iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 18h

“After the Eaton wildfire tore through the Angeles national forest and scorched parts of Altadena, wildlife sought shelter in the community…at least two 500-plus-pound black bears sought refuge in homes evacuated during the wildfire.” One may have returned again. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

theguardian.com

‘He’s unbearable’: bear that went viral for living under LA home is back

‘Yellow 2120’ has been driven out of other Altadena neighborhood crawlspaces, but he just keeps coming back

031

Reposted by Lawrence Culver

LAist @laist.com · 19h

A community-led effort that tested water runoff from the burned Lineage cold-storage facility found that elevated levels of metals made their way to the Los Angeles River. 🔗 Find out more: vist.ly/5kdex ✍️ Alejandra Molina | Boyle Heights Beat 📸 Steve Saldivar/The LA Local

Person in protective gear testing ground near LA River with visible debris.

1910

Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 19h

Sometimes art DOES imitate life The US federal government’s AI website using “Boomer falls on butt due to lawnchair collapse” as an error image effectively summarizes our civilizational collapse, does it not?

061

Reposted by Lawrence Culver

Erik Loomis @erikloomis.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

This Day in Labor History: September 29, 1917. The Army intervenes in the strikes of the Northwest forests and sends in the military to get out the wood for airplanes. It both busted the IWW and also massively improved conditions on the ground for workers. Let's talk about this unusual moment!

317557

Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

“People are cutting back on food or medicine or resorting to payday lenders because you need to get the power back on…Poorer people and older people aren’t turning on the AC because of the cost and when you get back-to-back heatwaves they may die because of that.” www.theguardian.com/environment/...

theguardian.com

‘It’s just cruel’: US households hit by surge in electricity shutoffs amid record hot summer

Utility disconnections were up 28% in 10 states in July 2026 – the hottest month ever recorded in the US – compared with July 2024, data shows

033

Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

With “11,000 Starlink satellites in orbit, or a company who wants to provide artificial sunlight on demand,” dark nights are disappearing: “Things we launch into space aren’t required to have an environmental review even when they affect life back on Earth.” www.theguardian.com/environment/...

theguardian.com

The night sky is getting 10% brighter every year. We’re forgetting what darkness feels like

If more cities start regulating outdoor lighting, we humans could make the environment better for all living creatures

055

Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

“The goal wasn’t to apply Indigenous motifs to a building…but to create architecture that reflected the nation’s vision for contemporary living… Rather than trying to recreate a historic Sḵwx̱wú7mesh village, the challenge was to imagine what one might look like in the 21st century.”

040

Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

“Between 2010 and 2020, 6 fossil fuel companies alone gave more than $700m to US universities, helping to legitimize industry solutions to the climate crisis and undermine regulation…giving outside actors control over decisions such as hiring and curricula.” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

theguardian.com

Decades of fossil fuel influence paved way for Trump’s assault on university research, study says

Fossil fuel firms have spent years trying to regulate climate research by donating to US universities, study authors argue

030

Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Save real estate or the beach? “A sandy coastline can survive rising sea levels by retreating inland. But creating a seawall or some other barrier draws a firm line on the shore—the ocean on one side, the armored coast on the other, with no more space for the sand.” www.latimes.com/california/s...

latimes.com

California's plan to save coastal homes from El Niño could end up killing beaches

With California’s coast getting pounded by strong waves amid a strengthening El Niño, residents and city leaders are turning to big rocks and seawalls to protect homes and keep railroads from falling ...

140

Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

“In the El Niño winters in the northern Pacific…we tend to have more storms and big storm waves in the ocean than we typically do. So you add that on top of this elevated sea level…then you just expose places to more of the ocean’s energy and simple inundation.” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

theguardian.com

Concern mounts over slow-moving, planetary-scale ‘Kelvin’ wave heading for California

The ocean phenomenon could raise sea levels by up to a foot as El Niño keeps warm water trapped along the coast

052

Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Gift article: “Residents are fighting to protect their seafront property and calling for emergency armoring of the shore…But such emergency measures could also hasten the beach’s deterioration, experts say.” www.nytimes.com/2026/09/25/u...

nytimes.com

Beaches Are Disappearing in Southern California as El Niño Bears Down (Gift Article)

Beachfront homeowners and beachcombers are watching the sand vanish into the ocean as torrid waves strike the coast.

