Craig Welch
Senior staff writer for . Author of Shell Games, a nonfiction book about wildlife smugglers. Bad angler; enthusiastic trail runner; reasonably good dad
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Fauci: ‘Bizarre’ White House Behavior Only Hurts the President
The Atlantic 20d 47 tweets
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.
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Craig Welch This is ... pretty incredible. 20d
Hit the road on a cross-country trip to the future
Science 50d 1 tweets
A drive in electric cars reveals how new ideas could help power our journey to a sustainable future.
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Craig Welch NEW. Last fall, + 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 released a cool version of our story just for your phone 50d
National Geographic | National Geographic
Email.nationalgeographic.com 67d 1 tweets
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Craig Welch One of 's most thoughtful photographers—who has shot wars, conflict and protests in Europe, Africa, Asia and across the Middle East—is shooting heartbreaking images of rage, frustration and sadness in his hometown: Minneapolis. Pics: 67d
The grand old trees of the world are dying, leaving forests younger and shorter
Nat Geo Science - Science 68d 3 tweets
The effects on wildlife and the ability of forests to store CO2 from fossil fuels could be enormous.
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Craig Welch NEW: 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 68d
Contact tracing for COVID-19 will be the most complex health investigation ever
Nat Geo Science - Science 71d 6 tweets
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 Welch How 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 71d
See the eerie ice caves carved by Mount St. Helens’s fiery breath
Nat Geo Science - Science 78d 2 tweets
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 Welch After 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 78d
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Craig Welch NEW: 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 story 78d
For young people, two defining events: COVID-19 and climate change
Nat Geo Science - Science 99d 1 tweets
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 Welch Just a crushing 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. 99d
Farmworkers risk coronavirus infection to keep the U.S. fed
Nat Geo Science - Science 115d 2 tweets
"If we’re essential, we need help, because we’re the people feeding the country,” says Eugenia Gonzales.
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Craig Welch My colleague explored exactly what they face earlier this week. Worth a read 115d
Exclusive: 'Dead Sea Scrolls' at the Museum of the Bible are all forgeries
History 145d 17 tweets
Months of testing confirm earlier suspicions that the fragments were made in modern times. What happens next?
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Craig Welch EXCLUSIVE: Today’s holy wow from : *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. 145d
The Arctic’s thawing permafrost is releasing a shocking amount of dangerous gases
Nationalgeographic.com 181d 5 tweets
This “abrupt thaw” affects 5 percent of Arctic permafrost, but it could double the amount of warming it contributes.
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Craig Welch NEW 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 story (1) 181d
Ancient ice and viral videos in Antarctica
YouTube 236d 2 tweets
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 Welch What 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 video explaining researcher 's wild viral ice-drop video. 235d
Climate change driving entire planet to dangerous 'tipping point‘
Nat Geo Science - Science 251d 39 tweets
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 Welch THREAD: 4 yrs ago this week, at , 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 wrote this 239d
William Ruckelshaus, Nixon nemesis who headed EPA, dies at 87
The Seattle Times 251d 1 tweets
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 Welch Seattle 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. 251d
No, koalas aren't 'functionally extinct'—yet
Animals 253d 3 tweets
As koalas suffer in the Australian bushfires, misinformation has spread about their demise. Here’s what we know.
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Craig Welch No, 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. 's smartly separates fact from fuzzy fiction. 253d
Interior Alaska is too warm for North Pole’s annual Christmas ice park
Alaska Dispatch News - Anchorage Daily News 256d 5 tweets
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 Welch Sigh. 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. 255d
Statement from Dean Charles Whitaker on The Daily Northwestern's coverage of campus events - Medill - Northwestern University
Medill.northwestern.edu 266d 45 tweets
Medill Dean Charles Whitaker's statement on The Daily Northwestern's coverage of campus events
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Craig Welch Pretty terrific statement from the dean, with a fair-minded bit of criticism aimed at everyone, including us: I don't envy these students. But I wish them well. If they come out of this stronger, we all win. 266d
Sliding Down the Climate Slope
Nytimes.com 321d 30 tweets
The widely recited “12-year deadline” to avert catastrophe is wrong — and right.
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Craig Welch Smart take from Constantine Samaras and on what's missing from "12 yrs to stop climate change." Includes important graph about why risks may be even higher—and how that should motivate us more. (See my pinned Tweet for one example.) 320d
Sea turtles are surviving—despite us
Animals 321d 1 tweets
These reptiles have roamed the oceans for 100 million years. We've put them at risk, but with a little help, they're rebounding.
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Craig Welch THE NEWS ISN'T ALL BAD. Sea turtles mistake plastic for jellyfish, get balloons stuck in intestines, snap flippers in fishing nets, get smashed by ships. BUT we know how to help, and it works—when we do it. My mag story w/magical pics 321d
As Bering Sea ice melts, Alaskans, scientists and Seattle’s fishing fleet witness changes ‘on a massive scale’
Hal Bernton - The Seattle Times 324d 5 tweets
With winter ice largely gone for two years, a food chain is at risk. What lies ahead for a body of water that produces some of the world’s biggest seafood harvests and helps sustain communities ranging from Alaska to Seattle,...
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Craig Welch Halibut crashing. Birds dying. An entire world that supplies most U.S. seafood is spiraling. “As a scientist, I’m fascinated...as a human being, I’m depressed.” - Fantastic story on the dramatic shifts in an ice-free Bering Sea. 324d
A thread written by @queenofpeat
Merritt Turetsky - Threader.app 351d 1 tweets
It's the perfect morning for a permafrost twitter-tour! So what is permafrost? Permafrost is frozen ground that remains in a frozen state for multiple years. But it's way more complicated than that. You can be walking on permafrost & not even know...
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Craig Welch For another detailed primer on what's happening with permafrost check out this smart thread from top researcher 351d