Ruth Mottram
ruthmottram.bsky.social
Ruth Mottram
@ruthmottram.bsky.social
Climate scientist at DMI, Greenland, Antarctica, polar regions in general.
Dipping a toe in yet another social media site. Mostly on mastodon though @ruth_mottram@fediscience.org
Blogging at sternaparadisaea.net
Pinned
The first step in the ~14,500 km journey (as the crow flies) to Wasa was a taxi to the airport. The second is a flight to Oslo*.
It's masks on time.

*Yes, this #fieldwork involves *a lot* of carbon. Let's hope the data is worth it...

sternaparadisaea.net/2025/12/11/h...
Heading South
Tomorrow, I’m heading south, though more correctly, I’m first heading north to head south. Fieldwork in Antarctica starts next week..
sternaparadisaea.net
Reposted by Ruth Mottram
Der er også gode nyheder fra morgenstunden! 🥳
www.dr.dk/nyheder/sene...
Københavns Kommune dropper X | Nyheder | DR
Københavns Kommune er nu helt ude af det sociale medie X.
www.dr.dk
January 9, 2026 at 6:16 AM
Reposted by Ruth Mottram
Time to stop writing articles about the "security" or "economic" reasons to capture Greenland, they are irrelevant
Not everyone believed me when I wrote that Trump wants Greenland becuase it would make him feel important, but that's what he told the NYT:

When asked why he needed to possess the territory, he said: “Because that’s what I feel is psychologically needed for success"
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/08/u...
Trump Lays Out a Vision of Power Restrained Only by ‘My Own Morality’
www.nytimes.com
January 9, 2026 at 7:18 AM
Reposted by Ruth Mottram
The US has some of the world’s best climate scientists (and more of them than anywhere else) & has contributed disproportionately to understanding the climate system. It’s idiotic for the US to withdraw from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change & the IPCC but it’s on brand for this regime.
Withdrawing the United States from International Organizations, Conventions, and Treaties that Are Contrary to the Interests of the United States
MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United
www.whitehouse.gov
January 8, 2026 at 8:40 AM
Reposted by Ruth Mottram
Baseaftalen med USA

Husk, at den er uopsigelig i 10 år

#dkpol
January 8, 2026 at 8:41 AM
Reposted by Ruth Mottram
The digital euro that Europe urgently needs ft.trib.al/WETYIgG | opinion
The digital euro that Europe urgently needs
A tokenised version of the EU’s currency for wholesale use would bring big benefits
ft.trib.al
January 7, 2026 at 5:35 AM
Reposted by Ruth Mottram
The EU needs to send a very strong message to the US that niceties are over. Disconnecting X would be a good start.
January 7, 2026 at 7:11 AM
Reposted by Ruth Mottram
Another Danish guy gets it.
There’s a lot of talk about whether Denmark would/cpuld “defend” Greenland against a hypothetical US invasion.

FFS

That’s not the real question. The real issue is whether Denmark would ask the EU for Russia‑level sanctions — and whether the EU would do it.
Both yes.
1/n
January 7, 2026 at 5:52 AM
Reposted by Ruth Mottram
I know nothing about municipal services in Berlin. But something like that would be rare, indeed almost unthinkable in Ukrainian cities whose old, underfunded infrastructure is being bombed, shelled, targeted by drones and hit by missiles on a daily basis. State capacity has many faces, here's one
Incredible how little attention this is getting outside Germany. "In its third full day, a ... power failure in Berlin resulting from an arson attack...tens of thousands...making do without heat, electricity, cellphone service & warm food or drinks." www.nytimes.com/2026/01/05/w...
Thousands in Berlin Go Days Without Power and Cell Service After Cables Are Set on Fire
www.nytimes.com
January 6, 2026 at 5:40 PM
Reposted by Ruth Mottram
Dear prospective entomology retirees,

We have plenty of bench space in the UT insect collection, and a great deal of work that needs doing. Half of our volunteer workforce is already retired biologists, come join us! Retire!
👀

“If you are a 75-year-old professor reading this, now would be a good time to take emeritus status. It’s something that a lot of people could do that would contribute enormously. The job market for young people would be in much better shape if most people over 75 retired.”
January 6, 2026 at 9:54 PM
Reposted by Ruth Mottram
New year, new paper out in JGR:Oceans! Led by PhD Candidate Madeline Mamer - she updates a 40-year old theory for the rate of iceberg erosion by waves, to include the effect of local ocean stratification by meltwater ❄️🥼🧊🌊 doi.org/10.1029/2025...
Buoyancy Feedbacks on Wave‐Induced Melting of Icebergs
Buoyant convection from wave-induced melting acts to shield icebergs from warm seawater, reducing wave-induced melting Parameterizations that do not include realistic depth-dependent wave velocit...
doi.org
January 6, 2026 at 4:21 PM
You guys?

I get back to internet after 3 days in the field in Antarctica and this is going on?

