John R. Platt
@johnrplatt.bsky.social
Editor, The Revelator @therevelator.org. Covering the extinction crisis, wildlife, climate change and environmental justice. https://linktr.ee/johnrplatt
Reposted by John R. Platt
Thanks, NOAA!
In the century leading up to 1975, nearly 6000 freighters went down in the Great Lakes.
The Edmund Fitzgerald was the last.
The last. In 50 years, not a single commercial freighter has been lost in the Great Lakes.
Why?
It's NOAA. Of course it's NOAA.
The Edmund Fitzgerald was the last.
The last. In 50 years, not a single commercial freighter has been lost in the Great Lakes.
Why?
It's NOAA. Of course it's NOAA.
November 11, 2025 at 2:22 AM
Thanks, NOAA!
Reposted by John R. Platt
My latest for @therevelator.org on making "plastic" biodegradable... maybe? therevelator.org/biodegradabl...
Biodegradable Plastics: Help or Hype? • The Revelator
Plastic pollution is poisoning the planet. Some experts suggest making plastics from more “natural” materials, but research shows those still have risks.
therevelator.org
November 10, 2025 at 8:27 PM
My latest for @therevelator.org on making "plastic" biodegradable... maybe? therevelator.org/biodegradabl...
Reposted by John R. Platt
Biodegradable Plastics: Help or Hype? https://therevelator.org/biodegradable-plastics-help-or-hype/
Biodegradable Plastics: Help or Hype? • The Revelator
Plastic pollution is poisoning the planet. Some experts suggest making plastics from more “natural” materials, but research shows those still have risks.
therevelator.org
November 10, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Biodegradable Plastics: Help or Hype? https://therevelator.org/biodegradable-plastics-help-or-hype/
Reposted by John R. Platt
Parental Age, Inbreeding and Incubation Method Influence Extremely Low Hatching Success in the Ex-Situ Population of the Extinct in the Wild Sihek | doi.org/10.1111/acv.... | Animal Conservation | #ornithology 🪶
Parental Age, Inbreeding and Incubation Method Influence Extremely Low Hatching Success in the Ex‐Situ Population of the Extinct in the Wild Sihek
Reproductive success rates are a key parameter determining the recovery potential of ex-situ managed threatened species, with high rates often being required to produce offspring for wild releases wh...
doi.org
November 10, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Parental Age, Inbreeding and Incubation Method Influence Extremely Low Hatching Success in the Ex-Situ Population of the Extinct in the Wild Sihek | doi.org/10.1111/acv.... | Animal Conservation | #ornithology 🪶
Reposted by John R. Platt
I can't tell you how many interviews I've done where I've been asked: If Trump's policies are so problematic, why are U.S. stocks rising so rapidly.
A bit of international context illustrates the real issue here.
U.S. stocks have dramatically underperformed other advanced economies.
A bit of international context illustrates the real issue here.
U.S. stocks have dramatically underperformed other advanced economies.
November 10, 2025 at 3:15 PM
I can't tell you how many interviews I've done where I've been asked: If Trump's policies are so problematic, why are U.S. stocks rising so rapidly.
A bit of international context illustrates the real issue here.
U.S. stocks have dramatically underperformed other advanced economies.
A bit of international context illustrates the real issue here.
U.S. stocks have dramatically underperformed other advanced economies.
Reposted by John R. Platt
In Ed Sayers's breathtaking documentary, a global community of film-makers capture the wildlife in their local areas. It's a bold departure from the glossy perspective of traditional nature documentaries, says Simon Ings
Nature documentary shot on Super 8 film is ravishing and unpredictable
In Ed Sayers's breathtaking documentary, a global community of film-makers capture the wildlife in their local areas. It's a bold departure from the glossy perspective of traditional nature documentaries, says Simon Ings
www.newscientist.com
November 10, 2025 at 4:50 AM
In Ed Sayers's breathtaking documentary, a global community of film-makers capture the wildlife in their local areas. It's a bold departure from the glossy perspective of traditional nature documentaries, says Simon Ings
Reposted by John R. Platt
It is not a useful observation or anything but it is still pretty wild that COP30 is starting in Brazil and the richest country in the world, second-largest emitter, and largest cumulative emitter of greenhouse gases just... isn't there.
November 9, 2025 at 9:37 PM
It is not a useful observation or anything but it is still pretty wild that COP30 is starting in Brazil and the richest country in the world, second-largest emitter, and largest cumulative emitter of greenhouse gases just... isn't there.
Classy.
