM
Reposted by Paul van Brakel
‘In the end, the potato campaign may have bitten off more than it can chew. Only about 200 tonnes — 5 per cent of the planned 4,000 tonnes — have been delivered to Berlin as of January 27.’

Great piece showing even giving away potatoes is a big logistical challenge!
www.ft.com/content/1554...
‘Das glut’: why Germans are handing out free potatoes
Tracking the ambitious plan to distribute 4 million kg of surplus spuds
www.ft.com
February 1, 2026 at 11:31 AM
Silver Tsunami not only affecting driving safety but democratic safety. Over 75 your day is done get out, vote em out.
Yeah we're talking about you Trump, Modi, Winston...
#nzpol
Much of the U.S. is not prepared for the influx of people getting older, living longer but aging out of driving. We need to enact policies that make our communities less dependent on people driving themselves around to simply live.

usa.streetsblog.org/2026/01/15/a...
A 'Demographic Time Bomb' Is About To Go Off — And the Transportation Sector Isn't Ready — Streetsblog USA
A top firm is warning that the "silver tsunami" will have big implications for the climate, unless U.S. communities act fast.
usa.streetsblog.org
February 1, 2026 at 5:05 PM
..the elevated platinum concentrations lasted for 14 years, suggesting a prolonged [volcanic] event rather than an instantaneous asteroid or comet impact...
#Greenland
February 1, 2026 at 4:14 PM
Trumplestlitskin, Winston van Wrinkle, and Shame of Toad Hall after deep-sea minerals for renewables they all call woke and don't believe in is about as a mad as a bag of hammers!
#nzpol
February 1, 2026 at 8:03 AM
Nice use of taxpayers money Brooke but then I guess as you stabbed your sex in the back with your pay equity bill you'll easily make it back by theft with accolades from Willis no doubt an accessory...Election 26
#nzpol
$150,000 road cone hotline an 'absurd' waste www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
$150,000 road cone hotline an 'absurd' waste of public money - Labour
A WorkSafe review found excessive use of cones at just 6 percent of the 250 sites inspected.
www.rnz.co.nz
January 31, 2026 at 6:24 PM
Goin' through the motions, ay Luxon
Reminds me of the chorus of an ol Elvis Costello number

🎶Lip service is all you'll ever get from me🎶
#nzpol
Not all heroes wear capes 👇
Hope the fire guy doesn’t get in trouble but 🤣🤣🤣🤣😊🤣😊😊😊🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 (watch the fire guy at the end)
January 31, 2026 at 3:09 PM
Remember what you're voting for in November #Aotearoa #NewZealand
Insects declining at 2% per year
Climate tipping
AMOC slowing
#biodiversity
#nzpol
January 31, 2026 at 8:09 AM
C'mon Mark Mitchell or a vet.
Rabid dogs need to be controlled
#nzpol
January 30, 2026 at 11:17 PM
Place your bets... next ex TC hitting AoNZ in the climate casino?
My bet is placed on mid Feb
SSTs are up, see anomaly map, possible break in blocking highs and disagree that La Nina has finished with us...
#AGW
January 30, 2026 at 7:50 PM
Reposted by Paul van Brakel
Imagine how much deeper the NO2 reductions would be if we ban gas powered lawn mowers and leaf blowers ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/top...
January 30, 2026 at 6:18 PM
Reposted by Paul van Brakel
Strong gap winds develop downwind of the isthmus of Tehuantepec in southern Mexico, and also downwind of mountain gaps in Nicaragua and Panama
January 30, 2026 at 6:42 PM
This outlines the staggering effect of food system losses mainly from TCs from AGW.
Worth a read AoNZ Ag and CC ministers McLay & Watts incl the section on mitigation but guess like your leader you got this covered and are sorted...?
#nzpol
January 30, 2026 at 6:17 PM
C'mon @chrishipkins.bsky.social ! You've been handed the ammo now blow Winston's War on Woke Wankery out of the water...
#nzpol
Winston: “New Zealand recognises the leadership of the United States, in close coordination with nations from the region, on advancing peace in Gaza. We see a role for the Board of Peace in Gaza”

That would be funny if the situation wasdn't so serious.

#nzpol
January 29, 2026 at 9:20 PM
Reposted by Paul van Brakel
Once victims of the South Korean dog meat trade, these pups are now safe, loved and well on their way to the lives they deserve.
January 29, 2026 at 6:20 PM
Reposted by Paul van Brakel
⛰️ A call to strengthen protection for seamounts and vulnerable deep-sea ecosystems.

🔗 Learn more and add your support:
👉 stateoftheocean.org/seamountspro...
Scientists Call for Urgent Protection of Deep-Sea Ecosystems
Join scientists in calling for immediate action for full implementation of existing commitments to protect deep-sea biodiversity.
stateoftheocean.org
January 29, 2026 at 4:16 PM
"creates the low-oxygen, high-nutrient conditions that are ideal for the production of potent greenhouse gases methane and nitrous oxide – both of which warm the atmosphere considerably more than CO₂."
#ClimateCrisis
January 29, 2026 at 6:27 PM
Reposted by Paul van Brakel
What we know we don’t know: impacts of deep-sea mining on whales, dolphins, sharks, turtles, and other migratory species www.southernfriedscience.com/what-we-know...
What we know we don’t know: impacts of deep-sea mining on whales, dolphins, sharks, turtles, and other migratory species.
Migratory species depend on a vast, interconnected ocean. Disturbance in the deep-sea isn’t localized, it ripples across a globally-connected ocean and impacts made today may persist long aft…
www.southernfriedscience.com
January 29, 2026 at 5:57 PM
Reposted by Paul van Brakel
More footage that would be at home in a disaster movie
[India] Night of terror in Sonamarg: Avalanche roars down amid relentless snowfall > www.msn.com/en-gb/video/... #FossilFuels #SevereWeather #Storm #Avalanche #Sonamarg #India
January 28, 2026 at 6:31 PM
Remember #AoNZ how here the healthy homes standard bill got blocked by National but passed by Labour when they came to power in 2017 as National seeks re-election later this year. Note how PM Luxon has tried taking the spotlight off him by selling his houses last year #nzpol #landlords
January 28, 2026 at 5:25 PM
How will you control the narrative of this inconvenient truth as you run up to the election Mr Luxon?
#ClimateCrisis #nzpol #methane
#flooding#landslides

Insurer temporarily halts new policies in Westport due to flood risk www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
Insurer temporarily halts new policies in Westport due to flood risk
AA Insurance's decision will be the first of many as the full force of climate change arrives in New Zealand, one researcher says.
www.rnz.co.nz
January 28, 2026 at 5:10 PM
"Animal-washing: celebrating animals in imagery while sidelining them in policy." Those 60,000 penguins yep we (all of us) killed em. Life is precious and we are not alone.
#ClimateCrisis #biodiversity
January 28, 2026 at 4:20 PM
2nd time we've seen a Puriri moth at our place 'scuse the quality it was moving and wouldn't say cheese
Oh and I was rescuing it so not deliberately handling it
#biodiversity
January 28, 2026 at 2:16 AM