032

Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

As a historian I’m obviously biased, but there’s simply no way you get an engineering omnishambles f*cktangle like Glen Canyon Dam unless you have a bunch of engineers who know *nothing* about the human or natural history of the Colorado River.

0176

Reposted by Lawrence Culver

This Many Years Ago @thismanyyearsago.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

64 years ago, on the 27th of September 1962, Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring was published. It handled the environmental harm caused by the pesticide DDT and the disinformation spread by the chemical industry. Carson managed to sway public opinion and even policy. #otd #history 🗃️

Rachel Carson photo credit: Science History Images / Alamy

7633361265

Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Gift link: “The gyrations El Niño brings are coming on top of an ocean and atmosphere already warmed by greenhouse gas emissions. That means the effects of an El Niño…can potentially be more severe than they would have been in an earlier, cooler time for the planet.” www.nytimes.com/2026/09/26/c...

nytimes.com

How El Niño Is Shaping Storms on Two Sides of the U.S. (Gift Article)

Hurricanes near Hawaii. A nor’easter on the East Coast. The ocean phenomenon’s influence on storms around the country may just be getting started.

022

Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

“Datacenter developers are manipulating the EPA’s air pollution permitting process to avoid emission controls and scrutiny”… “These regulatory maneuvers make it less clear how much pollution residents living near the facilities are exposed to.” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

theguardian.com

Datacenter developers accused of skirting key US pollution rules

Firms manipulating process to avoid emission controls and scrutiny of their projects, environmental groups warn

020

Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

“Workers are caught on the frontlines of a heat crisis that is expected to drive up heat-related illnesses and deaths…as the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress are rolling back federal rules meant to protect workers from heat injury and illnesses.” www.theguardian.com/environment/...

theguardian.com

‘Your body fights to stay cool’: workers toil in record heat as federal rule frozen

Trump officials and Republicans are rolling back protections against heat-related illnesses and deaths

052

Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

El Niño not as disaster, but opportunity: “L.A. County uses a network of 27 spreading grounds, where artificial basins fill up when storms send torrents cascading down from mountains into the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys. The water sinks into porous soil and replenishes the groundwater.”

053

Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Gift link: “The hotel room too hot to sleep in, the hiking trail closed because of wildfire risk…sightseeing that becomes exhausting or potentially unsafe in extreme heat”…“climate comfort will become a new dimension of luxury, alongside space, privacy and service.” www.nytimes.com/2026/09/25/t...

nytimes.com

How Climate Change Is Disrupting Summer Travel (Gift Article)

Once dismissed as occasional inconveniences, climate-related disruptions are now an inescapable fixture of summer travel. How will travelers respond?

032

Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

“It’s possible that these first recorded US coastal nests could herald a broader northward shift in the olive ridley turtle’s nesting patterns, driven by climate crisis and the warming ocean waters in the turtles’ native nesting areas.” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

theguardian.com

In historic first, tropical turtles spotted nesting on California beaches

What caused the turtles to begin nesting farther north than usual is the ‘million dollar question’

030

Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Gift article: Tribes “are already reaping the benefits of stronger fall chinook runs. The Yurok in August held their annual salmon festival; for the first time in years, they actually served salmon. They’re also distributing salmon to elders and schools.” www.nytimes.com/2026/09/24/c...

nytimes.com

Salmon Are Thriving After Klamath Dam Removals, Study Finds (Gift Article)

The first fall runs of chinook salmon since the project in California and Oregon was completed have surpassed researchers’ expectations.

02512

Reposted by Lawrence Culver

@LAhistory @lahistory.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Loved seeing the “Great Wall of Los Angeles” exhibit at the new @lucasmuseum.bsky.social yesterday! Great to see these #GreatWallofLA panels up close. #museumsky #LucasMuseum

Located on the 4th floor, this color photo shows the architectural model of the new Lucas Museum designed by Ma Yansong of Chinese architecture firm MAD Architects. Tiny trees and tiny silver automobiles can be seen around the model.

As part of the Great Wall of Los Angeles exhibit on the 5th floor, this panel shows the final coloration for Chavez Ravine and the Division of the Barrios (1983/2017).

