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Mike Dettinger

@mdettinger.bsky.social
8.8K followers 808 following 1.4K posts

Water/environ/climate news & occasional bespoke data maps/calcs, from CarsonCity (Wá∙šiw land), NV. Retired USGS & now p/t @CW3EScripps scientist. Bona fides? PhD.UCLA F.AGU F.AAAS M.NAE; www.mdettinger.com

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Mike Dettinger @mdettinger.bsky.social · 13h
Oh, and the Park does a lot of controlled burning (elsewhere) each year. I think though that visitor-heavy areas like TM require special considerations.
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Mike Dettinger @mdettinger.bsky.social · 13h
Well, the Park shut down all fire suppression in the whole Illillouette Creek subbasin of the Merced (an area about ⅓ of the entire Merced catchment above Yosemite Valley) decades ago. So I know they’re very keyed into & studying the fire/landscape options. (Thanks to Jan Vanwogtendonk!)
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Mike Dettinger @mdettinger.bsky.social · 14h
The future of mustangs is a contentious issue across the Interior West (even in my family). I can’t understood why folks take such all-or-nothing stances. IMO: Decide areas can support them, & where not & manage accordingly. Washoe V is an obvious place to let them be. www.rgj.com/story/opinio...
rgj.com
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Mike Dettinger @mdettinger.bsky.social · 14h
Researchers planted 40k seedlings of mountain sedge in Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite NP. Ten years later, they're improving the health of the soil – though it’s estimated that repairing the meadow overall could take 25-50 yrs. www.discoverwildlife.com/environment/...
discoverwildlife.com
The 40,000 seedlings bringing life back to Yosemite’s meadows | Discover Wildlife
In 2016, conservationists started planted thousands of native seedlings in Yosemite’s Tuolumne Meadows. Ten years later, many of them are still alive and they're improving the health of the soil – slo...
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Mike Dettinger @mdettinger.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
What an animation! 25+ yrs ago, Dave Peterson (USGS Menlo) led us in characterizing organized flow pulses in West. But that work was entirely via statistical metrics, or comparing flows at a few distantly-spaced gages. So COOL to see it in motion! Old work e.g.: www.mdettinger.com/_files/ugd/3...
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Aaron Becker @aaronjbecker.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Every river in North America, every day for two years. The combined flow to the sea sinks as low as 53,000 m³/s in winter and swells past 290,000 by late June, more than quadrupling each spring. Data: GloFAS, @copernicusecmwf.bsky.social #rivers #dataviz #hydrology
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Mike Dettinger @mdettinger.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Magenta-colored, semitransparent solar panels generate electricity while allowing blue- and red-light wavelengths to pass thru, enhancing broccoli growth underneath by 4.5 times (albeit growth is slower). phys.org/news/2026-10...
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Mike Dettinger @mdettinger.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Rather than relying on precip or AR strength alone, the tool id's when several forecast variables will be unusually extreme. Tool & scale are based on fact that ~90% of landslide days have had extreme winds, precip, freezing levels AND IVT conditions compared to ~30% of non-landslide days. 2/2
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Mike Dettinger @mdettinger.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
A new study from @CW3E & National Weather Service Juneau introduces an operational tool (the AR Hazard scale) to help identify when an AR brings meteorological conditions (beyond just precip) that increases potential for landslides. ½ cw3e.ucsd.edu/cw3e-publica...
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Mike Dettinger @mdettinger.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
From down on Prison Hill in Carson City…1:01 pm today.
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Paul Kingsley @paulkingsley7.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
🧪 “The National Science Foundation, one of the biggest sources of federal research funding, withheld $1.4 billion that Congress had intended for research over the course of the past year, according to internal data reviewed by The New York Times.” www.nytimes.com/2026/10/02/u...
nytimes.com
National Science Foundation Diverted $1.4 Billion in Science Funds Mandated by Congress (Gift Article)
The move, affecting about one-fifth of the National Science Foundation’s primary research budget, is the latest sign of how the White House is asserting more control over grants.
