Craig Welch
@craigwelch.bsky.social
Writer tracking climate and more. Mediocre trail runner. Soccer nut. Priors: senior staff writer at National Geographic. Also: Seattle Times, Jackson Hole News. https://www.linkedin.com/in/craig-welch/
Pinned
Craig Welch
@craigwelch.bsky.social
· Oct 21
Rising Seas Are Wiping Out Some Older Americans’ Futures
As more older Americans move to the coasts, rising seas are wiping out their homes — and retirement dreams.
www.aarp.org
I met Martha Shaw, 84, a year after she lost everything in a hurricane.
That was 3 hurricanes ago.
When editors ask if you’d report/write a lengthy narrative to help 38 *million* readers better understand #climatechange you do it.
My special project for AARP magazine www.aarp.org/home-family/...
That was 3 hurricanes ago.
When editors ask if you’d report/write a lengthy narrative to help 38 *million* readers better understand #climatechange you do it.
My special project for AARP magazine www.aarp.org/home-family/...
On the way to a 6 am ferry two years ago today. I sure do love this city.
November 7, 2025 at 4:36 PM
On the way to a 6 am ferry two years ago today. I sure do love this city.
It’s that time of year, again.
Went on a long run in a local park yesterday. Rained so much and wind blew so hard, I’d swear it was 20 degrees colder by the time I finished. I know I sure was.
Went on a long run in a local park yesterday. Rained so much and wind blew so hard, I’d swear it was 20 degrees colder by the time I finished. I know I sure was.
October 27, 2025 at 2:09 AM
It’s that time of year, again.
Went on a long run in a local park yesterday. Rained so much and wind blew so hard, I’d swear it was 20 degrees colder by the time I finished. I know I sure was.
Went on a long run in a local park yesterday. Rained so much and wind blew so hard, I’d swear it was 20 degrees colder by the time I finished. I know I sure was.
Trump now says he's opening the #ArcticNationalWildlifeRefuge to oil drilling. In the past, new presidents have reversed course before any damage is done. It's not clear that will happen this time. Here's a stunning look at the stakes w/text by me from 2021 www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/...
Pictures of ANWR (Arctic National Wildlife Refuge) in Alaska, From Wildlife to Scenery, Now Threatened by Oil Drilling
President Trump signed a tax bill Friday that includes a provision to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to significant oil drilling for the first time. Here's what's at stake.
www.nationalgeographic.com
October 24, 2025 at 8:43 PM
Trump now says he's opening the #ArcticNationalWildlifeRefuge to oil drilling. In the past, new presidents have reversed course before any damage is done. It's not clear that will happen this time. Here's a stunning look at the stakes w/text by me from 2021 www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/...
As the father of a teenager trying to navigate social media and AI and everything else, just popping up to say:
We should be teaching news literacy in middle school. And we should have started at least a decade ago.
We should be teaching news literacy in middle school. And we should have started at least a decade ago.
October 16, 2025 at 4:33 PM
As the father of a teenager trying to navigate social media and AI and everything else, just popping up to say:
We should be teaching news literacy in middle school. And we should have started at least a decade ago.
We should be teaching news literacy in middle school. And we should have started at least a decade ago.
Nearly 1 million species require coral reefs to survive, so such loss—if unaddressed—will reverberate in ways we can't yet even imagine.
NEW: More than 150 top researchers from 23 countries now, for the first time, say coral reefs, which half a *billion* people rely on for food, have reached a point beyond which recovery is irreversible—unless we halt greenhouse gas emissions AND cool the planet. global-tipping-points.org
Global Tipping Points | understanding risks & their potential impact
Harmful tipping points in the natural world threaten humanity by disrupting life support systems and societal stability.
global-tipping-points.org
October 13, 2025 at 11:02 PM
Nearly 1 million species require coral reefs to survive, so such loss—if unaddressed—will reverberate in ways we can't yet even imagine.
