Rage Against the Miocene

Congo’s largest humic lakes emit ancient peat carbon Nature Geoscience - We revealed that carbon dioxide emissions from the Congo Basin’s largest humic lakes partially originate from millennia-old peat. This discovery identifies a pathway...

In case our short communications paper was too long 😆, you can now read Research Briefing about our recent study showing aged carbon outgassing from Congo lakes!
rdcu.be/e6W6l

@jordonhemingway.bsky.social @johansix.bsky.social @usyseth.bsky.social @eth-eaps.bsky.social @natgeosci.nature.com

Although our finding represents a small negative feedback on global warming, the larger message is that there are still profound unknowns with respect to the (non-linear) responses of the carbon cycle to climate change.

(And other systems, i.e. peatlands, will respond very differently.)

New paper with our long-term collaborators from CUG Wuhan (led by Xinyue Dang), showing a threshold response in soil moisture that induces an abrupt shift in soil microbial community and methane emissions. @ogu-bristol.bsky.social @bristoluni.bsky.social @cabot-institute.bsky.social

Trump has launched an unprecedented assault on the environment. Where’s the pushback? Climate deniers expected more resistance to the fossil fuel blitz. But Democrats, billionaires and activists have gone silent

As Trump makes sweeping cuts to the climate and environmental agenda, Democrats are noticeably ‘hushed’.

All of this adds to a ‘spiral of silence’ in which people want climate action, but assume their peers do not… 🧪

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

FT comments section this morning - saying what everyone else is thinking, right?

Précis of the précis: the US wants to treat literally every other country as an enemy, while wanting every other country to treat the US like an ally.

Reform fury as someone else wins by Our By-election Editor Tim Shipsink The losing candidate in the Gorton and Denton by-election, Matt Goodwhinge, has demanded an immediate re-run of the election on the grounds that he lost comprehensively to someone else. "It's totally unfair and rigged," said Goodwhinge. "I shouldn't be required to sit there and suck it up, just because I lost." Mr Goodwhine continued, *I can't believe that all those voters I demonised failed to back me. Especially after I was endorsed by Tommy Robinson and ten million Russian bots on X. "We have clear evidence of family voting, where people voted in order for me to stop deporting their families." Mr Badloser concluded. "I'm the victim of colour prejudice. They didn't vote for me simply because I'm not green." Reform leader Mr Farage, speaking from a sun lounger on a rock near the Chagos Islands said, "It's a tragedy that the people of Manchester won't see Matt in Westminster, but my constituents don't see me in Clacton either." PLUMBER DEFEATS MATT GOODWIN Photo of Hannah Spencer with speech bubble saying… I've stopped the cock

Beautiful from Private Eye on the massive toddler-tantrum that Matt Goodwin and Reform are having, because they got whooped in Gorton and Denton.

The following is the text of the email that Penelope Hegseth sent to her son, Pete Hegseth, on April 30, 2018, as he was in the middle of divorcing his wife, Samantha. One sentence was redacted by The New York Times for privacy reasons.

Son, I have tried to keep quiet about your character and behavior, but after listening to the way you made Samantha feel today, I cannot stay silent. And as a woman and your mother I feel I must speak out.. You are an abuser of women — that is the ugly truth and I have no respect for any man that belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around, and uses women for his own power and ego. You are that man (and have been for years) and as your mother, it pains me and embarrasses me to say that, but it is the sad, sad truth. I am not a saint, far from it.. so don't throw that in my face, but your abuse over the years to women (dishonesty, sleeping around, betrayal, debasing, belittling) needs to be called out.

Sam is a good mother and a good person (under the circumstances that you created) and I know deep down you know that. For you to try to label her as "unstable" for your own advantage is despicable and abusive. Is there any sense of decency left in you? She did not ask for or deserve any of what has come to her by your hand. Neither did Meredith. I know you think this is one big competition and that we have taken her side... bunk... we are on the side of good and that is not you. (Go ahead and call me self-righteous, I dont' care) Don't you dare run to her and cry foul that we shared with us... that's what babies do. It's time for someone (I wish it was a strong man) to stand up to your abusive behavior and call it out, especially against women

We still love you, but we are broken by your behavior and lack of character. I don't want to write emails like this and never thought I would. If it damages our relationship further, then so be it, but at least I have said my piece. [Redacted] And yes, we are praying for you (and you don't deserve to know how we are praying, so skip the snarky reply) I don't want an answer to this... I don't want to debate with you. You twist and abuse everything I say anyway. But... On behalf of all the women (and I know it's many) you have abused in some way, I say... get some help and take an honest look at yourself... Mom

a man who gets an email like this from his own mother should be legally required to reveal it to every woman he ever meets ever ever

An ancient aspen tree is growing moss at the stem.

Fallen trees are covered with moss on the forest floor.

Old-growth boreal forests have so much more life in them compared to monoculture plantations. Ancient trees decay for ages on the forest floor, providing habitat for plants and animals. Vitality everywhere you look.