What the actual hell? 😲

www.dr.dk/nyheder/indl...
'Ingen vil dø for Grønland': Danmark står alene ved et amerikansk angreb, siger eksperter | Grønland | DR
Det er 'game over', hvis det skulle komme så langt. Det er der dog intet, der tyder på lige nu, lyder det.
www.dr.dk
January 6, 2026 at 9:57 PM
Reposted by Ruth Mottram
The EU and UK should shut down X just as they shut down RT - and in fact I think it is likely that they will eventually. The question is, how much damage will be done by then?
January 5, 2026 at 4:54 PM
I ended up using kdenlive on my laptop which worked fine, though @joinpeertube.org app now has a creator mode!

Now on my @icesheets_climate@tilvids.com channel on #peertube showing just one of many things we're working on here for #iQ2300, @precise-project.bsky.social + @oceaniceeu.bsky.social
January 3, 2026 at 12:56 PM
Reposted by Ruth Mottram
Vores forståelse for demokrati fortæller at vi kan fjerne statsledere, der ikke passer os, for at tvinge folk til at vælge de personer vi ønsker…
January 3, 2026 at 10:37 AM
Waiting for weather + would love to spend some time prepping some short video clips (very rough -> don't expect BBC style nature documentaries!) I've made.

Recommendations for easy + ideally #FOSS apps for video editing on an android phone?
Don't mind paying but data security/privacy essential.
January 3, 2026 at 10:39 AM
Reposted by Ruth Mottram
So, what is this about?

After some 400 years, Denmark's state-run postal service PostNord will end letter deliveries at the end of 2025. This also means that all 1,500 remaining post boxes will disappear from the streets: group.postnord.com/news-media/2...
March 21, 2025 at 11:08 AM
Reposted by Ruth Mottram
Ex-Meta chief AI scientist Yann LeCun has Lunch with the FT and in one of those instances so rare that you know he didn't sign an NDA, says exactly why as.ft.com/r/e503690d-8...
January 2, 2026 at 1:32 PM
Reposted by Ruth Mottram
A picture is worth 1000 words...

This appeared on the BBC News today, showing the increase in solar electric generation in the UK.

Not sure who produced it, but genuinely think this is a genius piece of scientific communication - the construct and choice of colour scale is near-perfect.

Chapeau!
January 2, 2026 at 4:53 PM
I'm posting my #FieldworkPhotos on pixelfed - there's no ads, tracking or algorithm and you don't need to log in to see pics.

It's also rather refreshing that the app doesn't try to grip you with dark patterns so you end up staring at your phone instead of who/where you are.
#GoodbyeMeta
January 2, 2026 at 7:00 PM
Computer scientist Yann LeCun: ‘Intelligence really is about learning’ - giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... via @FT
https://giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/actions/redeem/56c46ea8-e1d8-45ff-ab32-4dcd4c93be8d
giftarticle.ft.com
January 2, 2026 at 6:01 PM
Reposted by Ruth Mottram
Danmark Skifter er et fremragende initiativ.

Jeg tror imidlertid også, at vi har behov for et initiativ målrettet erhverv (“Danmark Skifter Erhverv”), da der er brug for øget opmærksomhed i forhold til de logikker, vi temmelig blindt og naivt stadigvæk lader os styre af.

danmarkskifter.dk
Danmark Skifter
Vær med i kampagnen. Vind fede præmier og bliv inspireret af andre, der allerede har taget et digitalt skift.
danmarkskifter.dk
January 2, 2026 at 11:03 AM
Reposted by Ruth Mottram
📢 GRISO Summer School 2026 | Nuuk, Greenland 🇬🇱

Applications now open for the Greenland Ice Sheet–Ocean Science (GRISO)Summer School (May 18–29, 2026).
For advanced PhD students & early postdocs.

🗓 Deadline: Jan 21, 2026
🔗 griso.ucsd.edu/griso-summer...
GRISO Summer School 2026 – A Collaborative Future: Strengthening Science and Connections in Greenland | GReenland Ice Sheet-Ocean interactions
griso.ucsd.edu
December 31, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Reposted by Ruth Mottram
Det lyder da som et sejt initiativ. Det er rigtigt, at jo flere, der skifter væk fra Big Tech samtidig, jo bedre.
Tak, @astridhaug.bsky.social , Peter Svarre og Pernille Tranbjerg
In case you're looking for an alternative New Year resolution, Denmark has a new people's movement: Danmark skifter, Denmark switches, which aims to help people regain focus, change their social media habits and get off US big tech platforms.

Here's their English website

danmarkskifter.dk/en/
About Danmark Skifter
42% of Danes want to try new alternatives to Big Tech. 68% would like to reduce their screen time. But far fewer act on it. Together, we can change that. What is Danmark Skifter? Danmark Skifter is...
danmarkskifter.dk
January 1, 2026 at 3:22 PM