Peter Brannen

It’s a Gas | Bill McKibben I’m writing this in the last days of the northern hemisphere’s autumn in 2025. Over recent weeks we’ve seen a hurricane hit Jamaica with wind speeds a few

recommendation: Read @billmckibben.bsky.social’s review and @peterbrannen.bsky.social’s book the story of CO2 is the story of everything

The govt lying about the killing of a U.S. citizen at the hands of the state, is by itself, a front page a story, worthy of drumbeat coverage, resignations, and impeachments.

Any prospective government shutdown should not end until and unless this ghoul is removed from public life

If the US were a geopolitical rival the headlines would be like: US Secret Police Execute Second Dissident In the Streets As Militarized Occupation Enters Sixth Week

So excited and honored by this

Thanks dude!🙏🏻

Hey Providence, Rhode Island, I'll be talking at Symposium Books tomorrow night at 6, about my book on geochemistry, organic chemistry, geology, geobiology, paleontology, paleoclimatology, evolutionary biology, thermodynamics, economics, and political economy. (unrelated book pictured)

This is great

Some very nifty visualizations of the smoking impact crater the administration has put in the country’s scientific research community for no reason whatsoever

While dinosaurs probably didn’t live in a market society they likely still had access to informal markets to sell surplus goods imho

Some of our books of the year:

Every Version of You by Grace Chan
The Story of CO2 is the Story of Everything by Peter Brannen
Positive Tipping Points by Tim Lenton
Hello Cruel World by Melinda Moyer

On today's podcast we chat about these and more... open.spotify.com/episode/2sXI...

Like all Peters' papers this one's a little mind-blowing. Where in Precambrian, volcanic CO2-turned-limestone kept piling up on seafloor & getting recycled in subduction zones, in Phanerozoic it started piling up on continental crust, leaving deep sea starved of carbonate, worsening the end-Permian

Guild member detained by ICE in Minnesota January 16, 2026 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Dylan Manshack, Comms | dmanshack@cwa-union.org | 202-445-4033 Member remains in ICE custody in Texas MINNEAPOLIS — On Friday, January 9, ICE arrested a member of our union, the Minnesota Newspaper and Communications Guild, TNG-CWA Local 37002, as part of Operation Metro Surge. While the circumstances of his arrest are not clear, we know he has been transferred to an ICE detention facility in El Paso, Texas, where he is awaiting action on his petition for habeas corpus. The Guild is not publicly identifying the member out of concern for his family’s safety, but he is a father, a husband, and a staff member at a Minneapolis non-profit organization. He is a steward in our union and an advocate for all workers. And he is one of dozens of Minnesota union members who have been detained in recent weeks. The Department of Homeland Security says it has made more than 2,000 arrests since the surge began in December, according to an MPR News report. But the agency has not provided details about the people arrested, such as how many were charged with a crime, how many face deportation, and how many were subsequently released. “The Minnesota Newspaper and Communications Guild stands with our member and his family as they face an uncertainty that is all too common in our state right now,” local president Nick Woltman said. “Like all Minnesota workers, our members deserve to feel safe in their communities both on and off the job.” “The detention of a Guild member in Minnesota amidst the chaos created by DHS is heartbreaking and infuriating,” said NewsGuild-CWA President Jon Schleuss. “My heart goes out to his family, who are now without their father and husband. As a union, we commit to fight for each other as stewards of our communities—especially in times as dark as this, while federal agents continue to target working families.” ALT TEXT CONTINUED IN NEXT POST

ICE has kidnapped one of my MN News Guild siblings

🙏🏻

The worst climate and weather news you’ll see today.

Brilliant gambit sir

A family member reacts after a federal immigration officer used a battering ram to break down a door before making an arrest on January 11, 2026, in Minneapolis.

Stunning photos from Minneapolis, including this one by John Locher for the Associated Press. www.theatlantic.com/photography/...

I also saw two archosaurs respecting each other in the Everglades

Very cool to see it out in print today. And very grateful to @billmckibben.bsky.social for such a close and thoughtful reading.

There is, in fact, plenty of money sloshing around that could do things like build a nationwide macrogrid or lots of high-speed rail

via @nathanielbullard.com

Thea Riofrancos at Providence and Matt Huber at Syracuse come to mind

Pairs well with news of the 1st private space telescope, a return to the era of Licks and Lowells. Turn out we've lived in a brief window where cosmic exploration was driven by the curiosity of citizens in a democracy, not rich eccentrics, insecure sovereigns, industries, or navies. It was awesome.

I have to say, I’m really not thrilled that my country is devolving into a lawless gangster state abroad, and at home, one officially dead set on destroying science, art, and any shared feeling of common humanity

Earth, I can't emphasize enough, is a very special place

The Tides of History @patrickwyman.bsky.social - @peterbrannen.bsky.social interview touched on this and was illuminating

open.spotify.com/episode/5yOa...

an outcrop of Miami oolite under an overpass in Brickell

The Windley Key Fossil Reef, an old limestone quarry that provides a cross-section of a coral reef from 120,000 years ago

Made a pilgrimage to 2 ghosts of sea level past & future in Florida, from last time global temp was similar to today 120,000 years ago: an outcrop of oolite in Miami from when it was a sandy shoal under the waves, and in Windley Key a fossil coral reef that now ominously sits 20 feet above sea level

It’s a Gas | Bill McKibben I’m writing this in the last days of the northern hemisphere’s autumn in 2025. Over recent weeks we’ve seen a hurricane hit Jamaica with wind speeds a few

Bill McKibben (@billmckibben.bsky.social) on why CO2—not corn, germs, guns, or cod—explains the history of everything https://go.nybooks.com/4pg5fdA

I remember being at a geological society meeting a couple years ago when @jdwitts.bsky.social mentioned these guys offhand during a talk and I did an actual spit take

Ammonite survival across the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary confirmed by new data from Denmark - Scientific Reports We provide a reassessment of the hypothesis of ammonite survival across the Cretaceous–Paleogene (Maastrichtian–Danian) boundary, based on new data from the lower Danian Cerithium Limestone Member at ...

Going to try to be resilient in 2026, like the ammonites in Denmark that survived the dinosaur-killing asteroid and limped on for another ~100,000 years www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Amazing!