This summer, govt will set legally binding limits on greenhouse gas emissions for 2038-42 – critical for reaching net zero by 2050 🏭🌍 I’m part of the Environmental Audit Committee, which is urging the government to centre communities. 6 key takeaways from our report, published today 👇

The amount of misogyny is academia remains horrific -- and even worse, it is not going away with the older generation as one might have hoped. It is being recapitulated in a new generation.

just thinking about how USAID was dismantled under the rationale of cost savings but there's an unlimited budget for war

I know that the people who need to read this aren’t here, but here goes:

Rules of engagement aren’t for the enemy. They’re for you. They’re for your soldiers when they’re captured or wounded. They’re for your civilians when they’re in range of the enemy. They’re for your allies, to reassure.

A cartoon from the 1950’s that’s more relevant than ever 💔

Why Sinners should win the best picture Oscar Ryan Coogler’s artful action-horror offers superb performances, rich storytelling, historical detail – and a jook joint scene that tears the roof off

www.theguardian.com/film/2026/ma...

NANCY MACE: What is a woman? Have you learned that lesson?

WALZ: I'm the governor of Minnesota. I'm not here to be a prop for your obsession.

BBC One - Question Time, 2026, 05/03/2026 Fiona Bruce presents an hour of topical debate from Kettering.

I'm on Question Time tomorrow. Hold onto your seats! www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

In case you're wondering where Australian universities stand given 28 months of livestreamed genocide, scholasticide & ecocide

The sea is higher than we thought and millions more are at risk, study finds A new study in the journal Nature says most sea level rise research may have underestimated coastal water heights by an average of 1 foot or about 30 centimeters.

Good news everyone!

Did you know that the US has not mined arsenic since 1985? Now it’s on the critical minerals list because we rely on imports to make herbicides, insecticides, and wood preservatives and semiconductors

"The story of the Zong is often narrated as a triumph over slavery. A triumph that took 52 years and resulted in compensation for slave owners only... 245 years after the events of the Zong, humanity is still discarding lives deemed not human enough to the open seas, to fire, to hunger, to war."

Although our finding represents a small negative feedback on global warming, the larger message is that there are still profound unknowns with respect to the (non-linear) responses of the carbon cycle to climate change.

(And other systems, i.e. peatlands, will respond very differently.)

Changes in simulated natural grassland area and soil moisture under different SSP scenarios based on the outputs of the UKESM1 model. (A1) Spatial distribution of average natural grassland area percentages during the historical period (1950–2014), (A2) spatial distribution of average change in natural grassland areas under the SSP1-2.6 projection (2070–2100) compared to the historical period, (A3) spatial distribution of average change in natural grassland areas under the SSP5-8.5 projection (2070–2100) compared to the historical period, (B1) spatial distribution of average moisture in the upper portion of soil column during the historical period (1950–2014), (B2) spatial distribution of average change in soil moisture under the SSP1-2.6 projection (2070–2100) compared to the historical period, (B3) spatial distribution of average change in soil moisture under the SSP5-8.5 projection (2070–2100) compared to the historical period, and (C) percent of total global natural grassland areas with soil moisture in the upper soil column in excess of 10, 20, 30, and 40 kg/m2 during the historical period (1950–2014) and under the SSP1-2.6 and SSP5-8.5 projections (2015–2100) - all show decreasing trends. It should be noted that results are subject to model-specific uncertainties.

These findings have implications for future warming, mediated by hydroclimate-biogeochemical feedbacks. It is too soon to constrain those with certainty, but at least model simulations suggest this could be a negative feedback, with drier soils causing lower methane emissions or even uptake.

Sketch map of sampling sites. (A) The sketch map of Lake Qinghai and the location of sampling sites, (B) the location of all soil moisture gradient transects during two field trips, and (C) a picture of one of the soil moisture gradient transects.

Our results highlight the potential for abrupt feedback mechanisms that can alter the terrestrial methane cycle. As soil moisture increases above 30%, the microbial community and diagnostic archaeal and bacterial lipids in indicate a dramatic microbial shift.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

New paper with our long-term collaborators from CUG Wuhan (led by Xinyue Dang), showing a threshold response in soil moisture that induces an abrupt shift in soil microbial community and methane emissions. @ogu-bristol.bsky.social @bristoluni.bsky.social @cabot-institute.bsky.social

Black Spleenwort, Asplenium adiantum-nigrum. Such a pretty fern. On the walls of St George's Brede, East Sussex. Its not rare at all but I don't see it much. I think that's because it often gets removed from church walls; probrably its main substrate. Well done St George's for leaving it.

And yet, as the EU considers a ban on non-essential uses of PFAS, the industry falls into hysterical predictions this will lead directly to the total collapse of medical systems. For the record, the ban would apply to non-essential uses only & firms have long transition times to find alternatives.

Mosses Play Key Roles in Ecosystems from Tropics to Tundra - Eos A global survey of mosses growing on soil found that the somewhat underappreciated plants cover a vast area and perform tasks such as sequestering carbon.

Mosses Play Key Roles in Ecosystems from Tropics to Tundra eos.org/articles/mos...

A Saudi official saying this on Al Jazeera, a Qatari media outlet, is far more telling than any nugget of information carefully leaked to an American media outlet.

This war will permanently alter the relationship of the Gulf states, the US, and Israel.