Craig Welch
Environment writer for National Geographic. Author of Shell Games, a true detective story about wildlife smugglers. Plus: angler, runner, dad
Last synced from Twitter Not synced yet
Sliding Down the Climate Slope
Nytimes.com 54h 21 tweets
The widely recited “12-year deadline” to avert catastrophe is wrong — and right.
1
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.) 47h
Sea turtles are surviving—despite us
Animals 3d 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.
1
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 3d
As Bering Sea ice melts, Alaskans, scientists and Seattle’s fishing fleet witness changes ‘on a massive scale’
Hal Bernton - The Seattle Times 5d 3 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,...
1
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. 5d
A thread written by @queenofpeat
Merritt Turetsky - Threader.app 33d 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...
1
Craig Welch For another detailed primer on what's happening with permafrost check out this smart thread from top researcher 33d
Arctic permafrost is thawing fast. That affects us all.
Environment 39d 13 tweets
As the frozen ground warms much faster than expected, it’s reshaping the landscape—and releasing carbon gases that fuel global warming.
2
Craig Welch So, however fast well-intentioned policymakers think we need to move doesn't acct for this. And there are thresholds we don't want to cross. In other words: The best time to cut emissions? 30 yrs ago. Second best time: ASAP. Our story 38d
1
Craig Welch It’s not just that Arctic ground is thawing faster than expected. It’s that new research suggests it could release 2 to 3 times more carbon than once thought. And that msg isn’t in IPCC reports.yet. My new mag story w/amazing photos 39d
4
Craig Welch New studies say warming Arctic may release 2-3 times more carbon than thought, speeding #ClimateChange. So we may need to cut fossil fuels far faster. But IPCC reports don't include that data yet, so decision-makers may not even know. Our mag story 39d
Sea turtles are being born mostly female due to warming—will they survive?
Environment 170d 2 tweets
Climate change is causing a crisis in sea turtle sex ratios. But there are signs of hope.
2
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 170d
Flawed analysis, failed oversight: How Boeing and FAA certified the suspect 737 MAX flight control system
Dominic Gates - The Seattle Times 188d 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...
1
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. 188d
14-foot fish spotted in river, giving hope to vanished giant’s return
Environment 198d 29 tweets
Sonar readings from New York's Hudson River hint at a revival for the embattled Atlantic sturgeon.
2
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 197d
Permafrost is warming at a global scale
Nature Communications 248d 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...
1
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 248d
This baby sperm whale was tangled in ocean trash for 3 years
Environment 262d 3 tweets
Digit’s survival is critical to her family. Her story highlights the marine pollution crisis.
3
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/ 262d
We saw Earth rise over the moon in 1968. It changed everything.
Nat Geo Science - Science & Innovation 271d 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.
1
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. 271d
How Amazon forest loss may affect water—and climate—far away
Environment 306d 7 tweets
A surge in deforestation under Brazil's new president could 'tip' the Amazon, affecting weather and water supplies—in Brazil and beyond.
1
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/ 306d
1
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 306d
1
Craig Welch More recent work in here 31d
‘Cli-fi’ writers imagine unchecked climate change
Environment 326d 6 tweets
A new fiction series from top authors challenges readers to confront big questions in surprising ways.
1
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. 326d
Whale meat helped polar bears survive past warming
Environment 347d 1 tweets
But chowing on whale carcasses today won't prevent an extinction crisis. Only saving sea ice will.
2
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. 347d
Climate change impacts worse than expected, global report warns
Environment 349d 43 tweets
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says the world is headed for painful problems sooner than expected, as emissions keep rising.
3
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. 349d
Half the World's Orcas Could Soon Disappear—Here's Why
Environment 359d 2 tweets
Lingering PCB pollution poses a serious threat to the marine mammals.
1
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. 359d
Exclusive: Some Arctic Ground No Longer Freezing—Even in Winter
Environment 397d 39 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.
10
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 397d
1
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. 348d
1
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 248d
In an internal memo, the White House considered whether to simply ‘ignore’ federal climate research
Chris Mooney, Juliet Eilperin - Washington Post 486d 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...
1
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. 486d
Gov. Inslee vetoes Legislature’s controversial public-records bill
Joseph O'Sullivan - The Seattle Times 569d 1 tweets
The bill would have exempted the Legislature from Washington’s voter-approved Public Records Act, but make some records public.
1
Craig Welch Gov vetoes Washington lawmakers’ attempt to exempt themselves from open records law after thousands howl in protest. By 569d
Elusive Blue Whale Behavior Revealed by Their Songs
National Geographic News 582d 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.
1
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. 582d