Lyle Lewis
@race2extinct.bsky.social
My book “Racing To Extinction” analyzes the imminent disappearance of humanity through the lens of my 30+ years as an ecologist with federal environmental agencies in the U.S.
https://race2extinct.com
https://race2extinct.com
Pinned
Since European colonization, North America has lost 9–11 billion birds.
• ~5–6 billion before 1940
• ~1–2 billion from 1940–1970
• ~2.9 billion since 1970
The quiet collapse of abundance is how the Sixth Mass Extinction is playing out: fewer wings, fewer songs.
• ~5–6 billion before 1940
• ~1–2 billion from 1940–1970
• ~2.9 billion since 1970
The quiet collapse of abundance is how the Sixth Mass Extinction is playing out: fewer wings, fewer songs.
Reposted by Lyle Lewis
When Trump delisted wolves in his first term, 200 were killed in just 72 hours.
December 25, 2025 at 11:04 PM
When Trump delisted wolves in his first term, 200 were killed in just 72 hours.
The best Christmas decorations are the ones that don’t need to be taken down: Golden-crowned kinglet, high-elevation forest.
Merry Christmas! 🎄
Merry Christmas! 🎄
December 25, 2025 at 2:34 PM
The best Christmas decorations are the ones that don’t need to be taken down: Golden-crowned kinglet, high-elevation forest.
Merry Christmas! 🎄
Merry Christmas! 🎄
Reposted by Lyle Lewis
Switzerland and Austria pride themselves re how clean their streets are compared to other European countries.
They are just better at hiding bad things. They do not produce less bad things. On the contrary.
They are just better at hiding bad things. They do not produce less bad things. On the contrary.
We treat littering like a character flaw. That framing was engineered.
If litter is your fault, no one asks why everything is designed to be thrown away.
www.currentaffairs.org/news/the-sin...
If litter is your fault, no one asks why everything is designed to be thrown away.
www.currentaffairs.org/news/the-sin...
How Corporations Convinced America that Litter is Our Fault
The "Keep America Beautiful" campaign urged Americans to pick up their trash—so that companies could keep producing it.
www.currentaffairs.org
December 24, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Switzerland and Austria pride themselves re how clean their streets are compared to other European countries.
They are just better at hiding bad things. They do not produce less bad things. On the contrary.
They are just better at hiding bad things. They do not produce less bad things. On the contrary.
Reposted by Lyle Lewis
When my son was three we were at a park. He saw a man eating lunch, and dropping his trash on the ground.
My kid saw it, ran over, picked it up handed it back saying,"You dropped this and littering makes mother earth cry."
The guy sheepishly walked away clutching his trash.
My kid saw it, ran over, picked it up handed it back saying,"You dropped this and littering makes mother earth cry."
The guy sheepishly walked away clutching his trash.
December 24, 2025 at 1:34 PM
When my son was three we were at a park. He saw a man eating lunch, and dropping his trash on the ground.
My kid saw it, ran over, picked it up handed it back saying,"You dropped this and littering makes mother earth cry."
The guy sheepishly walked away clutching his trash.
My kid saw it, ran over, picked it up handed it back saying,"You dropped this and littering makes mother earth cry."
The guy sheepishly walked away clutching his trash.
We treat littering like a character flaw. That framing was engineered.
If litter is your fault, no one asks why everything is designed to be thrown away.
www.currentaffairs.org/news/the-sin...
If litter is your fault, no one asks why everything is designed to be thrown away.
www.currentaffairs.org/news/the-sin...
How Corporations Convinced America that Litter is Our Fault
The "Keep America Beautiful" campaign urged Americans to pick up their trash—so that companies could keep producing it.
www.currentaffairs.org
December 24, 2025 at 1:13 PM
We treat littering like a character flaw. That framing was engineered.
If litter is your fault, no one asks why everything is designed to be thrown away.
www.currentaffairs.org/news/the-sin...
If litter is your fault, no one asks why everything is designed to be thrown away.
www.currentaffairs.org/news/the-sin...
When rivers turn orange and glaciers destabilize entire watersheds, it’s tempting to call it “rapid change.”
Ecologically speaking, it’s debt coming due.
apple.news/AdhN6h9q8She...
Ecologically speaking, it’s debt coming due.
apple.news/AdhN6h9q8She...
