Matthew MacLeod

Screenshot of the Washington Post AI bot refusing to answer a question about whether "personal liberties and free markets" could sometime lead to collective harms.

Fun with the @washingtonpost.com 's new AI...

Palace intrigues The plastics treaty talks in Geneva ended without a deal. As negotiators weigh their options about the way forward, troubling questions are…

a month on, @magnuslovold.bsky.social comments on the final day of UN global plastic treaty negotiations in Geneva

there were rumours circulating in whatsapp groups about UNEP engaging in what might best be termed 'discretionary governance' - this blog details some of the chaos that unfolded

When science meets politics: Inside the stalled plastics treaty negotiations - Department of Environmental Science This August, delegates from 183 nations gathered in a spacious UN hall in Geneva with a daunting task: to negotiate the world’s first legally binding treaty to end plastic pollution. More than 2,600 p...

For the first time since Stockholm Univ. was awarded UN observer status, a researcher (Prado Domercq) attended negotiations on a global treaty to end plastic pollution as part of the Scientists' Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty. @marleneagerstrand.bsky.social
www.su.se/department-o...

Plastishere: “the ecosystem composed of airborne plastic and its inhabiting microbiome.”

Is a nice, concise definition... ;)

See Prof. Nina Kirchner, director of @tarfalaresstation.bsky.social, in @svtnyheter.bsky.social earlier today on how the southern peak of #Kebenekaise continues to melt. 1,5 meters since last year... 🌡️⛰️🥵

(In Swedish)

Why is CO2 not escaping to space? Answer (1 of 8): It is escaping to space, just not very fast. Thermal escape involves temperature, molecular mass, and gravity. CO2 has more molecular mass than water, hydrogen, oxygen, or nitrogen. ...

Hm. CO2 can escape to space...

www.quora.com/Why-is-CO2-n...

... just very slowly.

But it seems very likely to me that at least some CO2 that was once part of a plastic toothbrush has left the planet by now...

I had to think for a while about how this statement could possibly be true.

The only way is if you count CO2 from plastic that has been burned or mineralized as "in existence in some form".

Which is fair enough, I guess...

Tarfala's 80 Year Anniversary Conference @stockholm-uni.bsky.social @bolincentre.bsky.social has just started! Thank your our international speakers from Switzerland, Norway, Germany and UK making the first sessions really exciting! Artwork in the conference logo by @dominoajones.bsky.social

New ‘forever chemicals’ found in whale blubber challenge our understanding of PFAS - Stockholm University Scientists from Stockholm University and the Swedish Museum of Natural history, in collaboration with partners in Greenland and Canada, have identified a previously undocumented class of PFAS* in the ...

Scientists from Stockholm University + Swedish Museum of Natural history, in collaboration with partners in Greenland and Canada, have identified a previously undocumented class of #PFAS in blubber of killer whales. New study in Environmental Science & Technology Letters.
www.su.se/english/news...

Den stora kyrkflytten – Första dagen I direktsändning följer vi den världsunika flytten av Kiruna kyrka, från gamla stadskärnan till dess nya plats, fem kilometer bort. Den stora kyrkflytten tar två dagar och är en del av den omfattande ...

Fans of "slow television" are in for a treat, as Swedish TV is live-streaming the effort to move an entire church in Kiruna from one place to another over the course of two days: www.svtplay.se/video/KnDgQ9... Enjoy!

We Grant Personhood to Companies. Why Not to Nature? Giving legal rights to rivers, forests and mountains is a useful way to elevate consideration of the ecosystem.

www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

July was warm. Here are #warmingstripes @edhawkins.org showing average july temperature at #TarfalaResearchStation @stockholmuni.bsky.social @bolincentre.bsky.social. One definition of the Arctic is that July temps stay below 10 C - according to this, we are not in the Arctic...But we are...

This is figure 2, which shows the horizontal and vertical distribution of nanoplastics in the water column of the North Atlantic.

High concentrations of nanoplastic particles were found in locations across the North Atlantic Ocean, particularly in the top 10 metres of water and near coastlines, according to an analysis in Nature. go.nature.com/44ohIok 🌊 🧪

Today we made history.