NEW: More than 150 top researchers from 23 countries now, for the first time, say coral reefs, which half a *billion* people rely on for food, have reached a point beyond which recovery is irreversible—unless we halt greenhouse gas emissions AND cool the planet. global-tipping-points.org
Global Tipping Points | understanding risks & their potential impact
Harmful tipping points in the natural world threaten humanity by disrupting life support systems and societal stability.
global-tipping-points.org
October 13, 2025 at 10:43 PM
NEW: More than 150 top researchers from 23 countries now, for the first time, say coral reefs, which half a *billion* people rely on for food, have reached a point beyond which recovery is irreversible—unless we halt greenhouse gas emissions AND cool the planet. global-tipping-points.org
Journalism, he said, is how we know what's happening in troubled lands. "These extraordinary eyewitness accounts are the culmination of the daily efforts of countless people who work to ensure that information isn't manipulated for ends contrary to truth and human dignity“
apnews.com/article/pope...
apnews.com/article/pope...
Pope urges news agencies to stand as bulwark against lies, manipulation and post-truths
Pope Leo XIV has encouraged international news agencies to stand firm as a bulwark against the “ancient art of lying” and manipulation.
apnews.com
October 10, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Journalism, he said, is how we know what's happening in troubled lands. "These extraordinary eyewitness accounts are the culmination of the daily efforts of countless people who work to ensure that information isn't manipulated for ends contrary to truth and human dignity“
apnews.com/article/pope...
apnews.com/article/pope...
So sorry I missed this headline a few days ago. So happy to see it now. (h/t @wudan.bsky.social)
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
Nobel committee unable to reach prize winner who is ‘living his best life’ hiking off grid
Fred Ramsdell was among those honoured with a 2025 Nobel Prize in Medicine but might not know because he is somewhere in Idaho and uncontactable
www.theguardian.com
October 8, 2025 at 4:04 PM
So sorry I missed this headline a few days ago. So happy to see it now. (h/t @wudan.bsky.social)
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
🧵 The @nytimes.com just named this issue of National Geographic the 18th most influential magazine cover of all time. Photo editor Vaughn Wallace, artist Jorge Gamboa and cover creator Emmet Smith deserve all the praise they've received for this arresting design. BUT .... 1/3
October 2, 2025 at 12:09 AM
🧵 The @nytimes.com just named this issue of National Geographic the 18th most influential magazine cover of all time. Photo editor Vaughn Wallace, artist Jorge Gamboa and cover creator Emmet Smith deserve all the praise they've received for this arresting design. BUT .... 1/3
Reposted by Craig Welch
@biographic.bsky.social publishes so much of my favorite nature writing, from the epic story behind sea star wasting disease by @craigwelch.bsky.social to creepy, beautiful bites like "Mom on the Menu" by @cestmoilanglois.bsky.social
I'm grateful that I'm able to donate!
I'm grateful that I'm able to donate!
At bioGraphic, we publish stories that inspire a deep appreciation for life on Earth—and hope for its future. 🌿
📣 To support our work, become a monthly donor and help us reach 100 new Insiders by September 19
You choose the amount, and every little bit helps:
give.calacademy.org/campaign/719...
📣 To support our work, become a monthly donor and help us reach 100 new Insiders by September 19
You choose the amount, and every little bit helps:
give.calacademy.org/campaign/719...
September 19, 2025 at 9:05 PM
@biographic.bsky.social publishes so much of my favorite nature writing, from the epic story behind sea star wasting disease by @craigwelch.bsky.social to creepy, beautiful bites like "Mom on the Menu" by @cestmoilanglois.bsky.social
I'm grateful that I'm able to donate!
I'm grateful that I'm able to donate!
Nothing quite like receiving documents from a public records request to make a bad week just a little bit better.
September 16, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Nothing quite like receiving documents from a public records request to make a bad week just a little bit better.
The kid is back in school. We all adjust in our own way.
September 10, 2025 at 5:12 PM
The kid is back in school. We all adjust in our own way.
Read this. You won’t regret it.
Wow! After years on the transplant list, my friend woke up in the hospital w/a new kidney. Only then did he learn his life had been saved by a stranger—not as part of a larger organ swap, but because a generous soul knew she could get by w/just one. So they met www.seattletimes.com/life/by-dona...