Detailed description of this panel from greatwallinstitute.sparcinla.org explains: “In the mural, new Los Angeles freeways encircle and divide a Mexican American family. Freeways built for suburban workers devastated ethnic working-class communities.” https://greatwallinstitute.sparcinla.org/virtual-tour/civil-rights-forebears/

As part of the Great Wall of Los Angeles exhibit on the 5th floor, this panel shows the final coloration for “Forebears of Civil Rights.” This panel features Paul Robeson and Big Mama Thornton along with the South Los Angeles community.

Detailed description of this panel from greatwallinstitute.sparcinla.org explains: “Referencing a work by artist Charles White, a Black woman uplifts South Los Angeles, reflecting the consistent community activism of everyday Black women in volunteer sororities and church organizations.” https://greatwallinstitute.sparcinla.org/virtual-tour/civil-rights-forebears/

As part of the Great Wall of Los Angeles exhibit on the 5th floor, this panel shows the final coloration for the Red Scare and McCarthyism (1983).

Detailed description of this panel from greatwallinstitute.sparcinla.org explains: “The Red Scare and McCarthyism blankets the U.S. Joseph McCarthy, a conservative Senator, leads public hearings condemning so-called Communists and their sympathizers as un-American. Among these were the ‘Hollywood Ten,’ a group of producers, directors, writers, and actors that were blacklisted, shunned, fined, and jailed for refusing to incriminate their friends and colleagues. They represent the thousands of others who suffered similar attacks.” https://greatwallinstitute.sparcinla.org/virtual-tour/civil-rights-forebears/

184

Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

“Assembly Bill 2494 would have eliminated…a logging mandate in favor of prioritizing carbon storage, wildfire resilience and biodiversity conservation… and agreements with Native American tribes to integrate their traditional knowledge into managing the land.” www.latimes.com/environment/...

latimes.com

In blow to tribes, Newsom vetoes bill that would have remade little-known state forests

Gov. Gavin Newsom said AB 2494 could have hampered research in demonstration forests, dealing a setback to tribes and environmentalists pushing to curb commercial logging.

031

Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

A success story about land return and Indigenous land practices before and after the Altadena fire near its ignition point at Eaton Canyon, a tract with invasive eucalyptus trees and native oaks: “Huhuungna, the “Place of the Bears,” in our Tongva language.” www.huntington.org/watch-read-l...

huntington.org

042

Reposted by Lawrence Culver

Bloomberg News @bloomberg.com · 23/09/2026

AI data centers release superheated plumes of air that can blow across property lines, threatening to exacerbate the urban heat island effect in cities

bloom.bg

AI Data Centers Release Heat, Posing New Problem for Cities

As facilities to power AI grow larger and are built in clusters, they are spreading hot air beyond their property lines

64835

Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

“Chinook salmon have been laying eggs in gravelly nests in the Sacramento River for millennia. But California’s biggest river is now so warm that biologists expect a significant number of the eggs won’t hatch: “The fish are not being protected…We know that those eggs are getting cooked.”

041

Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Known today for traffic jams and motorist misery, it’s hard to imagine that this monument to LA and US oil & car culture was once featured in the triumphant conclusion of “How the West Was Won” as a symbol of Anglo-American triumph over the wilderness. (It appears at 2:45.) youtu.be/8t_qToyqiOU?...

youtu.be

How the West Was Won (1962) --- the grand finale

YouTube video by edwc0322

172

Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Elysian Park’s history, from early LA Park system showcase to Pasadena Freeway sacrifice zone to a sometimes overlooked swath of precious open space in a sea of sprawl is a great encapsulation of the value of LA’s parks, despite a history of neglect and limited acquisition of land for new parks.

010

Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Gift link: Britain’s hospitals, “built for a cooler climate, are ill equipped to cope with climate change. Few have air-conditioning, and many become alarmingly hot in the summer while also struggling with an influx of patients arriving with heat-related problems.” www.nytimes.com/2026/09/21/w...

nytimes.com

‘Way Too Hot’: Britain’s Hospitals Were Not Built for 96-Degree Summers (Gift Article)

Patients and workers in one of the country’s largest hospitals sweltered in a heat wave last month. Experts say the whole country must urgently adapt.