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Mike Dettinger @mdettinger.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Study of longtime fossil-fuel funding arrangements with elite universities shows that recent government funding cuts are deepening universities’ reliance on these kinds of private donors, w/deepening pernicious influences on academic freedom &research directions/findings. grist.org/accountabili...
grist.org
How elite universities got tangled up in politics and petroleum
Half a century of corporate influence set the stage for Trump's attacks on higher education, a new study argues.
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Mike Dettinger @mdettinger.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
California launches its second (of eventual four-member constellation) satellite to monitor methane emissions from wells and refineries, landfills, etc., on Thursday, as part of its drive to reduce methane emissions 40% below 1990 levels by 2030. www.latimes.com/environment/...
latimes.com
California gets a new eye in the sky to track planet-warming methane
A second satellite, launched Thursday, will double California's chances of detecting climate-changing methane releases.
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Mike Dettinger @mdettinger.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
The great @bengoldfarb reports on the revolution of small-dam removals going on in the Northeastern States. biographic.com/death-by-a-t...
biographic.com
Death by a Thousand Dams | bioGraphic
Tens of thousands of small barriers hamper fish recovery in the northeastern United States. But while the demolition of big dams out west gets the most attention, a similar revolution is revitalizing ...
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Mike Dettinger @mdettinger.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
www.scientificamerican.com/article/dang...
scientificamerican.com
Dangerous ozone threatened half of world’s population this year
This exposure reflects an intersection of climate change, air pollution and public health, says new analysis
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Mike Dettinger @mdettinger.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
10 countries bear majority of global storm exposure: Philippines, Mexico, Madagascar, Mauritius, Japan, China, Micronesia, USA, South Korea & Australia, according to new report assessing risk in 193 countries. Only 2 European nations are among 100 riskiest nations. www.euronews.com/2026/09/29/s...
euronews.com
Two European countries among the most at risk from storms
From colour-blindness to women’s clothing, early warning systems must ensure no one is left behind.
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Mike Dettinger @mdettinger.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Podcast episode: Atmospheric Rivers & the Future of Water Forecasting by Dr. Marty Ralph, Founder of CW3E (Sept 24, 2026) alabamawater.libsyn.com/ep-33-atmosp...
alabamawater.libsyn.com
Alabama Water Institute: Ep. 33: Atmospheric Rivers and the Future of Water Forecasting w/ Dr. Marty Ralph
Atmospheric rivers can bring much-needed water to the West, but they can also produce devastating floods. Dr. Marty Ralph, founding director of the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes at UC ...
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The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine @nationalacademies.org · 28/09/2026
The presidents of the U.S. National Academies condemn the strike on the home of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and reaffirm our commitment to supporting our Ukrainian colleagues and research community. Read the full statement: ow.ly/Ff7P50ZSqwf
ow.ly
U.S. National Academies Presidents Comment on Attack on the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
In a statement on the recent attack of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the presidents of the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine underscored their support for their colleagues at the Ukrainian academy. “We know that the Ukrainian research community is strong, and we will continue to stand by them.” (Photo: REUTERS/Thomas Peter)
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Mike Dettinger @mdettinger.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
www.pcworld.com/article/3242...
pcworld.com
This global disaster map is useful and strangely addictive
EDIS lets you explore earthquakes, storms, wildfires, volcanic eruptions, and plenty more on an interactive map that updates in real-time.
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Mike Dettinger @mdettinger.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Pressure from activists etc results in an Alito recusal on climate change. Sure wasn’t his ethical core… www.nbcnews.com/politics/sup...
nbcnews.com
In reversal, Justice Samuel Alito steps aside from major climate case
Alito will sit out the first case heard by the Supreme Court this term after facing calls from the left to do so because he owns stock in oil companies. He had previously pushed back.
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Mike Dettinger @mdettinger.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Oops! I meant to include this link to it…in case you get paywalled out of the Chron article. www.thomasmkelly.com/pct-soundmap/
thomasmkelly.com
a sound map of the pacific crest trail, 2023, by stereo
200 geolocated field recordings from Mexico to Canada.
