Craig Welch
Environment writer for National Geographic. Author of Shell Games, a true detective story about wildlife smugglers. Plus: angler, runner, dad
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Sea turtles are being born mostly female due to warming—will they survive?
Environment 104d 2 tweets
Climate change is causing a crisis in sea turtle sex ratios. But there are signs of hope.
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Craig Welch Sea turtles are turning female. We ruin nesting beaches, steal eggs, carve adults for meat, catch them in nets. Yet "I think (sea) turtles, of all the species, might actually have a pretty good shot." They just need help. My story pic 104d
Flawed analysis, failed oversight: How Boeing and FAA certified the suspect 737 MAX flight control system
Dominic Gates - The Seattle Times 122d 33 tweets
Federal Aviation Administration managers pushed its engineers to delegate wide responsibility for assessing the safety of the 737 MAX to Boeing itself. But safety engineers familiar with the documents shared details that show the analysis included...
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Craig Welch *MUST READ*: The FAA let Boeing itself certify a dangerous flight control system now suspect in 2 crashes. Brought to you by who has followed Boeing for 2 decades and started asking questions even BEFRE the Ethiopian Air crash. 122d
14-foot fish spotted in river, giving hope to vanished giant’s return
Environment 132d 29 tweets
Sonar readings from New York's Hudson River hint at a revival for the embattled Atlantic sturgeon.
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Craig Welch Environmental news is often bleak. So savor the surprises. Here are 2, from , told exceptionally well this week: On seeing a 14-foot sturgeon in the Hudson: "Even a century ago (that) was considered a rarity...now, it was unimaginable." 1/2 131d
Permafrost is warming at a global scale
Nature Communications 182d 5 tweets
Climate change strongly impacts regions in high latitudes and altitudes that store high amounts of carbon in yet frozen ground. Here the authors show that the consequence of these changes is global warming of permafrost at depths greater than 10 m...
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Craig Welch New first-of-its-kind global study confirms our story from August: permafrost is thawing fast, especially in Siberia, and snow is helping drive the change, driving fresh worries abt greenhouse gases. h/t 182d
This baby sperm whale was tangled in ocean trash for 3 years
Environment 196d 3 tweets
Digit’s survival is critical to her family. Her story highlights the marine pollution crisis.
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Craig Welch He named Digit the sperm whale after Dian Fossey’s favorite silverback—forgetting what humans ultimately did to that mountain gorilla. For 3 years she was trapped in ocean debris. This is her odyssey. My story w/ 196d
We saw Earth rise over the moon in 1968. It changed everything.
Nat Geo Science - Science & Innovation 205d 1 tweets
The famous Christmas Eve snapshot took 90 seconds to make and kicked off five decades of awareness of our planet’s beauty and fragility.
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Craig Welch 50 years ago TONIGHT: an image that changed our perspective on the world—a postcard from the first souls to leave Earth behind. "Clearly the most important photograph ever made.” A lovely essay about humanity finding its place. 205d
How Amazon forest loss may affect water—and climate—far away
Environment 240d 4 tweets
A surge in deforestation under Brazil's new president could 'tip' the Amazon, affecting weather and water supplies—in Brazil and beyond.
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Craig Welch Thomas Lovejoy, the "Godfather of Biodiversity": Clearing 20% of original Amazon could shift world's largest rainforest to savanna—and a massive carbon sink to a source. We're already at 17%—possibly more. My story w/ 240d
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Craig Welch Brazil's new prez wants to cut down more rainforest. But even a small increase could shift the Amazon to a different type of landscape, devastating water and climate far away. It's "not a crazy, hair-brained possibility—it' a very real one." Me 240d
‘Cli-fi’ writers imagine unchecked climate change
Environment 260d 6 tweets
A new fiction series from top authors challenges readers to confront big questions in surprising ways.
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Craig Welch "If things are hopeless, it means we've done everything we can, but [w/ climate change] we know we haven’t." Novelist @1JessWalter talks w/ about climate change, literary fiction and finding hope when we're all villains in the same story. 260d
Whale meat helped polar bears survive past warming
Environment 281d 1 tweets
But chowing on whale carcasses today won't prevent an extinction crisis. Only saving sea ice will.
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Craig Welch How did polar bears survive early warm eras? Perhaps by munching on whale carcasses on the beach–each as nutritious as 1,300 ringed seals. Could this get them through climate change? Probably not, says And that's on us. My story. 281d
Climate change impacts worse than expected, global report warns
Environment 283d 43 tweets
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says the world is headed for painful problems sooner than expected, as emissions keep rising.
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Craig Welch This smart, clear story w/ and concisely lays out where we are and where we need to be—and the massive gulf between. Please read it and tell others. Now. Seriously. The clock is ticking. 283d
Half the World's Orcas Could Soon Disappear—Here's Why
Environment 293d 2 tweets
Lingering PCB pollution poses a serious threat to the marine mammals.
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Craig Welch PCBs could wipe out half of all killer whale populations in 30 to 50 years, according to new research in top journal. And that's not even the chief threat to many populations. My story. 293d
Exclusive: Some Arctic Ground No Longer Freezing—Even in Winter
Environment 331d 38 tweets
New data from two Arctic sites suggest some surface layers are no longer freezing. If that continues, greenhouse gases from permafrost could accelerate climate change.
