Dr. Virginia Silvis

DHS inserts staffers at FEMA in major shakeup before hurricane season | CNN Politics The homeland security officials will replace several longtime FEMA leaders, marking an inflection point in the Trump administration’s takeover of the disaster relief agency.

Losing 10-30% of the agency is very bad, don’t get me wrong, but it is arguably more critical to understand who is leaving. The drain of people who have EM experience in high level positions could single handedly make FEMA dead in the water for future responses.

www.cnn.com/2025/05/22/p...

Unsplash image of the Earth, mostly the nightside with a tracery of city lights on every continent.

OK, this is wild.

In September 2023, geophysicists across the world started monitoring a very odd signal coming from the ground under them.

It was picked up in the Arctic. And Antarctica. It was detected everywhere, every 90 seconds, as regular as a metronome, for *nine days*.

What the HELL?

1/

If you care about NOAA research and good forecasts but don't know where to start with calling your congresspeople, this statement has some good talking points! Pick one or two things to focus on, and try to emphasize how those things are important to your state!

Stand Up for NOAA Research – The Time to Act is Now The AMS is a global community committed to advancing weather, water, and climate science and service.

The 2026 budget passback plan calls for eliminating NOAA Research, the scientific backbone that keeps weather forecasts, alerts, and warnings accurate and effective. This would have disastrous consequences.

Read the AMS statement, in partnership w/ @nwas.org: bit.ly/4cz2RtC

My great-great-grandfather is still entombed in the SW PA coal mine he worked in due to a mine collapse. Given the financial hardships his family faced due to his death, he absolutely would have preferred the penthouse.

Excited for all these great sessions! #AAG2025

I didn’t realize they made knitting needles that big 🤯 What size are they?

Mourn-scrolling is exactly what I’ve been doing … I think I’m going to go for a walk too.

Thesis Defense

Oof that’s rough. Here’s hoping they channeled that rejection into an excellent dissertation offense! xkcd.com/1403/

Fuck.

All probationary federal employees at NOAA’s EMC that’s responsible for keeping all US weather model systems running have been fired with 1 hours notice. And that includes me and colleagues. We will not go quietly because we care about the NOAA mission to protect the public.

When we say disasters aren’t natural this . . .

Many areas are seeing record snowfall this winter, thanks to global warming--or rather, global weirding!

How so?

It hasn't been cold enough for lakes other than Erie to completely ice over yet. As cold air sweeps across them, it's picking up moisture and dumping massive snowfall on the other side.

not paying indirect costs for research is like only paying the players in the Super Bowl.

can't have a Super Bowl without coaches, referees, security, janitors, announcers, stadium staff, and a stadium - and you can't have research without supporting people and facilities

I would love to listen in on this forum. My work is at the local and state level so impacts to FEMA ripple down quickly.

A reminder of NOAA’s Effect on the National Economy

Their contributions impact all sorts of economic sectors, in addition to providing informative and life-saving information to the public

I present to you, with no context whatsoever

svi.cdc.gov/data-downloa...

My dogs thoughts on it being -2 deg F this morning

Living the MI snow bird dream!

Unleashing American Energy – The White House By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:  Section 1.

Energy EO holds up EV charging funding to states already appropriated by Congress. If fewer charging stations get built, fewer cars will drive on electricity. This will be bad for emissions, but it will also increase gasoline use, which will raise, gasoline prices. www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

I knit and am trying to get back to reading actual physical books. I learned the hard way that I can’t read using the kindle app on my phone as the lure of doomscrolling is too much 😅

I’m a tv/video knitter as well!

My in-laws tried to escape MI winter last year by going to Galveston. The cold weather chased them there and they spent their whole trip shivering and looking longingly at the beach. MI winters will follow you!

You have achieved the holy grail!

Hazard mitigation also saves money too: according to NIST every $1 spent on hazard mitigation saves $6.

Map showing the number of times a location has burned in SoCal and which kind of fire it was: one burning under Santa Ana winds, or one that was a summer, fuel-driven fire without Santa Ana winds. Malibu area had burned at least 8 times from 1900-2017, and has burned twice now since. Image from Kolden and Abatzoglou (2018): https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/1/2/19

Here's the reality about the #LAFires this week: this isn't the first time ANY of these places have burned. Not even close. In 2018, we mapped CA fire history to look at fire frequency across SoCal. Santa Monica Mtns area burns more than anywhere else -- up to once per decade in a given spot. 🧵

The layers of bullshit that the Right generates during every disaster makes our jobs as disaster researchers so much harder.
You have to learn about and debunk their lies. By that time people are too worn down to take in actual criticism.

I know this pain well 😭

Bless, it’s past midnight. Why am I planning my writing goals for the next month? Also, why do I think I will be able to do all the writing this month? 🤪 #academicdelusions

Show me your pet and what they are named for

Clearly she’s a princess 👸