David Kirchman

Book review – Air-Borne: The Hidden History of the Life We Breathe A real-world thriller of hubris, pandemics, and biological weapons, Air-Borne brilliantly tells the complex and multifaceted history of aerobiology.

"Air-Borne reads like a real-world thriller, filled with human ingenuity, persistence, hubris, and arrogance; with pandemics and biological weapons; and, so it seems, with every bad decision under the sun." @carlzimmer.com

inquisitivebiologist.com/2025/07/23/b...

Book review – Is a River Alive? Is a River Alive? is a hydrological odyssey into three river systems that sees Macfarlane wrestle with this question and examine its relevance to the nascent Rights of Nature movement.

This review by the Inquisitive Biologist almost convinced me to get Macfarlene's latest (loved his last book, Underland).

inquisitivebiologist.com/2025/07/04/b...

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Plastic bag fees and bans help protect beaches and riverbanks, study finds But even places with bag policies are seeing a greater prevalence of plastic bags on beaches and riverbanks.

Bans on plastic bags like in Delaware work. This WaPo article is based on a report just published in Science by Delaware's Kimberly Oremus.

@kimberlyoremus.bsky.social
@washingtonpost.com, @allysonchiu.bsky.social

www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solu...

Book review – Super Natural: How Life Thrives in Impossible Places An entertaining romp through life’s outliers, Super Natural explores the extreme conditions under which some organisms not only survive, but often thrive.

Another useful review by the Inquisitive Biologist about an interesting book.

inquisitivebiologist.com/2025/06/18/b...

A drop in the ocean: does experimental technology hold the key to saving the world’s seas? Investment is pouring into companies promising to geoengineer a rapid change in the pH of our waters – but critics are concerned at the speed at which unproven methods are being adopted

"Ebb plans to use a method called electrochemical ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) to mimic the natural process of ocean alkalisation – in other words, it wants to add huge amounts of alkaline materials to ocean waters..." @climatenews.bsky.social

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

‘Ticking timebomb’: sea acidity has reached critical levels, threatening entire ecosystems – study Ocean acidification has already crossed a crucial threshold for planetary health, scientists say in unexpected finding

Ocean acidification’s “planetary boundary” was crossed about five years ago. @climatenews.bsky.social

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Analysis: Clean energy just put China’s CO2 emissions into reverse for first time - Carbon Brief For the first time, the growth in China’s clean power generation has caused the nation’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to fall despite rapid power demand growth.

Carbon Brief also reports that EV sales in emerging markets in Asia and Latin America in 2024 rose by 60%

@carbonbrief.org

www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-cle...

Car use and meat consumption drive emissions gender gap, research suggests The French study of 15,000 people shows men emit 26% more pollution due to eating red meat and driving more

"Previous research from Sweden has found men’s spending on goods causes 16% more climate-heating emissions than women’s."

@us.theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Chart: In a first, clean power beat fossil fuels on US grid last month Sunnier, windier days helped propel clean sources past gas and coal in March. It’s a milestone for the U.S. energy transition.

"Sunnier, windier days helped propel clean sources past gas and coal in March. " Probably won't last but enjoy the good news for a bit.

www.canarymedia.com/articles/cle...

US honeybee deaths hit record high as scientists scramble to find main cause US Department of Agriculture calls in university to help study decline as Trump administration staff cuts sting

"For managed honeybees, a lack of nutrition, poor handling practices and rampant infestation by varroa mites, a type of parasite, and diseases have also taken their toll."

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Book review – Selfish Genes to Social Beings: A Cooperative History of Life Selfish Genes to Social Beings relies on a potent combination of human-interest stories, wit, and ingenious metaphors to convince you that cooperation is an important component driving evolution.

"Two conditions are required for cooperation to evolve. First, the benefits to the individuals involved have to outweigh the costs.... Second, there has to be a way for cheaters to be detected and excluded.."

@oxfordunipress.bsky.social

inquisitivebiologist.com/2025/03/23/b...

Three years into the Ukraine war, is Europe’s energy system cleaner? In response to the invasion, Europe mostly ditched Russian fossil fuels and built a cleaner grid. But wholesale decarbonization has proven elusive.

Not all good news, but "..renewables generate 47% of the EU’s electricity in 2024. Coupled with the continent’s nuclear plants... carbon-free generators made 71% of Europe’s electricity last year, while fossil fuels produced 29%."
@canarymedia.com

www.canarymedia.com/articles/cle...

Seeing Red And...what do Abe Lincoln and walleye fishing have in common?

This absorbing essay combines history, geology, politics and current environmental science to explore the nutrient pollution carried by the Red River from several US states to Lake Winnipeg and eventually the Arctic.

@theswinerepublic.bsky.social

Seeing Red open.substack.com/pub/riverrac...