Orange rivers and melting glaciers: federal report shows rapid change in the Arctic — NPR
This year's Arctic Report Card from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration finds that the northernmost part of the Earth is warming faster than the global average, leading to melting glac...
apple.news
December 24, 2025 at 12:45 PM
When rivers turn orange and glaciers destabilize entire watersheds, it’s tempting to call it “rapid change.”
Ecologically speaking, it’s debt coming due.
apple.news/AdhN6h9q8She...
Ecologically speaking, it’s debt coming due.
apple.news/AdhN6h9q8She...
Reposted by Lyle Lewis
“ the UK can only grow food
for 21 million people & there are 66
million of us living here so the
majority of our food is grown in other
parts of the world using other people's
land & water. so I'm wondering if buying beans can be a cause of habitat loss & animal suffering “ youtu.be/CM0C9doEZY8?...
for 21 million people & there are 66
million of us living here so the
majority of our food is grown in other
parts of the world using other people's
land & water. so I'm wondering if buying beans can be a cause of habitat loss & animal suffering “ youtu.be/CM0C9doEZY8?...
Space to Live
YouTube video by Space to Live
youtu.be
December 22, 2025 at 4:42 AM
“ the UK can only grow food
for 21 million people & there are 66
million of us living here so the
majority of our food is grown in other
parts of the world using other people's
land & water. so I'm wondering if buying beans can be a cause of habitat loss & animal suffering “ youtu.be/CM0C9doEZY8?...
for 21 million people & there are 66
million of us living here so the
majority of our food is grown in other
parts of the world using other people's
land & water. so I'm wondering if buying beans can be a cause of habitat loss & animal suffering “ youtu.be/CM0C9doEZY8?...
Ordering old coal plants to stay online is institutional inertia pretending to be realism.
apple.news/AQ6P7GZTVTaW...
apple.news/AQ6P7GZTVTaW...
Trump’s energy secretary orders a Washington state coal plant to remain open — Ars Technica
Chris Wright declared an energy “emergency” in the Pacific Northwest.
apple.news
December 23, 2025 at 12:58 PM
Ordering old coal plants to stay online is institutional inertia pretending to be realism.
apple.news/AQ6P7GZTVTaW...
apple.news/AQ6P7GZTVTaW...
When demand exceeds supply, solutions stop existing.
The Colorado River isn’t facing a management problem. It’s facing a biophysical one.
We can negotiate scarcity, but we can’t negotiate water that isn’t there.
apple.news/A7WBOTvnyQQm...
The Colorado River isn’t facing a management problem. It’s facing a biophysical one.
We can negotiate scarcity, but we can’t negotiate water that isn’t there.
apple.news/A7WBOTvnyQQm...
The Colorado River is on the verge of crisis. No one has a solution. — The Washington Post
The Colorado River faces a crisis as seven states struggle to agree on water-sharing rules.
apple.news
December 23, 2025 at 12:31 AM
When demand exceeds supply, solutions stop existing.
The Colorado River isn’t facing a management problem. It’s facing a biophysical one.
We can negotiate scarcity, but we can’t negotiate water that isn’t there.
apple.news/A7WBOTvnyQQm...
The Colorado River isn’t facing a management problem. It’s facing a biophysical one.
We can negotiate scarcity, but we can’t negotiate water that isn’t there.
apple.news/A7WBOTvnyQQm...
Large infrastructure rarely fails suddenly. It fails quietly, slowly, and then all at once….long after the decision-makers have moved on.
apple.news/AhS6E-LJgSda...
apple.news/AhS6E-LJgSda...
Few have seen this dam deep in the mountains — but many believe it could kill them — The Washington Post
Climate change threatens to push the world’s infrastructure to a breaking point.
apple.news
December 22, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Large infrastructure rarely fails suddenly. It fails quietly, slowly, and then all at once….long after the decision-makers have moved on.
apple.news/AhS6E-LJgSda...
apple.news/AhS6E-LJgSda...
When environmental law is framed as “trapping us in the past,” what’s really being said is that ecological limits are inconvenient to growth.
NEPA doesn’t stop damage. It slows it enough to be seen. That’s what bothers people.
apple.news/AtPFVjg7kRk2...
NEPA doesn’t stop damage. It slows it enough to be seen. That’s what bothers people.
apple.news/AtPFVjg7kRk2...