085

Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

“This event is a huge redistribution of energy in the climate system…unfolding on top of a much warmer, human-influenced climate…we will see never-before-experienced heat extremes, with all their consequences on health, food security and water stress.” www.theguardian.com/environment/...

theguardian.com

‘Jaw-dropping’ El Niño bursts through temperature record months before peak

‘Godzilla-level’ phenomenon is supercharging the climate crisis and will have a huge impact on communities across the world

074

Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

“LA County has one of the nation’s largest urban flood control systems—14 dams, about 180 debris-catching basins, nearly 500 miles of channels, plus an astonishing 3,330 miles of underground storm drains.” Yet in a truly historic flood event, it may not be enough. www.latimes.com/environment/...

latimes.com

Clearing out the mountain basins in case El Niño brings flooding rain

L.A. County is preparing for storms and possible floods during El Niño. Crews are digging massive amounts of accumulated sediment out of the county's dams.

3229

Reposted by Lawrence Culver

Ian James @ianjames.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

"A red flag for the future." New research based on satellite data reveals California needs years of heavy snow to recoup groundwater. Scientists say it suggests recharging depleted aquifers will become more difficult as global warming brings more rain and less snow. www.latimes.com/environment/...

latimes.com

For the first time, scientists link heavy snow to groundwater in California

Scientists are finding that snowfall is more connected to water underground than we knew. Using satellite data, they found groundwater levels actually rise during big snow years, in contrast to most y...

14628

Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Climate change, fires, and less food and water in the wild have increased bear visits to Southern California backyards: “Pet food left outside, koi ponds, fruit trees with a lot of fruit on them, swimming pools, all these things can be attractive to bears.” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

theguardian.com

Bear-y good neighbors: humans and animals are learning to live together in an expanding LA

People are increasingly crossing paths with the wild animals as homes ring the outskirts of forests, sparking a new era of coexistence

140

Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

From rich homeowners in Bel-Air to redlined ones in Watts, the history of California’s public home insurer of last resort—now ballooning in size as insurers exit the state and disasters keep piling up. Its potential losses currently total $788 billion.

060

Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

As insurers exit even low risk areas of California, homeowners face dubious choices: “Hwang’s policy was sold by a Nebraska startup, Summit Specialty, with no track record paying for California risks, capitalized by private equity whose investment portfolio includes mail-order steak.”

030

Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Gift article: “There’s nothing in the flood buyout program that’s explicitly racist like there was in government programs in the 1930s and 40s…But that doesn’t mean that the way the systems operate don’t lead to those kinds of outcomes.” www.nytimes.com/2026/09/17/c...

nytimes.com

The Racial Disparities of Flood Buyouts (Gift Article)

Black homeowners are paid less than white homeowners under a FEMA program, new research finds.

041

Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

A retired teacher’s efforts to replant California’s iconic oaks, including in fire-ravaged Altadena, and to encourage the planting of heat and fire resistant trees that could result in more climate resilient forests and urban trees in the future. www.latimes.com/environment/...

latimes.com

California is losing its oaks. One man is planting 10,000, including in tree-scarce Altadena

For years, he'd been a classroom science teacher in suburban San Diego County. Now he hopes to meaningfully contribute to the regrowth of oaks in burned Altadena.

082

Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Gift article: “Any one of these changes could be catastrophic in its own right, especially as it relates to staffing and funding,” said Dan Wenk, who retired as superintendent of Yellowstone National Park after nearly 43 years with the Park Service.” www.nytimes.com/2026/09/19/c...

nytimes.com

How Trump Has Disrupted National Parks (Gift Article)

Maintenance projects have been put off around the country and resources diverted to the president’s favored projects in Washington.

184

Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

The political reaction in Europe after a summer of climate catastrophe? So far, dithering on the left and denial on the right: “It was the hottest of summers – it was the meekest of responses.” www.theguardian.com/environment/...

theguardian.com

Burning forests, emptying rivers, €180bn in damage: Europe’s politicians face reckoning after ‘summer of truth’

Amid record-shattering heatwaves and popular demand for climate action, why are politicians often timid or in denial?

031

Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

A recurring theme in the gutting of higher ed is eliminating anything distinctive or regionally or nationally unique. Turning a hearth of the Scottish Enlightenment into just another place you can get a degree in “AI prompt generation for maximizing shareholder value and right thinking.”

