iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 23h

“Los Angeles is butted up against nature…We’re inside this huge natural park – way bigger than Central Park – and also much more native. And then you’ve got this man-made sign of it that’s meant to withstand rockslides and landslides and winds.” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Snakes, bobcats, mountain lions: the secret animal world beneath the Hollywood sign

An international symbol for the city, the sign is also hallmark of the region’s environmental richness

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Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

“Joshua Tree is home to multiple climate refugia: higher-elevation areas that are expected to remain cool enough to support Joshua trees even as much of their range becomes too hot and dry. But wildfires have burned several of these areas in recent years.”

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Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

The bill had called for state agencies to address “the inequities regarding access to, and control over, water caused by state-sanctioned acts of termination, removal, and assimilation,” dating to the loss of Indigenous lands, water rights, and lives in the wake of the Gold Rush.

Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Gift article: Place your bets—which gets irradiated and contaminated first? Texas, Florida, or the moon? (And look up Project A119 if you’ve never heard of it.) “The race for a lunar reactor is as much a spectacle of power as it is a matter of exploration.” www.nytimes.com/2026/10/04/w...

Superpowers Race to Put Nuclear Reactors on the Moon (Gift Article)

The United States wants a reactor on the moon by 2030. A Russian-Chinese alliance is working on one for 2036. Some leading scientists say the danger is great.

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Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

“Students want to be involved in climate action, in environmental literacy, in green careers…They’re often doing the work already but don’t have the recognition. They didn’t see a sort of pathway to continue that work and embark on that as a potential career.” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

More than 1,200 Colorado students have earned a climate ‘seal’: ‘We’re the ones growing up in this world’

A statewide initiative pairs climate-focused coursework with community service – and is spreading to other states

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Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

East of Eden . . . and south of the Bay Area housing market: Steinbeck’s native Salinas Valley, now one of the least affordable places in America, “at the sharp edge of a national affordability crisis that is reshaping politics across the US, and the world.” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

The American dream remains elusive in the valley that inspired East of Eden

John Steinbeck’s hometown of Salinas is the least affordable city in the US for the middle class, a recent Brookings Institution analysis found

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Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Gift link: “Both the Palisades and Altadena fires ignited in dense metropolitan communities that back up to fire-prone wilderness areas and foothills, a development pattern that has become increasingly common in California as affordable housing has become scarcer.” www.nytimes.com/2026/10/02/u...

Powerful Wildfires Require a New Approach, California Report Finds (Gift Article)

A report on the fires that devastated the Los Angeles area in early 2025 recommended that local governments take a broader approach to preparedness and emergency response.

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Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

“The findings…confirm key reporting by The Times, particularly about how a historically Black neighborhood where the majority of fire victims died received delayed evacuation alerts, and how the LAFD neglected signs that a Jan. 1 fire in Pacific Palisades…was still smoldering.”

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Reposted by Lawrence Culver

Dana Milbank @danamilbank.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Coming to a national park near you: The Death Valley Developers, the Denali Data Centers, the Badlands Billionaires, the Canyonlands Cronies, the Grand Teton Tech Bros and the Crater Lake Cryptos compete in the Trump Corruption League. My latest column: www.washingtonsun.com/perspectives...

washingtonsun.com

Ballparks in Our National Parks? Trump’s Plundering Is in a League of Its Own.

Coming to a national park near you: The Denali Data Centers vs. the Crater Lake Cryptos.

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Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Unfortunately, few things are more “LA” than interesting art marooned in a hot shadeless space blocked by an ugly fence.

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Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

A history of how oil & other corporations dominated our discourse: “A lot of the effort and money goes into shaping people’s general ideas of the economy and how it should work, or our relationship to the natural world…pieces of propaganda that on the face of it don’t have anything to do with oil.”

NYC Department of Buildings @nycbuildings.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Reposted by Lawrence Culver

The Flatiron Building turns 124! 🎉 Let's take a look back at the icon's history from its 1902 opening to today and its ongoing restoration project. #flatiron #flatironbuilding

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Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I guess we’re inevitably reaching the level of Bavarian Überbanker Jacob Fugger telling Pope Leo X to reinterpret Jesus‘s teachings about usury to allow interest on risky loans. (In 1515, the Pope, desperate for cash, did, and modern banking was born.) AI still won’t be conscious though.

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Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

“What we know as New York sits on stolen, unceded Lenape territory. There are now land acknowledgments posted around the city’s cultural institutions…This gives the impression that the Lenape people’s story ended…a new exhibit aims to correct that assumption.” www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

How do you cope when your sacred land becomes Times Square? The art of the first Native New Yorkers

A new exhibit of Lenape paintings, traditional dress and music proves their modern-day culture is vibrant and alive

Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

“An intentional fire was set on Lake Superior’s Wisconsin Point with the return of Ishkode, Ojibwe for “good fire.” Last practiced generations ago, the culturally prescribed burn returns nutrients to the soil and helps native plants thrive.”

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Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

“Lake Mead is part of the Colorado River system and the largest reservoir in the United States. It is now at its lowest level since it was filled nearly 90 years ago.” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

The Colorado River is shrinking. What happens next?

Lake Mead is at its lowest level since it was filled nearly 90 years ago, Lake Powell also at a historic low

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Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

“A record-breaking 23 zettajoules of heat was sunk into the world’s seas last year… almost 40 times greater than all the energy humanity used that year, amid far-reaching changes to the deep water bodies fundamental to life on Earth.” www.theguardian.com/environment/...

World’s oceans absorbed record heat equal to 40 times annual global energy use

The injection of thermal energy comes amid an increasing rise in sea levels and continuing acidification

@LAhistory @lahistory.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Reposted by Lawrence Culver

Sept 30, 1935: Boulder Dam (renamed #HooverDam in 1947) was dedicated 91 years ago today. Los Angeles Valley College Historical Museum brochure (1928), via @archive.org: archive.org/details/cavg... #waterhistory #westernwater #OTD

A cream-colored map (1928) of the Boulder Dam Project and Colorado River Aqueduct for Southern California Cities. Map shows the path of the Colorado River and proposed Colorado Aqueduct as it flows from the Boulder Canyon Dam (in slate-blue) located on the far-right. Major Southern California cities are noted along with the path of the Los Angeles Aqueduct.

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Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

The bill could “bring together all disparate data and knowledge collected from the deep ocean, as well as along the Palos Verdes Shelf—where DDT was discharged for years via the sewer system—and the mouth of the Dominguez Channel, a long-identified DDT hot spot.“ www.latimes.com/environment/...

latimes.com

New bill in Congress seeks to investigate toxic dump off California coast

The bill was prompted by Los Angeles Times reporting that revealed as many as half a million barrels of toxic waste had been dumped into the ocean off the coast of Southern California.

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Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

“The debate over the drying out of the Scott River reflects long-standing disputes over how to keep water in the river and balance the competing needs of farmers and fish.”

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Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

“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...

‘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

LAist @laist.com · 30/09/2026

Reposted by Lawrence Culver

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.

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Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

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?

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Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

“Simmer” ribs?!? WHAT IS THIS FOUL ABOMINATION

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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!

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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/...

‘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

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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/...

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

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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.”

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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...

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

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 ...

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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...

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

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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...

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.

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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.

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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

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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...

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.

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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...

Datacenter developers accused of skirting key US pollution rules

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

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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/...

‘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

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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.”

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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...

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?

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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...

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’

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...