Unbelievable. This would be a terrible blow to American science, writ large. It would decimate not only climate research, but also the kind of weather, wildfire, and disaster research that has underpinned half a century of progress in prediction, early warning, and increased resilience.

Christmas tree lights in a place Where the wind comes sweepin’ down the plain

92 years ago today, the first big dust storm of the Dust Bowl happened: www.aol.com/articles/tod...

At first glance through the interminable TOC of the latest Geophysical Research Letters I misread the title of this paper and was briefly buoyed by the thought of GRLs' foray into women's health.

PM2.5 and NO2 air pollution, even below EPA guidelines, increases breast cancer risk www.news-medical.net/news/2025102...

The perplexing (to me, anyway) phenomenon of laminated loess deposits (Bignell Hill, Nebraska)

I love finding tiny asters that manage to elude the high blades of late summer mowers.

Little bits of beauty

A tiny but tangible example of how government dysfunction degrades educational opportunities. NP closures meant replacing hikes with road cuts. Still, no one can take away the beauty of NM sunsets

Another great day on the rocks, culminating in another New Mexican sunset.

Distracting ourselves from the news cycle with New Mexican geology

It's eolian time. How about some small-scale eolian sand stratification (grain flows, grain fall, and translatent; from the Miocene of Argentina) contrasted with the lack of any such features (other than conchoidal fracturing) in this massive loessite (Permian of Colorado).

Daily photo. #AmWriting on bogs, Iron Age bog bodies, death and preservation (current MFA.) To interrupt doomscrolling, a visual equivalent of a breath, a moment of calm. A 'foto balm' of light drawn. Almost #autumn! (Sep 22.) I wrote about why #trees shed leaves: open.substack.com/pub/nancyfor...

A Chapel in the High Mountains, by Hugo Holdiener (1886-1945)

Took a walk along the lake and ran across this paleosol (Permian Garber Fm)...sporting some great root traces.

Woodland Nymph, by John Collier (English)

My Lady’s Garden (1905) Edmund Blair Leighton (English, 1853 - 1922)

Imagine how jiggly this sand must have been when newly deposited, as water escaped to form these dish structures. (A boulder from Cretaceous turbiditic strata, Southern California)

And now for more weather in a (deep-time) rock: inferred ice crystals from ca. 300 million years ago, a sort of lagerstätte, preserved in the Usclas Fm (France). For more details, see pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/...

New semester teaching paleoclimate, and depositional systems, so here is one of my favorite rocks, archiving both weather and climate: a dust (loess) deposit with raindrop imprints (largest ~5 mm diameter). Permian Maroon Fm (CO), recording a light (afternoon?) shower of some 300 million yrs ago.

A purchase that made my day; thank you USPS

In the bookshop this morning: PARENTS: “Okay, we’re leaving now.” CHILD: *pulls another book from the shelf and sits down * CHILD: “Then I guess this is goodbye.”

Stormy landscape, by Penry Williams (1802-1885)

Okay, this is very basic, but...there is nothing unusual about rivers flowing north.

Congratulations to Emily Rose Soreghan on winning the Montana Prize in Creative Nonfiction for, “On Failed Rifts and Intrusive Bodies,” which will be published in the next issue of 'CutBank', literary journal of the University of Montana www.cutbankonline.org/contests-win...

Who else longs to live in a house of mud? Earth is such a superior building material.

Finally out... giant grains in eolian dust from Earth's deep-time record... pubs.geoscienceworld.org/sepm/jsedres...

Finally out-- part of my former PhD student Austin McGlannan's PhD-- www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

To clarify, while the reconciliation budget has cut US science, the proposed FY26 budget proposes to make the even deeper cuts that I mention in this thread. Speak up for science & our future! 🧪🔌💡☀️💨🔋

We're delighted to announce that Seth Heald has donated the original artwork for this @newyorker.com cartoon by @tbtoro.bsky.social to the Climate Museum! It has never been more pertinent than it is right now. For more, including three special interviews: mailchi.mp/climatemuseu...

Massive #NoKings march in New York City!

Happy to see my former PhD (now Dr.) Steve Adam's latest paper (about dust production, ofc) out-- #Mars #dust urldefense.com/v3/__https:/...

It's great to see this paper out, senior authored by @lilzrockz.bsky.social on recurrence rates of explosive volcanism in equatorial Pangea. A whole lotta erupting, at climate-sensitive latitudes. #paleoclimate #paleovolcanism #volcano #eruption #climate #iceage #LPIA www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Open letter from nearly 2000 NAS member scientists: "We see real danger in this moment. We hold diverse political beliefs, but we are united (...) in wanting to protect independent scientific inquiry. We are sending this SOS to sound a warning: the nation’s scientific enterprise is being decimated."

@lilzrockz.bsky.social Our new work out-- a preliminary test of the impact of volcanic aerosols on biogeochemical cycling in deep time... #dust #LPIA #volcanoes doi.org/10.1016/j.gl...

Maryland's Prince George's County Natural and Historic Resources Division Paleontology Unit is seeking a Paleontology Specialist for its countywide program. #paleojobs #jobs #STEMjobs www.indeed.com/viewjob?from...

Oklahoma living up to its reputation this late-winter afternoon...

Creating the ice-capped Earth we see today is harder than you might think. A new model from @universityofleeds.bsky.social provides insights into what it takes. Comments from @lsoreghan.bsky.social eos.org/articles/how...

Microbial crusts: helping resist (erosion) for billions of years. [Negev Loess, Israel]

African dust trapped in beach rock, Puerto Rico.

El Capitan displays a massive American flag upside down—the traditional signal of distress or extreme emergency.

Dear #BookSky can you help us find our lost audience? We left 140,00 people behind on X and we want to reconnect!

Some robust taproots developed in Permian loessite of the lower Cutler Beds (Utah). Imagine the Permian vegetation, desperately seeking what they needed to survive; in trying times, remember the resiliency of the primary producers.

omg we could stop the government coup with cursive. they're all under 25 aren't they??? I bet none of them can read cursive

If you're wondering whether you should promote your book or your latest publication now with all the chaos, the answer is yes. We need your words. We need to flood the channels with art and literature. So go for it, friends.

The Loess Plateau in early spring

Sea (1897) Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky (Russian)

Loess (wind-blown silt) accumulates from suspension and thus is typically massive (structureless). This example of loessite (lithified loess) demonstrates this property particularly well-- it fractures like a giant piece of obsidian. From the Permian Maroon Formation, Colorado.

Almost 60,000 likes Holy crap