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Mike Dettinger @mdettinger.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
First-of-its-kind “sound map” of 200 places along the Pacific Crest Trail just released online. Free to listen to and locates the recordings’ respective mile markers along the route. These sounds drop you right into the long wilderness miles. www.sfchronicle.com/outdoors/art...
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Mike Dettinger @mdettinger.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Thanks for this one, Ian! We’ll see how the flooding plays out (lots of steps between really wet and really bad floods, more uncertainty than much of the hoopla implies so far)…but the chances for water resource benefits are really good. www.latimes.com/environment/...
latimes.com
Will El Niño have an upside? California tries to capitalize on big storms
El Niño could unleash major storms and flooding. It also could bring precious water to drought-afflicted California.
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The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 25/09/2026
President Trump’s war on Iran, now in its seventh month, has led to a plunge in the consumption of oil and gas around the world as fighting disrupts production and transportation. wapo.st/4ycPvNA
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Mike Dettinger @mdettinger.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
SWOT is revealing a world dominated by 'weird rivers'. By simultaneously measuring water levels & breadths of rivers globally, SWOT exposes the extent of human effected on rivers. (They are dammed, braided, frozen, and/or drained—in ways models struggle to capture.) www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
Satellite reveals a world of ‘weird rivers’ shaped by humans
SWOT is exposing humans’ effects on rivers—and challenging flood prediction models
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Mike Dettinger @mdettinger.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Strong El Niños have been forecast, usually the summer before, for decades. Financial markets respond rationally, minimizing exposure in regions at risk. But hedging, at best, is $ logic that obscures human costs &, at worst, pulls $ from places that need it most. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
science.org
Hedging El Niño isn’t the same as adapting to it
Record-setting warm waters slosh eastward across the tropical Pacific, forming El Niño. This recurrent climate pattern reconfigures severe weather worldwide, and with it, the global economy. Scientist...
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Duane Froese @tephrafan.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Our new paper in GRL: "permafrost detachment slides." Entire frozen hillsides in NWT are failing from the base of permafrost creating the largest permafrost landslides in northern Canada. Thaw is driven by past wildfires and warming. Led by Joe Young. OA 👇 doi.org/10.1029/2026... #permafrost
doi.org
Permafrost Detachment Slides: A Distinct High‐Magnitude Permafrost Mass Wasting Process
PDSs fail through bottom-up thaw and detach the entire permafrost profile, fundamentally different from top-down thaw-driven mass wasting Climate warming and wildfire drive heat to the permafrost...
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Bart⚓️ @bartgonnissen.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
The Facial Expressions of Tethys by artist Julius von Bismarck. A suspended high-sea buoy that moves in real time. Sensors on a twin buoy out in the Atlantic Ocean send live satellite data to motors inside the museum. This makes the indoor buoy copy the exact, real-time movements of the ocean waves.
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Kimberly Prather PhD @kprather.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
scripps.ucsd.edu/news/new-fed...
scripps.ucsd.edu
New Federal Health Assessment of Tijuana River Valley Air Pollution Builds on UC San Diego Findings
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), a federal public health agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that works jointly with the Centers for Disea...
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Guardian US @us.theguardian.com · 23/09/2026
"If a resurgent movement demands action, we finally have the tools to make that demand matter – a working planet that runs mostly on sun and wind is in tantalizing reach," writes @billmckibben.bsky.social. "At the last possible moment, with backs to the wall, we still have our face to the sun."
theguardian.com
The climate fight has one great ally. You just can’t look at it directly | Bill McKibben
There is hope in solar power. As the UN meets, we are urging leaders to pursue a clear goal: clean energy for all by 2030
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Mike Dettinger @mdettinger.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Getting to the gym is a positive for body & soul. But regarding how well exercise/movement improves cognitive function, “the environment in which the exercise is performed may be just as important as the exercise itself”. Exercising outdoors is better! www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/exerci...