November 9, 2025 at 9:39 PM
Classy.
Reposted by John R. Platt
Official data from government of British Columbia, along with satellite monitoring, backs claims that a Canadian subsidiary owned by Drax sourced 250-year-old trees to manufacture biomass pellets as recently as this year
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Drax still burning 250-year-old trees sourced from forests in Canada, experts say
Exclusive: report by Stand.earth says subsidiary of power plant received truckloads of whole logs at biomass pellet sites
www.theguardian.com
November 9, 2025 at 10:15 AM
Official data from government of British Columbia, along with satellite monitoring, backs claims that a Canadian subsidiary owned by Drax sourced 250-year-old trees to manufacture biomass pellets as recently as this year
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Reposted by John R. Platt
Before we look for life on other planets, shouldn't we do more to protect life on Earth? https://therevelator.org/how-habitable-earth/
How Habitable Will Earth Be When We Search for Life Beyond Our Planet? • The Revelator
As we prepare to look for life in other solar systems, we should also look inward at what we’re doing to our home planet.
therevelator.org
November 9, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Before we look for life on other planets, shouldn't we do more to protect life on Earth? https://therevelator.org/how-habitable-earth/
Reposted by John R. Platt
It is the responsibility of all of us to return the nation to a path that is morally sustainable.
Trump is threatening the basic needs of poor Americans. How low he has sunk | Robert Reich
The president has put Snap benefits in jeopardy amid a fight over Medicaid. The nation has lost its moral authority
www.theguardian.com
November 9, 2025 at 12:00 AM
It is the responsibility of all of us to return the nation to a path that is morally sustainable.
Reposted by John R. Platt
When you switch from fossil to clean you only use like 30-40% of the energy to do the same stuff, bc most energy from fossil fuels is lost as waste heat
What's I'm trying to say is that all climate action is degrowth
WELCOME TO DEGROWTH EVERYONE
What's I'm trying to say is that all climate action is degrowth
WELCOME TO DEGROWTH EVERYONE
From my file on the IEA's world energy outlook.
"Primary energy" = what goes in
"Final energy" = what comes out
a
The space in between: mostly lost energy bc burning fossil fuels is absurdly wasteful.
So in the net zero scenario, that gaps closes to zero --->>
"Primary energy" = what goes in
"Final energy" = what comes out
a
The space in between: mostly lost energy bc burning fossil fuels is absurdly wasteful.
So in the net zero scenario, that gaps closes to zero --->>
November 8, 2025 at 8:52 PM
When you switch from fossil to clean you only use like 30-40% of the energy to do the same stuff, bc most energy from fossil fuels is lost as waste heat
What's I'm trying to say is that all climate action is degrowth
WELCOME TO DEGROWTH EVERYONE
What's I'm trying to say is that all climate action is degrowth
WELCOME TO DEGROWTH EVERYONE
Reposted by John R. Platt
ICE is building a 24/7 social media monitoring program that would scan Facebook, TikTok, Instagram and dozens of other platforms. Private contractors would turn public posts into enforcement leads fed directly into government databases. buff.ly/gXCFJBl
Always watching: How ICE’s plan to monitor social media 24/7 threatens privacy and civic participation
ICE’s dragnet is expanding across social media, putting everyone’s digital lives into the realm of border and immigration enforcement.
buff.ly
November 9, 2025 at 12:02 AM
ICE is building a 24/7 social media monitoring program that would scan Facebook, TikTok, Instagram and dozens of other platforms. Private contractors would turn public posts into enforcement leads fed directly into government databases. buff.ly/gXCFJBl
Reposted by John R. Platt
You know what would be really funny?
Let’s tell the fossil fuel and Big Ag lobbyists that the next COP is going in the middle of the Sahara…And keep the *real* location a secret, only shared with international diplomats and climate policy experts?
Let’s tell the fossil fuel and Big Ag lobbyists that the next COP is going in the middle of the Sahara…And keep the *real* location a secret, only shared with international diplomats and climate policy experts?
a man stands in a desert surrounded by cactus plants
ALT: a man stands in a desert surrounded by cactus plants
media.tenor.com
November 7, 2025 at 2:24 AM
You know what would be really funny?
Let’s tell the fossil fuel and Big Ag lobbyists that the next COP is going in the middle of the Sahara…And keep the *real* location a secret, only shared with international diplomats and climate policy experts?
Let’s tell the fossil fuel and Big Ag lobbyists that the next COP is going in the middle of the Sahara…And keep the *real* location a secret, only shared with international diplomats and climate policy experts?