I got a kidney transplant. Then I met my anonymous donor
Altruistic kidney donations — when somebody gifts an organ to a stranger — are rare. This is the story of one that brought two local families together.
www.seattletimes.com
September 10, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Read this. You won’t regret it.
Wow! After years on the transplant list, my friend woke up in the hospital w/a new kidney. Only then did he learn his life had been saved by a stranger—not as part of a larger organ swap, but because a generous soul knew she could get by w/just one. So they met www.seattletimes.com/life/by-dona...
I got a kidney transplant. Then I met my anonymous donor
Altruistic kidney donations — when somebody gifts an organ to a stranger — are rare. This is the story of one that brought two local families together.
www.seattletimes.com
September 10, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Wow! After years on the transplant list, my friend woke up in the hospital w/a new kidney. Only then did he learn his life had been saved by a stranger—not as part of a larger organ swap, but because a generous soul knew she could get by w/just one. So they met www.seattletimes.com/life/by-dona...
Please read this beautiful story by my friend and former editor at @seattletimes-rss.bsky.social. It will restore your faith in humanity. Some people are just amazing. www.seattletimes.com/life/by-dona...
I got a kidney transplant. Then I met my anonymous donor
Altruistic kidney donations — when somebody gifts an organ to a stranger — are rare. This is the story of one that brought two local families together.
www.seattletimes.com
September 10, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Please read this beautiful story by my friend and former editor at @seattletimes-rss.bsky.social. It will restore your faith in humanity. Some people are just amazing. www.seattletimes.com/life/by-dona...
And a gorgeous @craigwelch.bsky.social story in @biographic.bsky.social, about sea stars and a plague that has been devastating them for years. Lots of amazing sea star photos included in his piece.
CAE 54: jodiettenberg.substack.com/p/fifty-four
CAE 54: jodiettenberg.substack.com/p/fifty-four
The Curious About Everything Newsletter #54
The many interesting things I read in August 2025
jodiettenberg.substack.com
September 4, 2025 at 7:13 PM
"So Odell waits. And while she waits, she produces a paper every week for nearly 3,000 subscribers. Some of those papers still get delivered by paperboys on bikes."
This is such a lovely tribute and so heartbreaking.
I knew Meredith ages ago. Such fortitude. Go Mer!
www.kmuw.org/the-range/20...
This is such a lovely tribute and so heartbreaking.
I knew Meredith ages ago. Such fortitude. Go Mer!
www.kmuw.org/the-range/20...
Pressed for Time: The looming challenge small-town newspapers are facing
The last couple of decades have been tough on newspapers. Kansas has lost about 50 publications in the past 20 years. Rural news outlets also face another problem: Owners of many small, family-run new...
www.kmuw.org
August 29, 2025 at 8:42 PM
"So Odell waits. And while she waits, she produces a paper every week for nearly 3,000 subscribers. Some of those papers still get delivered by paperboys on bikes."
This is such a lovely tribute and so heartbreaking.
I knew Meredith ages ago. Such fortitude. Go Mer!
www.kmuw.org/the-range/20...
This is such a lovely tribute and so heartbreaking.
I knew Meredith ages ago. Such fortitude. Go Mer!
www.kmuw.org/the-range/20...
Appears the feds did an immigration sweep (arrested two) while firefighters were battling a wildfire in my state.
The previous administration had strict limits on law enforcement during natural disasters. @isabellabreda.bsky.social @conradswanson.bsky.social
www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
The previous administration had strict limits on law enforcement during natural disasters. @isabellabreda.bsky.social @conradswanson.bsky.social
www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
Federal agents arrest firefighters working on WA wildfire
Federal agents showed up northeast of Lake Cushman to check identification of crew members fighting Washington's largest active wildfire.
www.seattletimes.com
August 28, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Appears the feds did an immigration sweep (arrested two) while firefighters were battling a wildfire in my state.