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Craig Welch “Astounding” find in Russia and Alaska: some Arctic ground isn’t freezing—in winter. This ground is what insulates carbon-rich permafrost below from heat at the surface—permafrost that holds its own vast stores of greenhouse gases. My story 331d
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Craig Welch Tracking today's huge #climatechange news? Here's how VERY quickly things are changing. My story from a few weeks ago: "Astounding" find in Russia and Alaska: Some Arctic ground w/vast stores of carbon isn't freezing-–even in winter. 282d
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Craig Welch New first-of-its-kind global study confirms our story from August: permafrost is thawing fast, especially in Siberia, and snow is helping drive the change, driving fresh worries abt greenhouse gases. h/t 182d
In an internal memo, the White House considered whether to simply ‘ignore’ federal climate research
Chris Mooney, Juliet Eilperin - Washington Post 420d 25 tweets
White House officials last year weighed whether to simply “ignore” the climate findings emerging from federal agencies under President Trump or instead develop “a coherent, fact-based message about climate science,” according to a memo obtained by...
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Craig Welch “The scientific evidence about accelerating effects of CO2 and greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is so strong, and so prevalent, that it would be impossible to hush it up even if you wanted to,” says chief. 420d
Gov. Inslee vetoes Legislature’s controversial public-records bill
Joseph O'Sullivan - The Seattle Times 503d 1 tweets
The bill would have exempted the Legislature from Washington’s voter-approved Public Records Act, but make some records public.
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Craig Welch Gov vetoes Washington lawmakers’ attempt to exempt themselves from open records law after thousands howl in protest. By 503d
Elusive Blue Whale Behavior Revealed by Their Songs
National Geographic News 516d 1 tweets
By analyzing thousands of calls from more than 100 whales over 14 years, scientists are learning how these secretive beasts spend their time.
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Craig Welch The biggest animal to ever live sings at sunset, babbles at night, talks quietly with close comrades, and shouts to colleagues 60 miles away. Some new blue whale revelations from me to end your week. 516d
Why Cape Town Is Running Out of Water, and Who’s Next
National Geographic News 530d 13 tweets
The South African city plans to shut off the taps to 4 million people. But it's just one of many cities around the world facing a future with too little water.
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Craig Welch Cape Town just bought itself a few weeks. But 4 million people in one of Africa's wealthiest cities may still have to stand in line protected by armed guards to get ... drinking water. Welcome to the new urban scramble for water. My story. 527d
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Craig Welch 4 million people in one of Africa's wealthiest cities may stand in line surrounded by armed guards to get ... drinking water. Who is next? Jakarta? Melbourne? Sao Paulo? Welcome to the new urban scramble for water. My story. 530d
99% of These Sea Turtles Are Turning Female—Here’s Why
National Geographic News 555d 9 tweets
At the Pacific Ocean's largest green sea turtle rookery, a crisis is unfolding, likely thanks to warming temperatures. Will this become a global problem?
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Craig Welch The world's largest green turtle nest site now has 116 females for every male. A surprising new climate change tragedy. My story, w/great video 555d
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Craig Welch But some of us still try every day. ;) My effort today 555d
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Craig Welch Females at the world's largest green sea turtle nest site outnumber males 116 to 1, thanks to climate change. What's next for species whose sex is temperature-dependent—turtles, alligators, crocodiles, iguanas and some fish? My story. 555d
Climate Change Is Suffocating Large Parts of the Ocean
National Geographic News 559d 10 tweets
A new study says warming has reduced the oxygen levels in large swaths of the deep ocean, threatening marine life around the world.
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Craig Welch Climate change has expanded low-oxygen zones in the ocean by 4.5 MILLION square kilometers in 50 years. "If we were creating vast areas on land that were uninhabitable by most animals, we'd notice." 559d
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Craig Welch Low-oxygen zones in the ocean grew 4.5 MILLION square kilometers. The cost: tuna, sharks, herring, swordfish, cod, shad pushed to narrow areas at surface. Fish get smaller, have shorter lifespans, more disease. There are fewer of them. My story 559d
See the Arctic Refuge’s Fragile Beauty
Photography 571d 2 tweets
President Trump signed a tax bill Friday that includes a provision to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to significant oil drilling for the first time. Here's what's at stake.
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Craig Welch Some of the most stunning footage you'll see anywhere of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which the GOP this week voted to open to oil and gas drilling. Our look at what hangs in the balance. 571d
9 Countries and the EU Are Protecting the Arctic Ocean Before the Ice Melts
National Geographic News 586d 5 tweets
Climate change is so quickly melting the far north that key nations just agreed to prohibit commercial fishing in the high seas of the Arctic for at least 16 years.
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Craig Welch How about this for big moments in human history? The countries of the world just banned commercial fishing at the North Pole - the NORTH POLE. We are, quite literally, moving into uncharted waters. My analysis this a.m. 586d
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Craig Welch 9 nations (including the U.S. and EU) just banned commercial fishing in the Arctic Ocean. It's an extraordinary act of conservation. But consider why it was necessary: The world is "headed, quite literally, into uncharted waters." My update 280d