Opinion | The law that is trapping America in the past — The Washington Post
NEPA’s review process delays desperately needed infrastructure projects for years.
apple.news
December 21, 2025 at 12:29 PM
When environmental law is framed as “trapping us in the past,” what’s really being said is that ecological limits are inconvenient to growth.
NEPA doesn’t stop damage. It slows it enough to be seen. That’s what bothers people.
apple.news/AtPFVjg7kRk2...
NEPA doesn’t stop damage. It slows it enough to be seen. That’s what bothers people.
apple.news/AtPFVjg7kRk2...
This isn’t good news. Turning microplastics into nanoplastics likely accelerates its entry into food webs and tissues.
Adaptation ≠ remediation.
news.exeter.ac.uk/faculty-of-h...
Adaptation ≠ remediation.
news.exeter.ac.uk/faculty-of-h...
Fiddler crabs found to hoover up and break down microplastic particles
New research has found that Fiddler crabs are playing an unheralded role when it comes to hoovering up microplastics found in the world’s mangrove forests and salt marshes. Scientists studying a thriv...
news.exeter.ac.uk
December 20, 2025 at 5:48 PM
This isn’t good news. Turning microplastics into nanoplastics likely accelerates its entry into food webs and tissues.
Adaptation ≠ remediation.
news.exeter.ac.uk/faculty-of-h...
Adaptation ≠ remediation.
news.exeter.ac.uk/faculty-of-h...
The fossil record preserves bones, not biodiversity.
But extinction happens at the scale of bacteria, fungi, mosses, microfauna, parasites, soil invertebrates.
Entire kingdoms of life disappear without leaving a mark.
But extinction happens at the scale of bacteria, fungi, mosses, microfauna, parasites, soil invertebrates.
Entire kingdoms of life disappear without leaving a mark.
December 20, 2025 at 2:01 PM
The fossil record preserves bones, not biodiversity.
But extinction happens at the scale of bacteria, fungi, mosses, microfauna, parasites, soil invertebrates.
Entire kingdoms of life disappear without leaving a mark.
But extinction happens at the scale of bacteria, fungi, mosses, microfauna, parasites, soil invertebrates.
Entire kingdoms of life disappear without leaving a mark.
I wish cutting a young tree was the worst thing park visitors did.
Litter, human and dog feces, carved initials, harassed wildlife; all now routine in many parks.
www.thecooldown.com/outdoors/alg...
Litter, human and dog feces, carved initials, harassed wildlife; all now routine in many parks.
www.thecooldown.com/outdoors/alg...
Concerned hiker shares photo of disturbing discovery at campsite: 'This makes me rage'
One national park visitor raised concerns after finding a recently chopped young tree while on their hike.
www.thecooldown.com
December 20, 2025 at 5:48 AM
I wish cutting a young tree was the worst thing park visitors did.
Litter, human and dog feces, carved initials, harassed wildlife; all now routine in many parks.
www.thecooldown.com/outdoors/alg...
Litter, human and dog feces, carved initials, harassed wildlife; all now routine in many parks.
www.thecooldown.com/outdoors/alg...
Animals affect ecosystems within ecological limits. Industrial systems override them.
No animal flattens mountaintops, fragments watersheds, mines globally, & redistributes materials at planetary scale.
Invoking animals normalizes impacts that are categorically different in magnitude & permanence.
No animal flattens mountaintops, fragments watersheds, mines globally, & redistributes materials at planetary scale.
Invoking animals normalizes impacts that are categorically different in magnitude & permanence.
December 19, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Animals affect ecosystems within ecological limits. Industrial systems override them.
No animal flattens mountaintops, fragments watersheds, mines globally, & redistributes materials at planetary scale.
Invoking animals normalizes impacts that are categorically different in magnitude & permanence.
No animal flattens mountaintops, fragments watersheds, mines globally, & redistributes materials at planetary scale.
Invoking animals normalizes impacts that are categorically different in magnitude & permanence.
In arid and semi-arid systems, rare rain events do most of the ecological work. Runoff timing, infiltration, sheet flow, and soil crusts matter more, not less, because recovery windows are narrow.
Small changes in surface roughness or compaction can have outsized effects.
Small changes in surface roughness or compaction can have outsized effects.