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Bob Kopp @bobkopp.net · 22/09/2026
NEW PAPER: In a new paper, jointly published in @agu.org Earth's Future & @ametsoc.org BAMS, and co-led by Melissa Kenney, @costasamaras.com and me, 175 authors outline priorities to guide the future of scientific assessments of climate change in the United States. 🧵
doi.org
Research Priorities for Robust Climate Assessments in the United States
A network of climate assessments plays a critical role in synthesizing the state of science to support evidence-based decision-making To support future U.S. and sub-national climate assessments, ...
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Mike Dettinger @mdettinger.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
"There was absolutely ample water available to keep [the Sacramento River] colder, but the Trump administration chose to take large quantities of water out of the reservoir this summer.” www.latimes.com/environment/... www.ppic.org/blog/tacklin...
latimes.com
This major California river has gotten too warm for its salmon
The Sacramento River has gotten too warm for salmon eggs. Environmental advocates blame the Trump administration for taking too much water out of Shasta Lake.
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Mike Dettinger @mdettinger.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
ICYMI: The US oil shale industry is NOT down, and indeed it’s now starting to mobilize to spread out globally. fortune.com/2026/09/19/u...
fortune.com
Inside U.S. oil’s return to global wildcatting: ‘It’s like geo-porn’ | Fortune
The top U.S. shale oil drillers aim to find the next big boom abroad.
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Mike Dettinger @mdettinger.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Threats to freedom of movement remain a powerful tool for repressive governments to force & entice scholars into submission. Scholars & administrators must work together to defend free inquiry via defending rights to academic freedom of movement. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
science.org
Free inquiry depends on freedom of movement
Starting in May 2025, the US government implemented an immigration policy that targeted noncitizen researchers for visa denials, visa revocations, detention, and deportation on the basis of the topics...
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Mike Dettinger @mdettinger.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Re: mountain forests after wildfires (& droughts), we can’t count on plant-or-monitor-new-seedlings-and-walk-away strategies for recovery. In western US, researchers have documented little natural regeneration within severely burned forests. So, assisted migration? www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
As forests burn, can we replant trees ready for a warmer world?
Ecologists testing “assisted migration” are pushing seedlings to the limits—and finding that location matters
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Mike Dettinger @mdettinger.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
California to spend billions on ‘visionary’ plan to boost fish habitat. But skeptics question whether this effort to save San Francisco Bay delta region will work without allocating more water (and money) for nature's needs. www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
California to spend billions on ‘visionary’ plan to boost fish habitat
But skeptics question whether effort to save San Francisco Bay delta region will work without allocating more water for nature
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Mike Dettinger @mdettinger.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Mexico City AQ poses a puzzle: Air quality policies reduced concentrations of many primary pollutants but decreases in the amount of ozone, a secondary pollutant, have leveled off in recent years. Climate-warming trends are limiting the expected ozone declines. eos.org/science-upda...
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Mike Dettinger @mdettinger.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
motherjones.com
You don't have a right to safe drinking water, US court rules
A Trump-appointed judge also said Americans have no “constitutional right to truthful information” during a public health crisis.
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CW3E Scripps @cw3escripps.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
CW3E Publication Notice: "Diagnosing Forecast Error Propagation and Large-Scale Dynamics of Weather Extremes With an AI Weather Model" in @agu.org's Geophysical Research Letters. For a summary of this paper, visit: cw3e.ucsd.edu/cw3e-publica....
Schematic diagram of the true-state constraint (TSC) method. After each forecast step, predicted conditions inside the solid box are replaced with concurrent ERA5 reanalysis data before the next step. The band between the solid and dashed boxes blends the forecast and reanalysis, while the model evolves freely elsewhere. Figure S1 from Nie et al. (2026, Supporting Information).
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Mike Dettinger @mdettinger.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
The German Climate Computing Center (DKRZ), one of the world’s largest repositories for climate simulation data, is stepping to transfer critical US climate simulations to repositories in Germany in anticipation of Trump admin monkeying with the 7th IPCC process. e360.yale.edu/features/ger...
e360.yale.edu
Why Germany Is Building an Ark for U.S. Climate Data
As researchers around the world begin work on the next U.N. climate assessment, fears are growing that the Trump administration could meddle with critical U.S. climate data. In response, scientists ar...
