Erica Gies / SlowWater.world's Avatar

Erica Gies / SlowWater.world

@ericagies.bsky.social

Author of "Water Always Wins," National Geographic, Explorer, TEDx speaker, independent journalist for Scientific American, Nature, NYT, the Atlantic, bioGraphic, and others. Fan of critters, plants, democracy, kindness.

7,903 Followers  |  578 Following  |  740 Posts  |  Joined: 06.07.2023
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Posts by Erica Gies / SlowWater.world (@ericagies.bsky.social)

I will always applaud a William Carlos Williams parody

03.03.2026 06:39 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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β€˜I live in constant fear’: surge in giant sinkholes threatens Turkey’s farmers Falling groundwater, extreme heat and water-intensive farming are accelerating land collapse, forcing a rethink in agricultural practices

Turkey's decades of extreme irrigation from rivers and groundwater for ag has also taken water from downstream Iraq. Now Turkey's land is barking back. Similar to subsidence (sinking ground) in California from overpumping groundwater. By @lizcookman.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...

02.03.2026 14:16 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

"... unlike human conversations, which feature different perspectives, users don’t receive pushback during conversations with chatbots: 'The design of the product is pushing you away from reality. It’s pushing you away from other people. The friction with other people is what keeps us grounded.'”

02.03.2026 14:07 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Her husband wanted to use ChatGPT to create sustainable housing. Then it took over his life. Kate Fox says Joe Ceccanti was the β€˜most hopeful person’ before he started spending 12 hours a day with a chatbot

"...he was spiraling into beliefs that were detached from reality." This is tragic, and deeply weird. It's as if humans didn't evolve for social interaction with something that isn't another living being. by Varsha Bansal www.theguardian.com/technology/n...

02.03.2026 14:07 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

They are so beautiful!

01.03.2026 21:00 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Indigenous communities oppose Papua forest rezoning for palm oil JAKARTA β€” Indigenous communities in Indonesia’s easternmost region of Papua accuse the government of underhanded zoning changes to expand the so-called food estate program there to include…

Indigenous communities in Indonesian Papua are challenging forestry decrees that reclassified more than 1 million acres as nonforest land for oil palm under the food estate program.

They say the move lacked consent and may sue if ignored, warning forests and livelihoods are at risk.

27.02.2026 00:30 β€” πŸ‘ 44    πŸ” 21    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 3
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Analysis of 261 bird species over 34 yrs shows continental decline of abundance of all birds, w/decline hotspots in southern warm parts of NAmerica & accelerating declines in Midatlantic, Midwest & California MATCHING PATTERNS OF AGRICULTURAL INTENSITY.

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

27.02.2026 17:33 β€” πŸ‘ 11    πŸ” 7    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1
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Conservation Enters a New Era - bioGraphic One year after the Trump administration slashed biodiversity protections at home and abroad, people and organizations are figuring out where to go from here.

For a century, the United States dominated & influenced conservation around the world--for better and for worse. That era is over.

@biographic.bsky.social has a special issue on the next era of conservation--what it looks like, who's funding it, & what it means for people, species, & ecosystems 🌱

27.02.2026 17:20 β€” πŸ‘ 21    πŸ” 17    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 1
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Ancient stepwells brought back to life as India begins to run out of water Centuries-old wells restored to provide drinking water as parts of the country head towards β€œday zero” when no water will be available

Great to see India's restoration of traditional water management is expanding. I wrote about Tamil Nadu's eris system for @biographic.bsky.social and in my book, Water Always Wins. Good story by @shomaabhyankar.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

26.02.2026 21:36 β€” πŸ‘ 19    πŸ” 9    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Thank you!

24.02.2026 21:08 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

This is one of the things I am constantly (including in our book, Life After Cars) trying to get people to care about! This is killing us, folks

24.02.2026 18:23 β€” πŸ‘ 203    πŸ” 34    πŸ’¬ 10    πŸ“Œ 2

Thanks, Mike. Will do.

24.02.2026 18:36 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Ha! Not yet, I’m afraid.

24.02.2026 05:31 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Kiliii YΓΌyan puts Indigenous β€˜Guardians of Life’ and their planetary stewardship in focus National Geographic photographer Kiliii YΓΌyan returns to the Mongabay Newscast to share his experience creating his new book, Guardians of Life: Indigenous Knowledge, Indigenous Science, and Restoring...