I don’t think this area of china see significant rainfall. So your hydrological assumptions may be incorrect.
December 19, 2025 at 10:10 PM
In arid and semi-arid systems, rare rain events do most of the ecological work. Runoff timing, infiltration, sheet flow, and soil crusts matter more, not less, because recovery windows are narrow.
Small changes in surface roughness or compaction can have outsized effects.
Small changes in surface roughness or compaction can have outsized effects.
Comparing solar to oil spills sets the bar at catastrophe.
Yes, Deepwater Horizon and Exxon Valdez were horrific. But the goal of climate action isn’t to be less destructive than disasters. It’s to stop normalizing ongoing habitat loss as acceptable collateral.
Yes, Deepwater Horizon and Exxon Valdez were horrific. But the goal of climate action isn’t to be less destructive than disasters. It’s to stop normalizing ongoing habitat loss as acceptable collateral.
Try to understand how tiny this amount of land is.
Will there be negative impacts? Yep of course, but how does it compare to the positive impacts?
How does it compare to power generation using fossil fuels?
Or to Deepwater Horizon, Exxon Valdez?
I think it's net positive.
Will there be negative impacts? Yep of course, but how does it compare to the positive impacts?
How does it compare to power generation using fossil fuels?
Or to Deepwater Horizon, Exxon Valdez?
I think it's net positive.
December 19, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Comparing solar to oil spills sets the bar at catastrophe.
Yes, Deepwater Horizon and Exxon Valdez were horrific. But the goal of climate action isn’t to be less destructive than disasters. It’s to stop normalizing ongoing habitat loss as acceptable collateral.
Yes, Deepwater Horizon and Exxon Valdez were horrific. But the goal of climate action isn’t to be less destructive than disasters. It’s to stop normalizing ongoing habitat loss as acceptable collateral.
Agriculture alters land. That’s exactly why farming is one of the primary historical drivers of biodiversity loss.
Pointing out that solar resembles agriculture in its impacts isn’t a defense of solar; it’s a warning about repeating the same land-use mistake under a different banner.
Pointing out that solar resembles agriculture in its impacts isn’t a defense of solar; it’s a warning about repeating the same land-use mistake under a different banner.
December 19, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Agriculture alters land. That’s exactly why farming is one of the primary historical drivers of biodiversity loss.
Pointing out that solar resembles agriculture in its impacts isn’t a defense of solar; it’s a warning about repeating the same land-use mistake under a different banner.
Pointing out that solar resembles agriculture in its impacts isn’t a defense of solar; it’s a warning about repeating the same land-use mistake under a different banner.
“Better than coal” is not the same as “good for ecosystems.”
Climate solutions that erase habitat still erase habitat, even if the emissions math looks better.
Climate solutions that erase habitat still erase habitat, even if the emissions math looks better.
December 19, 2025 at 6:44 PM
“Better than coal” is not the same as “good for ecosystems.”
Climate solutions that erase habitat still erase habitat, even if the emissions math looks better.
Climate solutions that erase habitat still erase habitat, even if the emissions math looks better.
Plants don’t “love” shade.
Some tolerate it. Others require sun, wind, and disturbance.
Replacing an ecosystem with a few shade-tolerant species isn’t restoration. It’s simplification.
Some tolerate it. Others require sun, wind, and disturbance.
Replacing an ecosystem with a few shade-tolerant species isn’t restoration. It’s simplification.
December 19, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Plants don’t “love” shade.
Some tolerate it. Others require sun, wind, and disturbance.
Replacing an ecosystem with a few shade-tolerant species isn’t restoration. It’s simplification.
Some tolerate it. Others require sun, wind, and disturbance.
Replacing an ecosystem with a few shade-tolerant species isn’t restoration. It’s simplification.
Calling ecological limits “ecofascism” is a way to avoid engaging with biophysics.
Industrial solar is not morally neutral just because it’s branded green.
It has land, mineral, water, and biodiversity costs…and scale matters.
Pretending growth can be powered forever is ideology, not ecology.
Industrial solar is not morally neutral just because it’s branded green.
It has land, mineral, water, and biodiversity costs…and scale matters.
Pretending growth can be powered forever is ideology, not ecology.
