Ian Dight aka Maggie
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Ian Dight aka Maggie
@maggieislander.bsky.social
Trained in population biology and numerical modelling (with a PhD), I’m now living a more relaxed existence on Yunbenun #MagneticIsland with time to appreciate nature and watch mud wasps build and live their lives, amongst other things.
Reposted by Ian Dight aka Maggie
Just a reminder about what Trump and the GOP are doing to our weather forecasting capabilities. And it's worse than what this article describes.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Severe weather hits the US hard as key forecast offices reel from Trump cuts
This year marks the first time that local NWS offices have stopped round-the-clock operations in the agency’s history
www.theguardian.com
July 6, 2025 at 1:01 AM
Reposted by Ian Dight aka Maggie
And that's not even counting the work energy to lift it high up into the atmosphere
July 6, 2025 at 1:06 AM
Reposted by Ian Dight aka Maggie
Death Adders and their main prey on #Yunbenun #MagneticIsland - skinks. Their toxin is deadly but if you don’t step on or annoy one then they are not aggressive and humans are not their prey.
March 29, 2025 at 10:21 PM
Death Adders and their main prey on #Yunbenun #MagneticIsland - skinks. Their toxin is deadly but if you don’t step on or annoy one then they are not aggressive and humans are not their prey.
March 29, 2025 at 10:21 PM
Reposted by Ian Dight aka Maggie
Keeping a concerned eye on Tropical Cyclone Alfred, currently offshore of Rockhampton moving south towards Brisbane. Fueled by extra hot (for marine life) temperatures >27 deg C, EAC is close inshore, large seas, tide anomalies.. #ClimateChange should concern all of us
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03...
Powerful seas cause erosion as Cyclone Alfred lingers off Queensland
Tropical Cyclone Alfred is lashing the Queensland coast with damaging winds and causing significant coastal erosion.
www.abc.net.au
March 1, 2025 at 10:08 PM
Reposted by Ian Dight aka Maggie
🧪🌍
Firings are happening right now at the National Science Foundation. Essential staff are being cut.

This isn’t about the budget. If it was, they’d be going after the military (17%) or state appropriations (38%). NSF is 0.7% of the federal budget. All federal employees make up only 4% of the budget.
February 19, 2025 at 12:49 AM
Reposted by Ian Dight aka Maggie
We sold our Tesla last month. Even if congress lost its power to Trump, we each have the power of our own purse. This applies beyond Musk.
Tesla's stock is ridiculously overvalued, and even a modest consumer boycott could tank the company, which accounts for the majority of Elon Musk's wealth.
The divestment movement weakened apartheid South Africa. Let's do that again. slate.com/business/202...
Don’t Buy a Tesla. Sell Your Tesla. Refuse a Tesla at the Rental Counter. Yes—It Will Help.
Elon Musk’s car company is in a precarious spot.
slate.com
February 13, 2025 at 3:19 AM
Reposted by Ian Dight aka Maggie
Colombian President Gustavo Petro's full post ordering an increase of import tariffs on U.S. goods, says he doesn't really like traveling to the U.S. because it's “a bit boring” and invokes the ancestors
January 26, 2025 at 10:21 PM
Reposted by Ian Dight aka Maggie
At dawn, near the Shrine, at a place called Camp Sovereignty, First Nations people, and allies, began a day of mourning by reading out hundreds of massacres that took place in Victoria since colonisation. This is the truth of our history, and on January 26, the very least we can do is acknowledge it
January 25, 2025 at 8:33 PM
The last month of 2024 was interesting-the data are now in. It was an all time record for rainfall in December (nearly 600mm) and a pretty wet year overall (nearly 2m). #Arcadia #MagneticIsland #Yunbenun #climate #meteorology 2/
January 1, 2025 at 1:49 AM
Reposted by Ian Dight aka Maggie
Using Copernicus data from Jan. 1, 1980 through Nov. 30, 2024, here is an updated forecast graph for the global surface temperature anomaly, assuming accelerating warming.

This forecast shows us currently at 1.46°C, breaking 1.5°C in late 2025, breaking 2.0°C in 2036 and reaching 2.2°C by 2040.
December 15, 2024 at 4:39 PM
Reposted by Ian Dight aka Maggie
THIS is how it’s done, folks.
December 14, 2024 at 1:49 PM
This is why #meteorology fascinates me so much: weird & wonderful, & challenging 🧪
#australia
December 15, 2024 at 12:40 AM
Reposted by Ian Dight aka Maggie
"Milei has repeatedly said that he doesn’t think that humans are causing global warming and that what the world is experiencing is instead part of a natural cycle... On government websites and in official documents, the situation is labelled 'climate variation' rather than climate change."
December 12, 2024 at 1:49 AM
Reposted by Ian Dight aka Maggie
#InternationalMountainDay Mountains ⛰️ can provide insights on how climatic & edaphic gradients affect tree migrations & temperate-boreal forest biome transitions as climate changes. Check out our recent paper in Ecological Monographs to see how 😀🧪🌎
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...
Mycorrhizal fungi as critical biotic filters for tree seedling establishment during species range expansions
Global warming has been shifting climatic envelopes of many tree species to higher latitudes and elevations across the globe; however, unsuitable soil biota may inhibit tree migrations into these are....
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
December 12, 2024 at 2:00 AM
Reposted by Ian Dight aka Maggie
How to assess the literature on climate change when it grows exponentially? But do we need to assess it all, or just the most relevant parts?

Figure from www.nature.com/articles/s44..., in our npj Climate Action Special Collection on the #IPCC www.nature.com/collections/...
December 9, 2024 at 3:51 AM
This has been, and continues to be an interesting debate

earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/15358...
Charting the Exceptional, Unexpected Heat of 2023 and 2024
Global temperatures have soared in recent years and climate scientists are trying to understand why.
earthobservatory.nasa.gov
December 9, 2024 at 2:41 AM
“Under current emission trajectories, temporarily overshooting the Paris global warming limit of 1.5 °C is a distinct possibility. Permanently exceeding this limit would substantially increase the probability of triggering climate tipping elements.”

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions critical to limit climate tipping risks - Nature Communications
Temporarily overshooting the 1.5 °C limit risks triggering climate tipping elements. This study finds that every 0.1 °C of warming increases risk, with a strong acceleration above +2.0 °C. Achieving n...
www.nature.com
December 9, 2024 at 2:34 AM
#environment #MagneticIsland #biodiversity
Overcast weather with some storms over the last week, about 100mm in total, 15mm overnight before yesterday’s walk in the NP (Yunbenun). Amazing how plants respond to a bit of rain, lichens, mosses and fungi come to life with vibrant colours.
November 30, 2024 at 11:45 PM
Reposted by Ian Dight aka Maggie
And what many don’t realize is that there is a hierarchy in nature based solutions, and tree planting is only number three. First, protect the massive carbon stocks we already have. Second, restore the ecosystems already degraded. Only third, regenerate what we’ve destroyed. @ketanjoshi.co
Protect, manage and then restore lands for climate mitigation - Nature Climate Change
Natural climate solutions, along with reduction in fossil fuel emissions, are critical to mitigating climate change and meeting climate goals. This Perspective outlines a hierarchy for decision-making...
www.nature.com
November 26, 2024 at 2:09 PM
Reposted by Ian Dight aka Maggie
In whose interest is the conversation about whether #1o5C is lost? 🧵
November 19, 2024 at 8:05 AM