14316

Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Gift link: “This attention could translate into conservation efforts that would help the tilcayo and other less cuddly-looking species it lives alongside. “Who knows what else is undiscovered in those Bolivian jungles? The tilcayo may actually save a lot of things.” www.nytimes.com/2026/09/18/s...

nytimes.com

New Species of Cat Discovered for First Time in a Century (Gift Article)

The species, called a tilcayo, is smaller than a house cat and lives in the cloud forests of the Andes Mountains in Bolivia.

073

Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

“Every dollar and every hour we can redirect from unnecessary complexity is capacity we can put back into our mission of creating impact.” Whenever I hear authentic academic administration gibberish like this used to justify cuts to programs & people I start screaming internally just like Mel Blanc

131

Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Gift article. “The binational tribe, whose land stretches from Arizona into the Mexican state of Sonora, has long been caught in the middle of disputes over a border that did not exist when the O’odham’s ancestors first settled here thousands of years ago.” www.nytimes.com/2026/09/17/u...

nytimes.com

For a Border Tribe, Trump’s Wall Is a Betrayal: ‘They Want to Erase Us’ (Gift Article)

An escalating confrontation on Native land southwest of Tucson threatens to upend decades of uneasy cooperation between the Tohono O’odham Nation and the United States.

021

Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

“From the 1862 mega-flood to the lethal 1933 mudslides and 1938 storms, L.A.’s steep watersheds have repeatedly funneled rain into deadly torrents that reshaped the region’s landscape and infrastructure.” “We live in a perfect geological machine for flooding.”

050

Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Spawned by El Niños, “Kelvin waves can raise sea levels by as much as 6 to 12 inches—potentially for months. “Those elevated sea levels, when combined with passing weather or storms, can substantially increase flood risk and risk for things like beach erosion.” www.latimes.com/california/s...

latimes.com

'Pretty epic' Kelvin wave is latest threat to SoCal coastal cities. When will it get here?

Coastal communities are beginning to assess the damage from waves and flooding as Southern California braces for more potentially destructive conditions from a 'coastally trapped Kelvin wave.'

030

Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

For Mexico’s Independence Day, a brief history of the largest Spanish language newspaper in the US, L.A.’s La Opinión, which began publishing 100 years ago today. From the archives of the Huntington Library. youtube.com/shorts/L1op7...

youtube.com

100 Years of La Opinión, One of the Largest Spanish-language Newspapers in the U.S.

YouTube video by The Huntington

0122

Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Gift article. An essential way to plan and prepare for disaster, to persevere during disaster, and to recover materially and emotionally afterwards is to find, build, and rely upon community. This is a story about disaster survivors trying to do exactly that. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

nytimes.com

Six Strangers Connected By Disaster (Gift Article)

After devastating storms, wildfires, and heat waves, members of the Extreme Weather Survivors network learn to rely on one another.

041

Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

“Half of the top 10 US datacenter owners are backed by private equity… This industry doesn’t get enough scrutiny and credit for its contribution to global emissions,” Parr said. “It’s a very opaque business model.” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

theguardian.com

World’s top 20 private equity firms produce more greenhouse gases a year than most countries, report finds

Firms manage $7.3tn in assets and could afford to transition away from fossil fuels yet invest in natural gas and coal-fired plants to power datacenters

050

Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

“Carriers are increasingly refusing to renew homeowners’ policies, especially as Utah has continued to build homes in fire-exposed terrain to keep up with its rapid population growth…insurers have become far more aggressive about managing catastrophe exposure.” www.newsweek.com/americas-hom...

newsweek.com

America’s home insurance crisis has a new epicenter

Utah had the highest rate of nonrenewals in the nation last year, as insurers try to cut losses in the increasingly risky state.

141

Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

The appeal of iconic LA mid-century Modernism apparently isn’t what it used to be. It would be wonderful if some cultural institution or the city had the money to buy the most famous of all the LA Case Study homes, because so far the super rich aren’t interested. www.sfgate.com/la/article/s...

sfgate.com

No one wants to buy LA's most famous midcentury house

"Anything's possible in LA, especially when you're talking about real estate values."

162