Countries have come together & agreed the new Intergovernmental Science-Policy Panel on Chemicals, Waste and Pollution that will provide the 🌍 with robust, independent science.

Environmental multilateralism delivering again, #ForPeopleForPlanet.

www.unep.org/news-and-sto...

Scientists defend widely used definition of PFASs - Department of Environmental Science In a new paper published today in Environmental Science & Technology Letters, 22 scientists—including Professor Ian Cousins and Associate Professor Marlene Ågerstrand from the Department of Environmen...

In a new paper, 22 scientists—including Professor Ian Cousins and Associate Professor Marlene Ågerstrand at Department of Environmental Science @stockholm-uni.bsky.social —defend the current definition of PFASs established by the OECD. #PFAS #Chemistry
www.su.se/department-o...

Do corporations actually have more control over your health than you? From the food on supermarket shelves to the air we breathe, large companies exert a greater impact on our health than we might realise, argues health scientist Tracey Woodruff

{Corporations : Chronic Disease :: Mosquitoes : Communicable Disease}

Enlightening analogy by @traceywoodruff.bsky.social in @newscientist.com

www.newscientist.com/article/2481...

Complaints about "viewpoint diversity" were always affirmative action for conservatives

Inkscape plugin to rescale figures without distorting the text, and other useful features!
github.com/burghoff/Sci...

The MAHA report highlights the need to "understand and reduce the cumulative chemical load on our children" and calls for "new risk evaluation tools" that incorporate AI... explain to me why, then, our grant from the EPA to do pretty much EXACTLY THAT was terminated 2 months after it was awarded.

New review concludes: "Nonetheless, emerging evidence indicates microplastics interact, traverse and compromise the integrity of these complex barriers."
doi.org/10.1016/j.en...

Gaps in public trust between scientists and climate scientists: a 68 country study - IOPscienceSearch Gaps in public trust between scientists and climate scientists: a 68 country study, Ghasemi, Omid, Cologna, Viktoria, Mede, Niels G, Stanley, Samantha K, Strahm, Noel, Ross, Robert, Alfano, Mark, Kerr, John R, Marques, Mathew D, Berger, Sebastian, Besley, John C, Brick, Cameron, Joubert, Marina, Maibach, Edward, Mihelj, Sabina, Newell, Ben R, Oreskes, Naomi, Schäfer, Mike S

Proud to be a part of this important work.

iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...

🦄 Clever new accounting tricks like this intransparent mass balance scheme will not solve the #plastic crisis but rather enable increasing plastic production via #greenwashing 🔽

A discarded plastic bottle partially buried in the sand on a beach. The text on the image reads: 'Everything you need to know about plastic pollution.' At the bottom right corner, there is a small caption that says 'PhotoMat from Getty Images.

Last year alone, the world generated around 400 million tonnes of plastic waste.

Ahead of #WorldEnvironmentDay, here’s a closer look at what plastic pollution is, why it’s such a problem, and what can be done about it.
www.unep.org/news-and-sto...

Register for Tarfala Research Stations 80 Year Anniversary Conference! @stockholm-uni.bsky.social @bolincentre.bsky.social @vaw-glaciology.bsky.social @swisspolar.bsky.social @matthias-huss.bsky.social #SwedishPolarResearch #SMHI. Artwork by @dominoajones.bsky.social
bsky.app/profile/tarf...

I’m going to start using “eatings” to mean “food”.

What’s the Best Thing I Can Do for the Planet? (Gift Article) For Earth Day, we asked the experts. They shared advice on how to be the best planetary citizen possible.

I tell my students that the best things they can do for climate are to stop eating cow and dairy, stop buying so much stuff, and vote for politicians who will do something about climate change.

Cherry blossoms wih Södra Huset in the background.

Cherry blossoms near Södra Huset on the Stockholm University campus April 16 2025.

@stockholm-uni.bsky.social

#Massbalance calculations @vaw-glaciology.bsky.social @matthias-huss.bsky.social done - #Storglaciären @stockholm-uni.bsky.social @bolincentre.bsky.social had the largest winter accumulation (2.11 m w.e.) since 1992 and the fifth highest on record. More results to come soon :) Happy Easter!

Stockholm University April 15 2025.

Another view of the cherry blossoms. This time with my DSLR...