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Mike Dettinger @mdettinger.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
I, for one, thought about the 1st chapter of MftF a lot this summer!Now KSR declares that he won’t do readings of it anymore…In it, 20M people die in a climate-change extended extreme heatwave across northern India, sparking the urgent actions of the remaining chapters. apnews.com/article/kim-...
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Mike Dettinger @mdettinger.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
EU ambassadors want COP31 to produce “tangible progress” in closing global ambition-vs-implementation gaps & to set the direction for the next Paris Agreement cycle as EU concedes that pledges alone are no longer enough without real action. www.euronews.com/my-europe/20...
euronews.com
EU sets out COP31 battle lines: pledges are not enough
EU ambassadors want COP31 to deliver faster clean-energy deployment, a transition away from fossil fuels, greater electrification, tripling renewable energy, doubling energy-efficiency improvements an...
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Mike Dettinger @mdettinger.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
The 6.86 Gtons of emissions avoided through land conversions that would be needed to (hypothetically) replace US irrigated-crop production are equivalent to 363 years of direct greenhouse gas emissions currently produced by U.S. irrigation. www.earth.com/environment/...
earth.com
Crop irrigation has a surprising effect on carbon emissions
U.S. irrigation prevents billions of tons of carbon emissions by boosting crop yields and reducing the need to convert natural land into farmland.
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Mike Dettinger @mdettinger.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Senators Padilla & Schiff from California are leading a bipartisan push, BACKED BY NEARLY A THIRD OF CONGRESS, to stop Trump administration from moving forward with a proposal to transfer public land in Yosemite National Park to a private developer. www.sanluisobispo.com/news/califor...
sanluisobispo.com
California Sens. Padilla and Schiff lead bipartisan push to block Yosemite deal
A letter, backed by nearly a third of Congress, sent Tuesday called the potential deal “extremely concerning.”
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Mike Dettinger @mdettinger.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Foremost climate-change threat to chocolate supplies(!) may be enhanced extreme rains. GN: Improved storm fcasts in RIGHT szns cd permit actions to mitigate damages. (Heavy rain in flowering & early pod development szns are >> damaging than similar rains otherwise.) gizmodo.com/scientists-f...
gizmodo.com
Scientists Found Chocolate's Biggest Climate Problem—and It Isn't Heat or Drought
A new study could help farmers adapt to an underappreciated threat to cocoa harvests.
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Mike Dettinger @mdettinger.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
“The thought that AI systems might steal ideas from our queries [in AI efforts to scoop human mathematicians] is chilling.” “OpenAI’s unwillingness or inability to say [if] its models were informed by work of other mathematicians compounds the sense of unease.” www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
theverge.com
OpenAI’s sly mathematical breakthrough sends a chill through academia
OpenAI is disrupting mathematics, alright.
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Mike Dettinger @mdettinger.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
A federal appeals court has ruled that the U.S. Constitution does not guarantee Americans the right to clean & safe drinking water, nor indeed to a “right to truthful information from officials during a public health crisis.” capitalbnews.org/jackson-wate...
capitalbnews.org
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Mike Dettinger @mdettinger.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
How much microplastic do rivers deliver to the ocean? Rivers do not export microplastics steadily & continuously. They accumulate plastic waste and degraded microplastics from cities, croplands, roads, & floodplains and then release them in pulses. www.sciencemagazinedigital.org/sciencemagaz...
sciencemagazinedigital.org
Science Magazine - Hydroclimatic-driven pulse enrichment amplifies riverine microplastic export in developing countries
INTRODUCTION: Plastic pollution has become one of the fastest-growing and most difficult-to-reverse components of global change. Microplastics are now detected in nearly all natural environments...
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Mike Dettinger @mdettinger.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
…including unanticipated or underestimated negative feedbacks and tipping points.
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