The previous administration had strict limits on law enforcement during natural disasters. @isabellabreda.bsky.social @conradswanson.bsky.social
www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
The previous administration had strict limits on law enforcement during natural disasters. @isabellabreda.bsky.social @conradswanson.bsky.social
www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
Reposted by Craig Welch
Long-lost sailback shark rediscovered after more than 50 years | New Scientist
Long-lost sailback shark rediscovered after more than 50 years
The rare sailback houndshark, which has an unusually large dorsal fin, was first described by scientists in 1973. That was the last record of its existence, until now
www.newscientist.com
August 27, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Long-lost sailback shark rediscovered after more than 50 years | New Scientist
Don’t like this one bit. I mean, I don’t even know you, man!
Give a writer a deadline, and it can be written in a day.
But *let* a writer set a deadline, and it will not be written for a lifetime.
But *let* a writer set a deadline, and it will not be written for a lifetime.
August 26, 2025 at 12:48 AM
Don’t like this one bit. I mean, I don’t even know you, man!
Been battling nagging injuries since January but finally pulled off my first Cascades trail run for the year. I’ve lost several steps—we were not fast. But we ran for 3+ hours and got back to the car knowing we could have gone longer and higher. So grateful to be back #running in the mountains.
August 24, 2025 at 11:47 PM
Been battling nagging injuries since January but finally pulled off my first Cascades trail run for the year. I’ve lost several steps—we were not fast. But we ran for 3+ hours and got back to the car knowing we could have gone longer and higher. So grateful to be back #running in the mountains.
This is really quite something.
As if we needed another way of spreading misinformation.
(Ken is a climate scientist I’ve interviewed many times.)
As if we needed another way of spreading misinformation.
(Ken is a climate scientist I’ve interviewed many times.)
Grok showed up in my Tesla this morning, and started speaking to me without me trying to trigger it.
I saw a tab called "conspiracy theories", clicked it and asked Grok about climate change.
This is what Elon Musk is telling Tesla drivers about climate change.
I saw a tab called "conspiracy theories", clicked it and asked Grok about climate change.
This is what Elon Musk is telling Tesla drivers about climate change.
August 22, 2025 at 2:51 PM
This is really quite something.
As if we needed another way of spreading misinformation.
(Ken is a climate scientist I’ve interviewed many times.)
As if we needed another way of spreading misinformation.
(Ken is a climate scientist I’ve interviewed many times.)
Reposted by Craig Welch
“This ecosystem is predicated on balance—we need a certain combination of species to make it function.”
Powerful @craigwelch.bsky.social story in @biographic.bsky.social on sea star epidemiology.
www.biographic.com/unmasking-th...
Powerful @craigwelch.bsky.social story in @biographic.bsky.social on sea star epidemiology.
www.biographic.com/unmasking-th...
Unmasking the Sea Star Killer
After a decade of carnage, we finally know what’s devastating sea stars along North America’s West Coast. Does that mean scientists can save them?
www.biographic.com
August 18, 2025 at 1:13 AM
“This ecosystem is predicated on balance—we need a certain combination of species to make it function.”
Powerful @craigwelch.bsky.social story in @biographic.bsky.social on sea star epidemiology.
www.biographic.com/unmasking-th...
Powerful @craigwelch.bsky.social story in @biographic.bsky.social on sea star epidemiology.
www.biographic.com/unmasking-th...
Reposted by Craig Welch
Incredible & beautifully written. @craigwelch.bsky.social phenomenal work.
August 18, 2025 at 1:24 AM
Incredible & beautifully written. @craigwelch.bsky.social phenomenal work.
Reposted by Craig Welch
The enchantment of bumblebees illuminated beautifully by @judeisabella.bsky.social
www.biographic.com/plight-of-th...
www.biographic.com/plight-of-th...
Plight of the Bumblebees
A journey into the wild and not-so-wild world of bumblebees and the unintended consequences of domestication.
www.biographic.com
August 13, 2025 at 3:46 PM
The enchantment of bumblebees illuminated beautifully by @judeisabella.bsky.social
www.biographic.com/plight-of-th...
www.biographic.com/plight-of-th...