Reposted by John R. Platt
Have people forgotten what the air and water were like before environmental regulations? https://therevelator.org/why-we-need-environmental-regulations/
Why We Need Environmental Regulations • The Revelator
Many people are unaware of what life was like before major environmental laws. That makes it easier for corporate interests to push for harmful deregulation.
therevelator.org
November 8, 2025 at 9:58 PM
Have people forgotten what the air and water were like before environmental regulations? https://therevelator.org/why-we-need-environmental-regulations/
Reposted by John R. Platt
In Aug-Sep 2020, thousands of migrating birds were found dead in the SW US. Cause? “Compound climate extremes” had pounded the birds until they expired. Climate change increases the threats migrating birds face: heatwaves, storms, droughts, wildfires, etc.: therevelator.org/weather-whip... #birds 🌎
Weather Whiplash: How Climate Change Killed Thousands of Migratory Birds • The Revelator
Can we help birds and other species adapt to the evolving threat of compound climate extremes?
therevelator.org
November 7, 2025 at 9:58 PM
In Aug-Sep 2020, thousands of migrating birds were found dead in the SW US. Cause? “Compound climate extremes” had pounded the birds until they expired. Climate change increases the threats migrating birds face: heatwaves, storms, droughts, wildfires, etc.: therevelator.org/weather-whip... #birds 🌎
Reposted by John R. Platt
"We spend so much time focused on distant birds that we don’t always see the birds closest to us.
Like the birds on our plates." -- @jyunker.bsky.social today on @therevelator.org #birding #birds #animalwelfare therevelator.org/birding-blin...
Like the birds on our plates." -- @jyunker.bsky.social today on @therevelator.org #birding #birds #animalwelfare therevelator.org/birding-blin...
Birding’s Tragic Blind Spot • The Revelator
Humans love to watch birds in nature. So why do we ignore the lives of the birds destined for our plates?
therevelator.org
November 7, 2025 at 11:06 PM
"We spend so much time focused on distant birds that we don’t always see the birds closest to us.
Like the birds on our plates." -- @jyunker.bsky.social today on @therevelator.org #birding #birds #animalwelfare therevelator.org/birding-blin...
Like the birds on our plates." -- @jyunker.bsky.social today on @therevelator.org #birding #birds #animalwelfare therevelator.org/birding-blin...
A haunting poem about #extinction
Today's Featured Poem:
"The Last Sea Cow's Testimony" by Brandon Kilbourne from Natural History published by Graywolf Press
Read here:
poems.com/poem/the-las...
"The Last Sea Cow's Testimony" by Brandon Kilbourne from Natural History published by Graywolf Press
Read here:
poems.com/poem/the-las...
The Last Sea Cow's Testimony
every cow, otter, and seal had to learn survivor's
wisdom: trade your curiosity for fear.
poems.com
November 8, 2025 at 4:06 PM
A haunting poem about #extinction
"We spend so much time focused on distant birds that we don’t always see the birds closest to us.
Like the birds on our plates." -- @jyunker.bsky.social today on @therevelator.org #birding #birds #animalwelfare therevelator.org/birding-blin...
Like the birds on our plates." -- @jyunker.bsky.social today on @therevelator.org #birding #birds #animalwelfare therevelator.org/birding-blin...
Birding’s Tragic Blind Spot • The Revelator
Humans love to watch birds in nature. So why do we ignore the lives of the birds destined for our plates?
therevelator.org
November 7, 2025 at 11:06 PM
"We spend so much time focused on distant birds that we don’t always see the birds closest to us.
Like the birds on our plates." -- @jyunker.bsky.social today on @therevelator.org #birding #birds #animalwelfare therevelator.org/birding-blin...
Like the birds on our plates." -- @jyunker.bsky.social today on @therevelator.org #birding #birds #animalwelfare therevelator.org/birding-blin...
Reposted by John R. Platt
Birding’s Tragic Blind Spot
Humans love to watch birds in nature. So why do we ignore the lives of the birds destined for our plates? https://therevelator.org/birding-blind-spot/
Humans love to watch birds in nature. So why do we ignore the lives of the birds destined for our plates? https://therevelator.org/birding-blind-spot/
Birding’s Tragic Blind Spot • The Revelator
Humans love to watch birds in nature. So why do we ignore the lives of the birds destined for our plates?
therevelator.org
November 7, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Birding’s Tragic Blind Spot
Humans love to watch birds in nature. So why do we ignore the lives of the birds destined for our plates? https://therevelator.org/birding-blind-spot/
Humans love to watch birds in nature. So why do we ignore the lives of the birds destined for our plates? https://therevelator.org/birding-blind-spot/
Reposted by John R. Platt
Learn and take action in this posting from @therevelator.org by Marina De León - Save This Species: The ‘Little Three-Horned Devil,’ One of Puerto Rico’s Rarest Plants "...this rare shrub has gone unnoticed and ignored for decades..." therevelator.org/save-little-...
