Macbeth: SHIT
09.02.2026 02:50 β π 10102 π 2044 π¬ 137 π 50@leafwax.bsky.social
Climate scientist living in the Sonoran Desert. Analyzer of leaf waxes to learn about past climate change. Professor at the University of Arizona. I also like birds, nature, petsπ¦πΏπ | Opinions are mine, not those of my employer
Macbeth: SHIT
09.02.2026 02:50 β π 10102 π 2044 π¬ 137 π 50Commenting on energy injustice is now the floor for any halftime act.
09.02.2026 01:33 β π 1391 π 236 π¬ 6 π 10Benito is a threat b/c he makes art so alluring and enjoyable you want to understand everything about it and then you end up learning about sugar and slavery and colonialism and the TaΓnos and Hawaii and then you probably have some thoughts of your own, and that's why art is powerful and dangerous
09.02.2026 01:38 β π 20666 π 5286 π¬ 108 π 180This was everything. #SuperBowlLX
09.02.2026 01:32 β π 734 π 141 π¬ 14 π 22yes, it does!
23.01.2026 20:24 β π 3 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0Really excited to see this paper out!! Led by @vtcoop.bsky.social we show that if you use cold and warm paleoclimates together, you can reduce uncertainty in Earth's climate sensitivity by quantifying the pattern effect and more precisely constrain future climate change www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
23.01.2026 15:36 β π 98 π 41 π¬ 1 π 2Who I wonder is an "appropriate operator" for the Trump administration? π€ Will we be losing Derecho core hours to an AI company? π€¦ββοΈ #SaveNCAR
18.12.2025 00:57 β π 10 π 1 π¬ 0 π 0The latest unhinged threat from the Trump administration would destroy the best climate modeling center in the world. It would also be a blow to US researchers (including me) who depend on NCAR's modeling expertise and educational training programs for students. #SaveNCAR www.cnn.com/2025/12/17/c...
18.12.2025 00:41 β π 14 π 1 π¬ 1 π 0I am currently seeking a Lab Manager for our Organic Geochemistry Lab at the University of Arizona! Full time position with benefits. If you have a chemistry/biology/geology degree and like fixing things and working with students, this position could be for you! arizona.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...
15.10.2025 17:27 β π 21 π 30 π¬ 1 π 0The special issue @quantamagazine.bsky.social on Climate Science just dropped and I know what my weekend readings is gonna be ππ» www.quantamagazine.org/how-we-came-...
17.09.2025 01:07 β π 41 π 10 π¬ 0 π 0I do love Reddit for so many reasons. Thanks for accepting me bros!
08.09.2025 03:16 β π 29 π 1 π¬ 0 π 0I stand by my offer to appear on Joe Rogan and set the record straight about our half-billion-year temperature reconstruction www.theguardian.com/environment/...
04.09.2025 17:10 β π 68 π 11 π¬ 0 π 5A proposed Amazon data center in Tucson (βProject Blueβ, FFS) that would have sapped power and water from the city has been REJECTED thanks to amazing community solidarity. The people of the desert have spoken and won βπ΅ποΈ
07.08.2025 02:26 β π 41 π 8 π¬ 1 π 0why does coal use she/her pronouns
01.08.2025 00:44 β π 294 π 47 π¬ 26 π 5Here's some lovely artwork from the no desert data center (www.instagram.com/no_desert_da...) coalition that captures our feelings βοΈ
It would be great if a national news outlet picked up this story - its a type case for something that is increasingly an issue in the West. /fin
The good news is that Tucsonians are organized β and are asking tough questions. azluminaria.org/2025/07/21/t...
24.07.2025 18:19 β π 7 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0AI data centers are just the latest put your junk in the desert thing. But we as desert dwellers don't need to stand for it. Why would we repeat the past's mistakes? All for an AI response for a search (that sometimes you didn't ask for and don't really need!).
24.07.2025 18:19 β π 4 π 0 π¬ 3 π 0There is a long history in the American West of putting our country's junk in the desert. c.f. a large portion of the State of Nevada (incl. the nuclear test range) and Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, where chemical and biological weapons were tested en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dugway_...
24.07.2025 18:19 β π 2 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0It seems to me that data centers in the desert is the new "growing alfalfa in the desert." It makes more sense to put these in places with more water...but land is cheap in the desert and local cities might be more amenable to the deal...
24.07.2025 18:19 β π 3 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0Economically the boost of the data center would be the construction jobs, and there is no denying that, hence for trade unions this is a really good thing. But in the long-term, there are almost no people working at places like this. www.kold.com/2025/07/24/e...
24.07.2025 18:19 β π 4 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0The city claims the River won't be affected, but it's hard to imagine how, since water diverted to the data center means less outflow on the river at one of the flow stations no matter where it occurs. Prof. Michael Bogan at @uarizona.bsky.social crunched the math drive.google.com/file/d/1sSAp...
24.07.2025 18:19 β π 2 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0Reclaimed water is used to restore the Santa Cruz River, which was in the early 20th century an actual flowing river but due to ground water pumping no longer flows on its own. But thanks to reclaimed water we now have these beautiful riparian areas coming back www.azcentral.com/story/news/l...
24.07.2025 18:19 β π 5 π 2 π¬ 1 π 0The water would rely on extending Tucson's reclaimed water system to the build to supply an estimated 0.8 million gallons per day (data centers in Phoenix use more than this). The problem is, reclaimed water demand is already very high in the city, and...
24.07.2025 18:19 β π 4 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0As far as power goes, the project is estimated to require 400-600 MW at full build. It's not clear yet how TEP our power supplier will meet that. Current peak energy demand is 2400 MW so this is non-trivial. It could involve keeping coal-fired plants up and running past their expiration date.
24.07.2025 18:19 β π 4 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0"Project Blue" is some (read: greenwashing) name for a data center that would be roughly the size of downtown Tucson, eat power and water, and provide only 180 jobs. For perspective, my department alone at the @uarizona.bsky.social employs about 130 people within 3-4 floors of a single building.
24.07.2025 18:19 β π 7 π 2 π¬ 1 π 0This summer Tucsonians started to hear about something called "Project Blue", a proposal to build data centers on our outskirts. The city officials signed a NDA to not disclose the companyβbut thanks to @azluminaria.org the company was outed this week as Amazon π€‘ azluminaria.org/2025/07/21/a...
24.07.2025 18:19 β π 14 π 4 π¬ 2 π 5This @wired.com article is extremely timely for those of us in Tucson, Arizona, as we face the possibility of Amazon Web Services building a huge data center at our outskirts. Energy and water use for AI data centers are non-trivial. Read my thread below if you want to hear about our local story β¬οΈ
24.07.2025 18:19 β π 41 π 23 π¬ 3 π 3Several Fellows I talked to have decided to leave the US and seek science positions in Europe, citing the lack of positions here and negative attitude towards science π Brain drain is a real thing that will have lasting impacts on US scientific strength.
24.07.2025 14:42 β π 3 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0Also, while temporary, the furlough caused a lot of stress for the Fellows, who scrambled to file for unemployment or get temporary positions since no one knew when it would end.
24.07.2025 14:42 β π 4 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0Update on the NOAA Fellows situation: as of late last week the furlough has been lifted (phew!). However, there are no new Fellows this year, and we still don't know the future of this program.
24.07.2025 14:42 β π 20 π 3 π¬ 1 π 0