Global sea level rose higher than expected last year. Here’s why. The rate of global sea level rise follows a trend of rapidly increasing rates over the past 30 years.

"An unprecedented streak of ocean heat since 2023 led some scientists to think that this part of Earth’s system has fundamentally changed in a way that it cannot be reversed on a human timescale."

@washingtonpost.com @kashapatel.bsky.social

www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

How microplastics could be affecting our food supply It’s a new sign of how the tiny plastic particles are affecting the natural world.

Recent PNAS study concluded that microplastics are causing "a reduction in photosynthesis of 7 to 12 percent worldwide in plants and algae." As if there weren't enough reasons to reduce especially single-use plastic.

@shannonosaka.bsky.social

www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

How to eat and drink fewer microplastics Scientists are finding microplastics throughout the human body. Here are some simple strategies to reduce your exposure.

First on the list for avoiding microplastics: drink tap water, not bottled water. "Researchers have found that an average liter of bottled water contains about 240,000 plastic particles.." #plastic @washingtonpost.com

www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solu...

Ancient Greeks and Romans Laced the Aegean with Lead - Eos Lead pollution in and around the Aegean Sea dates back to the Bronze Age and shows a strong spike associated with Roman expansion.

"The new data revealed a striking spike in marine lead pollution about 2,150 years ago. That’s around the time when... what is now Greece [was] being incorporated into the Roman Republic.." #lead #pollution @eos.org @elisecutts.bsky.social

eos.org/articles/anc...

Column | Are GMOs bad for your health? Here’s what the science says. There’s nothing inherently unsafe about genetically modified foods. It’s the potential herbicide exposure that should give you pause.

"GMOs are likely fine for adults to consume, especially if you minimize ultra-processed foods... For pregnant women and young children, it would be very reasonable to minimize consuming GMOs and ultra-processed foods whenever possible." @washingtonpost.com

www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/202...

Plants losing appetite for carbon dioxide amid effects of warming climate Earth’s plants and soils reached peak carbon dioxide sequestration in 2008 but proportion absorbed has been declining since, study finds

If not for plants, atmospheric carbon dioxide would be about 30% higher, so any reduction in their carbon consumption is really bad news for the climate. We'll see if this finding is confirmed by others. @theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

This is figure 1, which shows global glacier mass changes from 2000 to 2023.

A study in Nature finds that, since 2000, glaciers have lost between 2% and 39% of their ice regionally and about 5% globally. https://go.nature.com/3Qz4Tj7 🧪

Opinion | After 10,000 years, let’s bury the plow No-till farming reduces need for fertilizers and pesticides, and promotes soil health and biodiversity.

A great piece about (mostly) new agricultural practices that not only save farmers money but help save the planet.

@danamilbank.bsky.social

www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

Book review – Alexander von Humboldt: A Concise Biography This admirably concise biography offers a factual and nuanced picture of Humboldt’s life and work, and critically interrogates previous portrayals.

The Inquisitive Biologist here reviews the second of two recent biographies of Alexander Humboldt. Inquisitive Biologist always has great reviews of books covering ecology, evolution, and many other biological sciences. @princetonupress.bsky.social

inquisitivebiologist.com/2025/02/11/b...

A century of Bay research at the University of Maryland Formal Chesapeake Bay science began a century ago with the study of oysters from an 8x10 fisherman’s shack near the mouth of southern Maryland’s Patuxent River.

A shout out to "Predictive Ecology, "Don Boesch’s forthcoming history of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science @chesapeakebay.bsky.social

www.bayjournal.com/columns/ches...

Climate change target of 2C is ‘dead’, says renowned climate scientist Prof James Hansen says pace of global heating has been significantly underestimated, though other scientists disagree

“While Hansen et al are on the high end of available estimates, we cannot say with any confidence that they are wrong [about the 2C target being dead], rather that they just represent something closer to a worst-case outcome.” @climatenews.bsky.social

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Greenland ice sheet cracking more rapidly than ever, study shows Crevasses increasing in size and depth in response to climate breakdown, Durham University researchers find

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

‘Rising star’: EU made more electricity from solar than coal in 2024 Report reveals solar power generated 11% of bloc’s electricity, surpassing coal at 10%

A bit of good news.

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

How an antacid for the ocean could cool the Earth A new technology promises to remove carbon from the atmosphere and prevent ocean acidification.

"“They should not be dumping anything into the ocean,” said Beth Casoni, executive director of the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association, adding that she is skeptical of “the notion that you can alkalize the ocean like the pool in your backyard.”

www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solu...

World’s richest use up their fair share of 2025 carbon budget in 10 days Emissions caused by wealthiest 1% so far this year would take someone from poorest 50% three years to create

"In contrast, it would take someone from the world’s poorest 50% three years to create the same amount of pollution."

www.theguardian.com/environment/...