Senior staff writer for @NatGeo. Author of Shell Games, a nonfiction book about wildlife smugglers. Bad angler; enthusiastic trail runner; reasonably good dad
Another piece of coronavirus misinformation is making the rounds. Here’s how to sift through the muck.
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Craig Welch1/2 How propaganda gets made. A primer.
She had a claim—that #coronavirus started in a lab.
She ignored science to the contrary.
Her work wasn't peer-reviewed.
Legit journals wouldn't publish it.
Steve Bannon did.
by @mo_brouillette@RebeccaRennerFL
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At least six groups have issued warnings about the false rumors, including some asking the public to stop sharing the misinformation.
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Craig WelchCan we stop? Firefighters battling wildfires across W. Coast say 911 is slammed w/callers asking abt *UNTRUE* rumors that "Antifa" coordinated and set fires.
WA firefighters union calls Facebook “an absolute cesspool of misinformation right now."
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Half a year into the worst public health crisis in a century, experts across the U.S. say the country can mount a comeback if it embraces reality and taps into its ingenuity.
The nation’s top public-health expert tells The Atlantic that he isn’t going anywhere, despite the Trump administration’s newest attempts to undercut him.
A drive in electric cars reveals how new ideas could help power our journey to a sustainable future.
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Craig WelchNEW. Last fall, @dguttenfelder + I crossed the U.S. to find our energy future. We hit solar + wind farms, oil fields, coal + nuke plants, steel mills, EV makers + renewable labs.
This week @natgeo released a cool version of our story just for your phone
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The effects on wildlife and the ability of forests to store CO2 from fossil fuels could be enormous.
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Craig WelchNEW: Big old trees are dying around the world, creating younger forests w/smaller trees.
That's bad for biodiversity + wildlife and hurts forests’ ability to store CO2.
My latest at @natgeo
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To halt the spread of the deadly virus, health experts say states need to hire contact tracers to quickly hunt down everyone who’s been exposed.
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Craig WelchHow do we get out of this mess? Tracing #coronavirus cases is hard. It's been politicized. But it's essential.
It may not work, "but given the lack of alternatives, we have to try.” Here's how. By me for @NatGeo
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After the 1980 eruption, a glacier formed in the shadows inside the crater. Scientists—and our photographer—have explored its icy depths.
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Craig WelchAfter Mount St. Helens’ 1980 eruption, snow filled the hole left behind. Shielded from sun by the crater rim, a fast-growing glacier emerged.
Then, hot gassy fumaroles carved massive caves in ice.
These are their stories.
By me and Eric Guth in @NatGeo
246d
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Craig WelchNEW: Ice, made by fire.
Created by Mount St. Helens’ eruption: insanely cool, sculpted ice caves. Check out the mesmerizing images by photog Eric Guth.
He and a team of experts are the only ones who’ve been allowed in these wild caves. Our @NatGeo story
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An unforeseen pairing of catastrophes will inform how Generation Z navigates the world as adults, and what sort of future they create.
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Craig WelchJust a crushing @laurajoparker@natgeo story: We see few moments in history like this. "Gen Z is going to have to find and build communities in different ways than any generation before.”
#coronavirus + #climatechange is remaking the future for the young.
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Months of testing confirm earlier suspicions that the fragments were made in modern times. What happens next?
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Craig WelchEXCLUSIVE: Today’s holy wow from @NatGeo@michaelgreshko:
*ALL* of the Dead Sea Sscrolls in Washington D.C.’s Museum of the Bible are forgeries.
All. 16. Of. Them.
Collectors, scholars and museum experts were all duped by fakes made in modern times.
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This “abrupt thaw” affects 5 percent of Arctic permafrost, but it could double the amount of warming it contributes.
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Craig WelchNEW STUDY: Permafrost thaw's contribution to climate change may be *double* what we once thought.
Top Arctic scientists spent years figuring it out. And they call the estimate conservative.
It's not getting much attention. It should. My @natgeo story (1)
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Researcher Peter Neff shares the story behind his viral "ice drop" video and drilling for ancient gases trapped in a glacier in Law Dome, Antarctica. More at...
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Craig WelchWhat do you do after long hard days drilling ice cores in Antarctica? Why, you drop ice down a hole and record the bonkers sounds it makes.
"Oh, it's weird."
Terrific, fun @uwnews video explaining @UW researcher @peter_neff's wild viral ice-drop video.
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Scientists "don’t think people realize how little time we have left,” to stop irreversible and disastrous changes to Earth’s climate systems. But there is hope.
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Craig WelchTHREAD: 4 yrs ago this week, at @cop21, I called Obama science advisor John Holdren. At interview’s end I asked what he considered the most underappreciated #ClimateChange risk. He didn’t hesitate: “feedback loops.” Last wk @StephenLeahy wrote this @natgeo
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William Ruckelshaus, the first head of the EPA who later became a heroic figure for resisting President Richard Nixon's attempts to cover up the Watergate scandal, died at his Seattle home on Wednesday. He was 87.
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Craig WelchSeattle lost a giant. He stood up to Nixon in the Saturday Night Massacre: “I could not have done anything else.” He ran EPA—twice—as a science advocate. He helped Puget Sound orcas +salmon. In interviews, he was generous.
I am thankful for his example.
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As koalas suffer in the Australian bushfires, misinformation has spread about their demise. Here’s what we know.
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Craig WelchNo, koalas aren't "functionally extinct."
No, they didn't lose "80% of habitat."
Yes, 350 to 1,000 died in wildfires. But a recent estimate, in 2016, put their numbers at 300,000-plus.
@NatGeo's @natashaldaly smartly separates fact from fuzzy fiction.
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Officials canceled the event for the first time in 14 years, citing lack of ice on ponds to harvest for ice carving.
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Craig WelchSigh. For the first time, North Pole, Alaska, canceled its "Christmas on Ice" celebration.
Ponds aren't frozen enough to gather ice.
At 65 degrees north, 125 miles south of the Arctic Circle.
In late November.
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The widely recited “12-year deadline” to avert catastrophe is wrong — and right.
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Craig WelchSmart take from Constantine Samaras and @GernotWagner on what's missing from "12 yrs to stop climate change." nytimes.com/2019/09/19/opi… Includes important graph about why risks may be even higher—and how that should motivate us more. (See my pinned Tweet for one example.) pic.twitter.com/xqqbYgTr54
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