Save This Species: The ‘Little Three-Horned Devil,’ One of Puerto Rico’s Rarest Plants • The Revelator
As the island faces continuous urbanization, this rare shrub has gone unnoticed and ignored for decades, shrinking into near-forgotten obscurity.
therevelator.org
November 7, 2025 at 11:03 AM
Learn and take action in this posting from @therevelator.org by Marina De León - Save This Species: The ‘Little Three-Horned Devil,’ One of Puerto Rico’s Rarest Plants "...this rare shrub has gone unnoticed and ignored for decades..." therevelator.org/save-little-...
Reposted by John R. Platt
Today on @therevelator.org -- 14 inspiring new environmental books by @lydiakang.bsky.social @craigtimes.bsky.social @bethpratt.bsky.social @profaliceroberts.bsky.social @katemessner.com & many others: therevelator.org/inspirationa...
14 Incredible New Books to Inspire Your Friends and Family in the Year Ahead • The Revelator
These beautifully produced new books — covering art and photography, cooking, crafts, and more — celebrate our wildlife, health, and sustainable ways to care for our environment.
therevelator.org
November 6, 2025 at 9:10 PM
Today on @therevelator.org -- 14 inspiring new environmental books by @lydiakang.bsky.social @craigtimes.bsky.social @bethpratt.bsky.social @profaliceroberts.bsky.social @katemessner.com & many others: therevelator.org/inspirationa...
Reposted by John R. Platt
Hawaiʻi has 18 plant species with only a single wild individual left. Dozens more around the world hang by the same thread.
We count what’s visible but most extinctions happen before we even know the species exist, plants especially.
#SixthMassExtinction
www.hawaiipublicradio.org/local-news/2...
We count what’s visible but most extinctions happen before we even know the species exist, plants especially.
#SixthMassExtinction
www.hawaiipublicradio.org/local-news/2...
These Hawaiʻi native plants are the last of their kind in the wild
Hawaiʻi has more endangered plants than all other U.S. states combined. Here's a look at some of the species that are so rare they only have a single wild plant left.
www.hawaiipublicradio.org
November 6, 2025 at 11:40 PM
Hawaiʻi has 18 plant species with only a single wild individual left. Dozens more around the world hang by the same thread.
We count what’s visible but most extinctions happen before we even know the species exist, plants especially.
#SixthMassExtinction
www.hawaiipublicradio.org/local-news/2...
We count what’s visible but most extinctions happen before we even know the species exist, plants especially.
#SixthMassExtinction
www.hawaiipublicradio.org/local-news/2...
Reposted by John R. Platt
Thank you for including Pseudoscience in your review!
Today on @therevelator.org -- 14 inspiring new environmental books by @lydiakang.bsky.social @craigtimes.bsky.social @bethpratt.bsky.social @profaliceroberts.bsky.social @katemessner.com & many others: therevelator.org/inspirationa...
14 Incredible New Books to Inspire Your Friends and Family in the Year Ahead • The Revelator
These beautifully produced new books — covering art and photography, cooking, crafts, and more — celebrate our wildlife, health, and sustainable ways to care for our environment.
therevelator.org
November 6, 2025 at 9:37 PM
Thank you for including Pseudoscience in your review!
Reposted by John R. Platt
Sooooo happy to see my new book WELCOME TO #FLORIDA included in this "The Revelator" list! Thanks, John!
Today on @therevelator.org -- 14 inspiring new environmental books by @lydiakang.bsky.social @craigtimes.bsky.social @bethpratt.bsky.social @profaliceroberts.bsky.social @katemessner.com & many others: therevelator.org/inspirationa...
14 Incredible New Books to Inspire Your Friends and Family in the Year Ahead • The Revelator
These beautifully produced new books — covering art and photography, cooking, crafts, and more — celebrate our wildlife, health, and sustainable ways to care for our environment.
therevelator.org
November 6, 2025 at 9:34 PM
Sooooo happy to see my new book WELCOME TO #FLORIDA included in this "The Revelator" list! Thanks, John!