It may feel like you're fighting for good left-wing values, I get it, but what you're arguing for is ecofascim. All 8.2B people are in this together, we have enough resources to share for now and the future if we work together. We must work together. Solar is but one step on the path to that future.
![In his book "Ecofascismo", the political scientist Carlos Taibo characterises the phenomenon as a response to crises brought about by climate change. The ecofascist solution is to "[P]reserve increasingly scarce resources for a select minority. And to marginalize – in the mildest version – and exterminate – in the harshest – what are seen as surplus populations, on a planet that has visibly exceeded its limits."[39] Crucially, Taibo argues that far from being circumscribed to the margins of right-wing extremism, which traditionally has mostly been associated with Climate change denial, ecofascist notions are likely to be pursued by "political forces we usually label as liberal and social-democratic", emerging within major centers of power in the west and among elites in the developing world.[40] From this perspective, the antecedents of ecofascism, extending beyond ecological currents in fascist movements of the past, would be ideologies typical of Western colonialism, returning in modernised forms.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:jrg3d5jpvxgpxsycne6dvx5r/bafkreidfusrsdfidkte4ars55v5pzrfhjhrpo4p7skwo6dbescunhbjh5e@jpeg)
December 19, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Calling ecological limits “ecofascism” is a way to avoid engaging with biophysics.
Industrial solar is not morally neutral just because it’s branded green.
It has land, mineral, water, and biodiversity costs…and scale matters.
Pretending growth can be powered forever is ideology, not ecology.
Industrial solar is not morally neutral just because it’s branded green.
It has land, mineral, water, and biodiversity costs…and scale matters.
Pretending growth can be powered forever is ideology, not ecology.
Wolves don’t stalk schoolyards. Folklore does.
www.activenorcal.com/wolf-sightin...
www.activenorcal.com/wolf-sightin...
Wolf Sightings Near Siskiyou County Elementary School Prompt School Safety Measures
Wolf activity reported near Little Shasta Elementary School prompted increased monitoring and safety measures this week.
www.activenorcal.com
December 19, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Wolves don’t stalk schoolyards. Folklore does.
www.activenorcal.com/wolf-sightin...
www.activenorcal.com/wolf-sightin...
People see carbon reduction. Watersheds see concentrated runoff, compacted soils, erosion, and broken headwaters.
Solar panels on steep ridges rewire hydrology. Calling this “low impact” only works if you don’t look downhill.
🧵
Solar panels on steep ridges rewire hydrology. Calling this “low impact” only works if you don’t look downhill.
🧵
December 18, 2025 at 11:28 PM
People see carbon reduction. Watersheds see concentrated runoff, compacted soils, erosion, and broken headwaters.
Solar panels on steep ridges rewire hydrology. Calling this “low impact” only works if you don’t look downhill.
🧵
Solar panels on steep ridges rewire hydrology. Calling this “low impact” only works if you don’t look downhill.
🧵
Science Talk
youtu.be/3kcOYHS3yBY?...
youtu.be/3kcOYHS3yBY?...
Greenland Ice Sheet I Life on A Little-Known Planet I The Biggest Threat to Biodiversity and Planet
YouTube video by Science Talk
youtu.be
December 18, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Science Talk
youtu.be/3kcOYHS3yBY?...
youtu.be/3kcOYHS3yBY?...
Reposted by Lyle Lewis
And loss of birds in turn, affect trees and other plants.
We are all connected.
Bird Losses Hinder Plants’ Adaptation to Climate Change | Living Bird | All About Birds share.google/OGfcatXwXdZO...
We are all connected.
Bird Losses Hinder Plants’ Adaptation to Climate Change | Living Bird | All About Birds share.google/OGfcatXwXdZO...
Bird Losses Hinder Plants’ Adaptation to Climate Change
From the Spring 2022 issue of Living Bird magazine. Subscribe now.
More than half of plant species on Earth rely on animals to disperse their seeds. New research published in the journal Science in J...
share.google
December 18, 2025 at 1:31 PM
And loss of birds in turn, affect trees and other plants.
We are all connected.
Bird Losses Hinder Plants’ Adaptation to Climate Change | Living Bird | All About Birds share.google/OGfcatXwXdZO...
We are all connected.
Bird Losses Hinder Plants’ Adaptation to Climate Change | Living Bird | All About Birds share.google/OGfcatXwXdZO...