Almost three years ago I interviewed @kiliiiyuyan.bsky.social about a project he was working on documenting the traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of nine Indigenous communities worldwide. He returns to the podcast to talk about the experience, and the knowledge he's gleaned. Listen here:

23.02.2026 04:08 β€” πŸ‘ 16    πŸ” 9    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 1

I feel the same!

23.02.2026 02:37 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Nice! One time I saw ravens flying up, joining talons, and doing death drops, pulling apart just before the ground. That was outside of Victoria, BC. I am well. Hope you are too!

22.02.2026 20:49 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Some day we'll all regret this & we'll hold hearings & rend garments & pledge "never again" & we'll be just as full of shit as we were last time.

22.02.2026 19:52 β€” πŸ‘ 6273    πŸ” 2046    πŸ’¬ 117    πŸ“Œ 137

YES! My next book will be partly about this.

22.02.2026 16:24 β€” πŸ‘ 17    πŸ” 9    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 0

Aww! Beautiful! I saw two redtail hawks in an aerial dance yesterday at Lands End.

22.02.2026 16:22 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Congrats to BART rider and Oakland legend Alysa Liu on winning a gold medal at the Olympics and making the Bay Area proud!

19.02.2026 22:21 β€” πŸ‘ 7607    πŸ” 1074    πŸ’¬ 47    πŸ“Œ 133

happy Oakland creek news!

20.02.2026 05:36 β€” πŸ‘ 13    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Braided rivers look chaotic, but their food webs tell a different story.
Using stable isotopes, we found that fish, birds, and spiders connect resources across huge spatial scales β€” revealing hidden structures that help stabilise these dynamic ecosystems.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...

18.02.2026 07:11 β€” πŸ‘ 22    πŸ” 10    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0

I think we haven’t quantified all the things the land carbon sink might do yet. And the land carbon cycles in ESMs are quite linear but are missing a number of processes which could be quite non-linear.

16.02.2026 05:01 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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ᄋᅑᆫᄉα…₯α†¨α„Œα…΅α†« Bassoonjwa Seokjin Ahn on Instagram: "If "Slim Shady" had a Bassoon Solo [Oli Parker Ver.] @oliparker_music #slimshady #jazz #bassoon #music #meme" 154K likes, 1,141 comments - ahn_gooon on February 6, 2026: "If "Slim Shady" had a Bassoon Solo [Oli Parker Ver.] @oliparker_music #slimshady #jazz #bassoon #music #meme".

Little known fact about me: I played bassoon for several years, including in San Francisco’s short-lived Punk Rock Orchestra. So my brother, who played drums in PRO for a bit, sends me incredible vids like this. www.instagram.com/reel/DUbPRg1...

15.02.2026 06:06 β€” πŸ‘ 10    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Point of no return: a hellish β€˜hothouse Earth’ getting closer, scientists say Continued global heating could set irreversible course by triggering climate tipping points, but most people unaware

The only biosphere in the known universe capable of supporting human life is being turned into a hell planet because most of Earth's governments refuse to stop trying to satisfy the insatiable greed of a plutocracy composed of people who already have more money than they could spend in 20 lifetimes.

12.02.2026 07:12 β€” πŸ‘ 935    πŸ” 422    πŸ’¬ 13    πŸ“Œ 30

YOU CAN PRINT THAT... honestly, too many outlets not being able to share this obvious and dangerous truth is a big part of how we've gotten to where we are.

12.02.2026 23:56 β€” πŸ‘ 326    πŸ” 88    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 3

Serpentine! Do you know the state flower?

11.02.2026 15:31 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0

California quail!

11.02.2026 15:30 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

He also coauthored a report with his student James "Huck" Rees exploring managed retreat by Midwest towns. Published in 2019, I think?

10.02.2026 15:00 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Geomorphologist Nicholas Pinter (UC Davis, used to be Illinois Champagne-Urbana) has done some great work on managed retreat, and the Corps' history of extreme levee building. Great paper:
Nicholas Pinter, β€œOne Step Forward, Two Steps Back on U.S. Floodplains,” Science 308, no. 5719 (2005): 207–8.

10.02.2026 15:00 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0